Aston Villa supporters' groups appear to be pretty unanimous in the view that former Birmingham City boss, Alex McLeish, who could be about to take over the reins at Villa Park, will not be regarded by the fans as a welcome addition to the Villa fold.
"We don't want him," one said. "And we're norravin' him. Simple as that innit."
Whilst it's clear that Villa are in urgent need of a new manager, following Gerard Houllier's retirement from the game, and failed attempts to lure Roberto Martinez and Owen Coyle, from Wigan and Bolton respectively to the club, the fans are adamant that they don't want former Blues boss McLeish at the helm.
The objections, somewhat surprisingly, are not purely based on the fact that until a few days ago, McLeish was the boss of Villa's most bitter local rivals - although it cannot be denied that this is a factor - but appear to be more focused on the dull, defensive game which Birmingham have been playing under McLeish's stewardship.
The Villa fans don't want dull football at Villa Park - they want sexy football, and many appear to be prepared to return their season tickets as a mark of protest, should McLeish be offered the post.
"We wanna see a team like Barcelona at the Villa," one said. "Not a team like Doncaster Rovers. No disrespect to Doncaster Rovers like, but you know worra mean - we won the European Cup once for God's sake. We have an image to uphold. Our aim is to get this city purron the map as a hotbed of football. It's footy mad is this city, especially the Villa bits - we've got fans who come in from as far away as Dudley and Kidderminster you know - yet all people seem to wanna talk about when you mention Brum is the bloody Bull Ring, Baltis, Spaghetti Junction, canals and Adrian fucking Chiles. Alex McLeish isn't likely to change that in a rush mate, I can tell yer."
More as we get it.
