Villa to make announcement at 6.30pm

Aston Villa said they will announce the Premier League club's new manager at 6

Aston Villa said they will announce the Premier League club's new manager at 6.30pm today, amid widespread expectation that former Celtic and Leicester City coach Martin O'Neill has got the job.

Villa made the announcement in a one-line statement on their Web site, saying that a news conference about the new manager would be held at their Villa Park headquarters.

O'Neill, an ex-Northern Ireland international midfielder who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest as a player, had been named by all British national newspapers on Friday as the successor to David O'Leary in the close season.

O'Neill, who guided Celtic to the 2003 UEFA Cup final, quit the Scottish club after five years in May 2005 to care for his sick wife Geraldine.

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The reports came amid interest from several parties in buying chairman Doug Ellis's controlling share in the former European champions.

American billionaire Randy Lerner and a consortium by local businessman Michael Neville have been linked with the Midlands club.