The chairman of the Aston Villa Supporters Trust
believes it is "almost certain" that manager Gerard Houllier will
leave the club this summer, and has called for Fulham's Mark Hughes
to replace him.
Villa are currently assessing Houllier's position after he was
forced to miss the last month of the season because of heart
problems - the second time the Frenchman has suffered from such ill
health in his career.
It has been reported that Villa are awaiting test results to
determine if the 63-year-old is fit to return to work, but Peter
Warrilow, head of AVST, believes the conclusion is inevitable.
He said: "It's almost certainly the case that Gerard Houllier
will depart, and his departure would be in the best interests of
both his health and Aston Villa.
"It's all very unsettling at a time when what we really need is
some stability."
The Villa fans have not been convinced by Houllier ever since
his appointment last September, and a flirtation with the
relegation zone earlier this year did not help that.
He still polarises opinion despite the club eventually finishing
ninth, but Warrilow does not believe the club will use Houllier's
health as an excuse to remove him from his post.
"My knowledge of (owner) Randy Lerner and (chief executive) Paul
Faulkner doesn't suggest that they would be that cynical," he
said.
"But if you look at Aston Villa's long-term future then it would
be quite wrong to go into the new season having committed a lot of
money to a man to go out and rebuild the squad, then two months
into the season find themselves in the same situation of his health
being in decline and him not being able to continue.
"In terms of practicality, his departure would be sensible so
that Villa can secure a new manager for the longer-term
future."
Should Houllier leave, Warrilow feels the club could find the
perfect replacement in the shape of Hughes.
The former Wales and Manchester City manager enjoyed an
excellent first season with Fulham and has an option to extend his
deal at Craven Cottage.
Warrilow, though, feels Villa should strike before he exercises
that option.
"Everyone knows that Mark Hughes has the opportunity to break
his contract today at Fulham," he said.
"I think Mark Hughes would be an ideal choice.
"He has demonstrated that he can work well with a limited squad
and I think that he won't have the personnel issues that Gerard
Houllier seems to have had where he's fallen out with people and
we've had expensive players on the books who weren't available for
selection for one reason or another.
"I think Hughes would come in and he'd sort those kinds of
issues out."
