This according to Mat Kendrick of the Birmingham Mail.
This is not going to end well. McLeish is available (probably) and the kind of candidate that most any club looking for a manager would at least do their due diligence in speaking to. I sure as hell don't want him anywhere near the club, but until he's announced I have no reaction. There's no harm in speaking to the man after all and if he impresses in his interview and ends up being appointed I won't be happy but I'd like to think I would see fit to give him a chance.
I'd like to think most other people would feel the same way, but we all know that isn't going to happen. Aston Villa fans love to bitch and be outraged, and if McLeish is even spoken to in an official capacity there will be those that call for the head of Faulkner and Lerner. Nevermind all the positive things they've done for the club, all of the investment and good will, if they make a decision people don't like (even if that decision is simply to speak to a man about the vacancy) then it's all out the window.
I trust Mat Kendrick and I have no doubt that McLeish will be spoken to, but there's nothing in the linked piece that indicates to me that the club have any intention of doing anything more than that. The backlash will be swift and harsh and I fully expect to wake up to a massive shit-show in the morning. There will be protests. There will be people calling for Lerner to sell and/or Faulkner to be sacked. And it will be idiocy. Every single bit of it.