CONFIRMED: Alex McLeish joins as AVFC manager

So it has finally come round and the news some Villa fans didn’t want to hear. Alex McLeish has signed for Aston Villa taking over as manager of the club.

The Scotsman comes to the club after resigning from Birmingham City. The deal has been going over the last few days with minor deals being sorted between not only the club but also Birmingham City who reluctant for the former Blues boss to leave.

Alex comes in on a 3 year deal worth £6m costing Villa £2m a year. The club confirmed his move just before the fixture release for the 2011/12 season. In a club statement Alex has said:

“I am honoured to have this opportunity to manage a club with such a fantastic history as Aston Villa’s.

“The heritage, the history of success and the tradition of Aston Villa are compelling and irresistible. The challenge for me is to try to add my own chapter.

“Since first becoming a manager at Motherwell, my desire to succeed and my energy and drive have never waned. My objective is to impart that drive and will to win to the players and fans of Aston Villa.

“I know that some of our fans have voiced concerns and I can understand why. It will be up to me to convince you that I am the right man to drive the Club forward and I intend to give absolutely everything to prove that I can be a success at the Club.”

Paul Faulkner, chief executive of  Villa also said:

“We believe we have appointed the right man for the job.

“Unquestionably, Alex meets the criteria we set out at the beginning of our search which was based on proven Premier League experience, leadership, a hard-working ethic and, most importantly, a shared vision for Aston Villa.

“Alex is someone with whom we will work close and work well together.

“With our strong squad combining the necessary virtues of experience and the exciting potential of our young players, our objective is to compete as strongly as we possibly can.

“Alex’s vast experience and proven abilities demonstrate clearly that he is a strong leader and an ambitious man and we are looking forward very much to the exciting new season about to start.”

Straight away this will split fans down the middle. For me, I am pleased Alex has come out and being honest with the fans. He knows he will need to prove himself and I am glad he has stated he needs to win fans over. The first part of Alex’s statement for me says it all. He wants to succeeded at Villa and try and bring some glory back to the club.

He also seems to be winning over fans in his first statement a better job than what Mr Houllier did.

With rumours of players such as Ben Foster, Scott Dann & Roger Johnson all being linked with moves across the city I for will give the manager time to prove himself. Yes, it isn’t the appointment the fans was expecting and came out of the blue (no pun intended) but he seems to have the backing of managers as Fergie and Hughton as well as players like Collymore & Mortimer.

I welcome Mr McLeish to the club and hope he has success in his role.