Aston Villa axe Tim Sherwood after eight months in charge

Sherwood saw prized Villa assets Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph sold this summer to Liverpool and Manchester City respectively for a combined estimated £40m, with the latter’s departure particularly acrimonious following a U-turn.

Backed by American owner Randy Lerner, Sherwood spent in excess of £50m, recruiting four players from Ligue 1 and fellow French speaker Rudy Gestede among others, but could not improve their status as perennial strugglers.

Moyes mooted for Premier League return

At a very early stage, ex-Everton and Manchester United manager David Moyes, who is in charge of La Liga team Real Sociedad but under mounting pressure in the Basque Country, was favourite to succed Sherwood.

Since replaced at the head of the betting by ex-Arsenal player and former Lyon coach Remi Garde (1/2), Coral make Moyes 4/1 to take over.

Other rumoured candidates to fill the Villa hotseat are Brendan Rodgers (5/1), recently axed by Liverpool and replaced by Jurgen Klopp; former Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson (also 5/1) and American coach Bob Bradley (8/1), who is best known for his stint at the helm of the US national team.

Aston Villa are seeking their fifth different permanent manager in as many years since Martin O’Neill left them. Those early days of the Lerner era were coupled with strong squad investment that resulted in European football.

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