The safest bet, if there is such a thing, for the now-vacant Villa job after the dismissal of Tim Sherwood earlier in the week could be Nigel Pearson.
The towering manager kept Leicester City in the top-flight last season with a great run of games after Christmas. Something Aston Villa will desperately need as they dwindle at the bottom of the table.
At the start of the 2013-14 season the Foxes had put in some promising performances, similar to how the Villans showed promise going two goals up to Leicester back in September.
Looking at the other options, there is no one else that looks ready for the Villa job.
In term of experience David Moyes is the obvious candidate, but for a start he is contracted with Real Sociedad and secondly, he is not doing very well. Is he still the manager that we saw with Everton? Despite the previous experience in the Premier League, there is still a risk.
It might be a moot point though, as Moyes pledged his allegiance to his current employers. But that is just part of the pageantry that goes with courting another football club’s manager.
Rémi Garde seems to be on the lips of every fan, now heralded as some sort of saviour by many. You cannot blame Villa fans for their blind optimism in Garde, they have got nothing else. During his time with Lyon he did well under financial strain, but that was at the other end of the table. Has he got the stomach to manage a team not only in a relegation battle, but bottom of the league?
A few years managing in the French competition and a few seasons in an Arsenal shirt does not necessarily mean he is the right man for the Villa Park helm. Even if Arsene Wenger recommends him, Sir Alex Ferguson lauded Moyes and look how that turned out.
Brendan Rodgers, recently sacked by Liverpool, is another name thrown about. Ideally you would look to bring him in at the start of the summer and not throw him in to a high pressure job straight away. The Northern Irishman could probably do with a short sabbatical before returning to management.
Gus Poyet has emerged as a favourite and Villa fans will have collectively screamed NO. A man sacked by Sunderland would be a huge error, but it would not surprise most to see the board pick him. He had his chance at the Stadium of Light and in the end proved he was not good enough.
Similarly, just because Dwight Yorke has put his name forward does not mean he is a realistic candidate. Get down to the lower leagues and learn your trade, just like Sherwood should have done. Bennito Carbone has expressed his desire to manage the Villans, but minimal experience in the Itislian Serie D will not cut it with the fans.
Looking at the list of linked and available managers it is hard to pinpoint a perfect candidate. Even Nigel Pearson has his drawbacks, his infamous attitude for one would make him an unpopular appointment with many of the faithful.
Having only managed one season in the Premier League is not a great highlight either, but it is one more season than Garde has under his belt.
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The ideal candidates to steer Villa to safety have already been snapped up by other clubs. Sam Allardyce replaced Dick Advocaat at Sunderland and they may regret their decision to give Sherwood time, which allowed the Black Cats to get ‘Big Sam’ first.
It was a similar story last season when West Bromwich Albion hired Tony Pulis as their manager. Villa waited too long and ended up with Sherwood, who to his credit justified his appointment at the time.
Even if Pearson is hired and he does not do what is looking seemingly impossible in keeping the Birmingham-based outfit in the Premier League, he would then be the ideal manager to rebuild the team up in the Championship.
Whoever is in the hot seat come Monday night when Villa travel to White Hart Lane to face Tottenfam Hotspur, the fans need to get behind him.
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