Aston Villa legend Stiliyan Petrov says one day he WILL manage his beloved club… but not today
Bulgarian admits he is "not ready" to jump into management yet as he earns his coaching badges
STILIYAN PETROV says one day he WILL manage Aston Villa - but not today.
Roberto Di Matteo was sacked on Monday after he won just one of his 11 league games in charge.
striker Marlon Harewood - to focus on his coaching badges.
And the Bulgarian, who won a vicious battle with leukaemia after being diagnosed in 2012, maintains he is not yet ready to jump into management.
Petrov, 37, told : "I have always been honest with myself and I know that I am not ready for that job.
"I know one day I will become [Villa manager], but it is way too early for me.
"They need a good manager, an experienced manager, who can bring stability to the club."
Petrov claims he was not surprised by Villa chief Dr Tony Xia's decision to swing the axe on an under performing Di Matteo.
He added: "It is about results. If you don't get results, you obviously don't stay in your job.
"Fans expect the club to get promotion back to the Premier League but instead of getting closer they went further and further so I'm not really surprised that the chairman made the decision and made it very quickly.
"They have done quite good business [in the summer], they have a very, very good team, but it just seems that the manager couldn't get them to play, to build them, to make the balance, to make them play together.
"The chairman made a very quick decision because he knows he needs somebody who can change it quickly because he wants this club back in the Premier League. To do that, he needed to make a dramatic decision, and he made it.
"We wait and see who will be the next one and I hope he can do a better job."
Lee Johnson and Steve Bruce are both in line to take charge at Villa, while former boss Tim Sherwood hinted he would relish a return to the club.
Watch ALL the goals from the Premier League before anyone else for FREE plus all the latest news, fixtures and results and live match commentary all on the go with the new Sun Football App – click here to download