Roberto Di Matteo sacked: Aston Villa boss fired just 123 days after landing the job

ROBERTO DI MATTEO’S has been fired as Aston Villa boss after just 123 days.

Claret and Blues chairman Dr Tony Xia has decided to wield the axe with beleaguered Villa languishing in 19th in the Championship - as exclusively revealed by SunSport yesterday.

Steve Clarke will now take over first-team duties until Di Matteo's successor is appointed

A club statement read: "The Club decided to act following a run of disappointing results which has the left the team occupying 19th position in the Championship."

Xia then tweeted: "A difficult decision 4the board. But rather sooner than later we'd make the decision. All need learn&not repeat mistakes again&again.

"I'd say actually we consider the stability & long term vision very important aspects but we need get all right b4 starting long march."

When quizzed by a fan whether he was looking for a way out of the club, he added: "No way. I had much harder experience going through to get final success in other business. A small scratch won't change our plans."

Di Matteo yesterday told close friends he was finished at Villa Park and the 46-year-old was formally sacked on Monday.

Villa chief executive Keith Wyness pulled the plug on the Italian's short reign after discussing the his 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.

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.