The Aston Villa manager is reportedly under pressure at Villa Park.
Aston Villa chairman Tony Xia is lining up Steve McClaren as manager should he decide to sack Roberto Di Matteo, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
The Villans have endured a poor start to life in the Championship, picking up just 10 points from their first 11 games in the division.
Their poor form continued on Saturday afternoon as they were comfortably beaten 2-0 by Preston North End.
The result left Di Matteo’s team just two points outside of the relegation zone, a far cry from the promotion push they were hoping for before the start of the campaign.
The pressure is mounting on manager Di Matteo as a result, with the Italian busy batting away questions about his future following the loss on Saturday.
He told the club’s official website that “there is total support from the club, absolutely. There’s no other indication.”
However, the Daily Mail reports that there is uncertainty behind the scenes, claiming there is increasing pressure from the Villa board following the club’s start to the season.
According to the newspaper, chairman Xia is already weighing up potential replacements and among them is McClaren.
The former Newcastle United manager has been out of work since leaving St. James’ Park in March this year.
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