Aston Villa want to name former Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish as new manager within days

The highly inflammatory move is likely to be met with an injunction from Birmingham City, McLeish’s former employers. They are demanding £5.4 million, in line with his contract, following his resignation by email on Sunday.

Birmingham do not expect McLeish to return as their manager but do want to receive recompense. They have already started the process of recruiting a replacement, drawing up a six-strong shortlist.

The suspicion is that McLeish, who is on holiday in Corsica, has already met Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner to agree one of the most controversial appointments in English football.

However the saga is likely to now be mired in legal argument with sources close to Birmingham owner Carson Yeung accusing Villa of “dirty tricks” over McLeish who had claimed, earlier in the day, that he quit because he had been undermined by the Hong Kong businessman.

“We’ve been expecting these claims to be made,” one well-placed source close to Yeung said.

“Aston Villa have been preaching about being honourable and then we see this happen. McLeish would not have stayed on as Birmingham manager and asked the club to sign four players that he wanted if he was so unhappy at the end of the season. Carson will not allow Birmingham fans to suffer in this way.”

Birmingham are suspicious about the timing of McLeish’s decision to quit and Villa’s behaviour and are determined to press the compensation claim.

There is a great deal of anger at the timing, especially as Villa had made so much out of not wanting to speak to Mark Hughes after he left Fulham, because they had a good relationship with the club, even though the Welshman’s contract had come to an end.

In a statement released last night, Villa dismissed Birmingham’s claim that McLeish was not a free agent, and dispelled accusations their recruitment policy is influenced by fans in the most emphatic way possible.

It read: “We intend to interview him imminently to make a decision regarding his candidacy to become Villa manager. We would like to emphasise that, in deciding to interview Alex, the board has taken his tenure at our local rivals and the strong emotions associated with this very seriously.

“We are determined, still, not to allow that 3½-year post to disqualify him should he be the best candidate for the role of Aston Villa manager.”

McLeish’s appointment will be met by protests by Villa supporters, who are to hold a demonstration outside Villa Park today, with many threatening to burn season tickets.

The Facebook page "Aston Villa Supporters –We don’t want Alex McLeish”, started on Monday and has more than 13,000 members, while the club appear to be under pressure, having been knocked back by Roberto Martínez and changing their mind on Steve McClaren because of a fans’ backlash.

Villa’s announcement came just hours after McLeish claimed that he had no choice but to resign after boardroom interference in his transfer policy and “aggressive communications” from the club. McLeish, 52, used the League Managers’ Association to respond to criticism from Birmingham over the manner of his departure.

Richard Bevan, the LMA chief executive, attacked Birmingham’s acting chairman Peter Pannu for releasing confidential details of the Scotsman’s contract, “without a doubt a breach of confidence”.

Bevan said that McLeish’s relationship with the board had been deteriorating. He said: “Alex decided he had to resign as there had been serious issues for some time between him and the board at Birmingham.

“It is disappointing that some clubs don’t follow normal principles of employment law – which can undermine the game, the club and even the community the club is based in.

“Mr Pannu, a senior member of the board, has put into the public domain confidential information contained in Alex’s contract.

"This is without doubt a breach of confidence. There were other issues as well, including not being properly consulted on player transfers, and making a number of aggressive and seriously undermining communications, which ultimately made his position untenable.”

Birmingham responded by saying the case was now with their lawyers.

“It’s not appropriate to disclose anything further and we will update supporters with the progress as soon as we can,” the club said in a statement.

McLeish agreed a new deal at Birmingham last September and has more than two years of his present contract to run.