Kevin MacDonald 'Honoured' To Take Charge

Our consecutive reserve title winning boss, has said he is very honoured that Randy has chosen to take him as caretaker manager following the untimely departure of Martin O'Neill.

Speaking on the Official Site as the dust begins to settle on the last 48 hours, MacDonald promised that every player at the club will be starting with a clean slate under him and that he is very excited to be leading the troops out for the Wet Spam clash.

It also goes without saying that he has confirmed he will certainly be taking into account last season's reserve team when deciding which first 11 to go with...afterall he knows them well enough!

'I feel very honoured, really honoured, having been here a long time.'

MacDonald acknowledges the talent Villa have seen in the hotseat down the years, Graham Taylor, Ron Atkinson, Little and he's delighted he is now part of that number.

'Whether it lasts for a long time or short time, who knows? But to think I have been in the same position they have been in, I am very proud.'

If the dressing room was as fractured as the press suggest, and life at Bodymoor was as unideal as rumours suggest then the departure of Martin has certainly seen staff and players pull in the same direction for potentially the first time in a long time.

Kevin admitted he'd been working with U18 coach Tony McAndrew to ready the players for the opening game of the season, and also admitted that several other backroom staff had gladly become involved in other roles at the training ground following Martin's resignation.

Oh if only a touch of Sid's passing ability can rub off on our midfielders it'll all have been worth it!

'Obviously with other staff leaving, we have moved Tony up to work with myself, Gordon and Sean Verity to work with the reserves and Steve Burns and Ben Petty to work with the youth team.'

MacDonald admits training so far, numbers wise has been helped by a few injuries and international obligations, but for the players who remained he believed they were all bright and enjoyed it but he's looking forward to having everyone back properly.

He also paid tribute to O'Neill by admitting that he had learnt a lot from him in how to motivate players and cope with the pressure of being a Premier League manager and that O'Neill had instilled a winning mentality in the first team, that had obviously filtered down through the levels.

But by the same token, and following on from Curtis Davies' comments the other day, he equally admitted that a number of the players would be happy because they weren't playing under O'Neill.

Starting with a clean slate and being a shoe in for the game are two different things though, and he's made this clear to the team.

'The thing they have to realise is they have to be playing to the best of their ability to get into the team. Just because they haven't been getting a game doesn't mean I'm going to pick them. I'll pick what I think is the right team - in my opinion - to win the game on Saturday.'

Well said that man! Spot on!

As for the obvious youthful connotations given his real day job, he added:

'Having worked with a lot of the young players over the years, I'll look on them as potential players. It's not just the first team squad, there's also a group of youngsters that are knocking on the door. Who knows what might happen.'

Vital Villa on:

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