"Spectre" of Ancelotti Will Hang Over Warnock

Also Raneieri...This says he was interested in Fuham job/wanted to return London. (Well not too many jobs in London that might be open for Ranieri...Friend of Paladini/previously linked to QPR)


Telegraph

Steve McClaren set for Aston Villa manager's job as Martin Jol appears bound for Fulham

Martin Jol and Steve McClaren are likely to return to English football this summer after Aston Villa and Fulham included both men high on their list of candidates to become their next managers.

By Jason Burt, Deputy Football Correspondent
7:30AM BST 06 Jun 2011

Both clubs will step up their efforts this week to make an appointment. The likelihood is that Fulham are expected to select Jol, although Villa are also interested in the former Tottenham manager, with McClaren expected to take over at Villa Park.

Matters are complicated because relations between the two clubs are extremely strong. The owners, Fulham's Mohamed Fayed and Villa’s Randy Lerner, get on well while the chief executives — Fulham's Alistair Mackintosh and Villa’s Paul Faulkner — are good friends.

It means the clubs are unlikely to go into direct competition in appointing a manager.

Fulham are also considering former Villa manager Martin O’Neill, who also gets on well with Fayed, but it is believed they may not have the resources to convince him to join them.

Instead they favour Jol, who was close to taking the job last year before a wrangle over compensation at Ajax ruined the deal, leading to Mark Hughes’s appointment.

Jol is no longer at the Dutch club and is keen to return to the Premier League and to London, where he still has a house. The fact that he is a free agent, with Fulham returning to competitive action in the Europa League in a few weeks’ time, is also attractive.

Former Chelsea and Roma coach Claudio Ranieri is also believed to have expressed an interest in the Fulham job and would also like to return to London.

Villa have ruled out a move for former Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez — whose representatives have been pushing hard for talks — while there has also been a discussion over Wigan Athletic’s Roberto Martinez.

However, it’s thought Villa would also prefer to appoint a manager who is a free agent to replace Gérard Houllier, who left last week.

There has been contact with Carlo Ancelotti’s representatives but it is understood that the former Chelsea manager is not interested in the post.

Villa striker Darren Bent, who has pledged his future to the club after his £24 million move from Sunderland in January, and despite the likelihood of Ashley Young leaving, admitted it had been a “difficult season”.

He said: “Whoever the new manager is I’m sure the fans will give them time.

"It’s a big, big job to take. It’s been a difficult season but I feel we can build on it

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/8558313/Steve-McClaren-set-for-Aston-Villa-managers-job-as-Martin-Jol-appears-bound-for-Fulham.html