ALEX McLEISH used to bristle at the suggestion he was a lucky manager.

He would probably settle for such a handle now. The decision yesterday by Aston Villa to sack him after just 11 months in charge was not a huge surprise, but it would have felt like a thudding blow to the 53 year-old regardless. A career projectory that has largely nosed upwards since he became Motherwell manager in 1994, has gone into freefall, McLeish's reputation as a savvy operator who gets the best out of his players suddenly in question.

There was the expected opprobrium when he moved to Villa from rivals Birmingham City last summer, but that would have been quickly forgotten had he presided over a successful team. Instead what transpired was one of Villa's worst seasons for years, the poor results compounded by increasing levels of criticism that this crop of players were not the easiest on the eye.

Banners in the crowd at the final home game of the season suggested as much. "Football with Eck, uglier than Shrek". . . "It's not where you came from, it's where you're taking us." Villa narrowly avoided joining their city rivals in the nPower Championship but there would be no reprieve for McLeish, sacked on the first day of the close season.

There were mitigating circumstances. Financial constraints meant a sizeable reduction in his wage budget, while Villa also lost several key players to injury and illness at different points of the season, including striker Darren Bent and captain Stiliyan Petrov. He could have pled for a further year to turn it around with a bigger and healthier squad, but the club's board of directors elected not to give him that chance.

Just four home wins all season – and a points total less than Birmingham accrued when they were relegated with McLeish at the helm the previous season – meant Randy Lerner and his cohorts had seen enough. The American wasn't the first, and will not be the last, owner to act in such a manner if sticking with an unpopular manager threatens to keep supporters away. The fans had spoken and Villa listened.

What now for McLeish? A brief hiatus from the game might not be the worst idea to begin with. He has only had one short break since starting in management almost 20 years ago, the six months between leaving Rangers in 2006 and his appointment as Scotland manager early in 2007. But there will be an eagerness to get going again, to restore his reputation at the earliest opportunity.

It seems hard to see a Barclays Premier League club offering him an immediate way back in – for fear of reprisals from their supporters as much as any doubts over McLeish's abilities – but there will be Championship clubs who note his triumphs at Rangers – nine trophies in five years – and success in delivering promotion and the League Cup at Birmingham and reckon he will be worth a shot.

Moving abroad may hold a certain appeal, too. McLeish always had a fascination with French football and recruited regularly from there during his time in charge at Hibernian and Rangers. Always keen to broaden his horizons, he may elect to have a bash at somewhere like Saint-Etienne, Toulouse or Rennes if a suitable Ligue 1 vacancy were to emerge.

Then there is the admittedly slim possibility of a return to Aberdeen. McLeish stated after leaving Rangers that he could not envisage himself managing in the Scottish Premier League ever again, but may come round to a different way of thinking should he remain unemployed for an extended period of time. One of the Gothenburg Greats, the prospect of McLeish and Willie Miller, Aberdeen's director of football development, re-uniting would have some in the north-east drooling in anticipation.

McLeish would likely enjoy such adulation from the supporters. It is in short supply right now.