Roberto Di Matteo sacked: Aston Villa will fire Italian in next 48 hours after just four months in charge following horror start to season
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ROBERTO DI MATTEO’S 122 day reign as Aston Villa boss is over.
The Italian has told close friends he is finished at Villa Park and the 46-year-old expects to be formally informed tomorrow that he has been axed.
SunSport understands Villa's players were told of Di Matteo's imminent departure following their 2-0 defeat to Preston.
Villa chief executive Keith Wyness will be left with the task of officially pulling the plug on Di Matteo’s short-lived reign after discussing the Italian’s future with owner Tony Xia on Saturday night.
The former Chelsea Champions’ League winner has flopped since arriving at Villa Park in June, despite spending £55.5million on NINE new players in the summer.
Villa’s new Chinese owner Xia bankrolled the massive investment – splashing out more than Real Madrid and half of the clubs in the Premier League last summer.
However the dramatic overhaul did nothing to improve Villa’s fortunes as the Midlands giants failed to get to grips with life outside of the top flight.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to lowly Preston, saw Villa finish the day 19th in the Championship, just two points clear of the relegation zone, and proved to be the final nail in Di Matteo’s coffin.
More than 5,000 Villa fans travelled to Deepdale to witness their side’s defeat but ended the game calling for Di Matteo’s head and chanted that the players were not fit to wear the shirts.
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Xia, CEO Keith Wyness and Technical Director Steve Round will now use the international break to appoint a new boss, with two men with Birmingham City links sure to be discussed at length.
Former Blues and Hull City boss Steve Bruce will be the hot favourite to take over at Villa after admitting he was interested in the job.
While Xia may even consider a raid on Bristol City's Lee Johnson.
He may also call across to St Andrew’s Park for current Birmingham boss Gary Rowett, who has impressed across the city.
Huddersfield’s David Wagner, Ipswich Town’s Mick McCarthy and even West Brom’s Tony Pulis will also feature high on Villa’s wanted list.
However, a shock move for axed England boss Sam Allardyce is not on the cards as Villa feel the Dudley-born boss currently has too much baggage, while former target Nigel Pearson is also seen as ‘toxic,’ given his recent highly-publicised problems at Derby.
Xia ignored the Villa’s Board’s advice to take on Pearson this summer, going his own way to appoint Di Matteo.
However the former Chelsea boss failed to live up to expectations, winning just one of his 12 matches in charge – a 3-0 home win against rock-bottom Rotherham.
Villa also suffered an embarrassing EFL Cup exit, live on TV, at the hands of League Two Luton Town.
Now it is Di Matteo who is heading for the exit, just hours after commenting on Saturday: “There’s a team here that is good, it will come good for us.
“I have faith in the team, I believe in the team and think that, come the end of the season, they will be up there.”
However if Villa are to turn their dismal season on its head, they will do so with a new man in charge.
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