A surprise candidate has emerged as the new favourite for the Aston Villa hotseat

Roberto Di Matteo, for some reason, is leading the pack in the hunt for the next Aston Villa manager. This news comes right on the back of betting companies such as Betfair, slashing their odds to 1/2 in favour of the Italian becoming the head honcho over at Bodymoor Heath.

This is a real surprise as Villa's football board, before leaving, had specifically defined that a 'British' manager must be the man to guide Villa back to the Premier League. Di Matteo may be a clever workaround to that 'rule' as his experience in English Football probably outweighs a number of British managers.

Di Matteo found relative success at MK Dons and West Bromwich Albion, before guiding Chelsea to the Champions League trophy.

The Italian is very much in the same vein as previous coaches Paul Lambert and Tim Sherwood in that he seems to have a high talent ceiling, but having experienced the reigns of both Lambert and Sherwood, we know all too well that Di Matteo's potential floor, is what we should be concerned with.