Aston Villa

The former Liverpool and Lyon boss is hoping to officially take charge of Villa this week and his first game in charge could be against Bolton at home on Saturday.

Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald will remain in control for Monday’s Premier League trip to Stoke City (Stoke 6/4, draw 9/4, Villa 9/5 – 90 minutes) as Houllier finalises his departure from his role with the French Football Federation, where he was technical director.

Houllier guided Liverpool to second in the Premiership in 2002 and also famously won the FA Cup, Worthington Cup and Uefa Cup with the Reds in 2001 before then guiding Lyon to the French title in 2006 and 2007.

Some Villa fans have questioned whether the 63-year-old was the right choice to succeed Martin O’Neill but winger Downing has backed him to do well.

“If you look at what he did at Lyon and Liverpool he’s got a good record,” the former Middlesbrough star said.

“It’s a great club, with good players and great facilities, so everything is in place for him to do very well.”

Downing was impressed by Houllier’s press conference last week and believes he can improve Villa’s fortunes.

“I saw his press conference when it got announced that he was the new manager and he came across very well,” he added.

“If you look at his past record as a manager, you don’t get jobs like that if you’re not very good.”

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