Aston Villa set to make shock Mark Delaney decision

Aston Villa are reportedly set to move on under-23 manager Mark Delaney this summer.

Delaney has been in charge of the team since 2015, but Villa are planning for a change despite the former defender being successful in bringing through a number of first-team players. Recently, Tim Iroegbunam and Tommi O'Reilly have both been promoted to Steven Gerrard's first-team.

They followed the same pathway Jacob Ramsey, Jaden Philogene-Bidace and Carney Chukwuemeka took in previous seasons. But 45-year-old Delaney has already been informed of the club's decision to let him go, according to the Athletic.

The under-23 team completed their Premier League 2 Division 2 season on Monday and finished 10th after winning nine games and losing 12. One of Delaney's biggest achievements with the under-23s came when he and the youngsters were called up to play Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool at Villa Park back in January 2020 to fulfil the FA Cup third round fixture.

Louie Barry drew Villa level at the end of the first half and scored one of the club's goals of the season as Delaney's side went toe-to-toe with Klopp's Reds. The game ended 4-1, but the Villa kids put up a proud fight against the likes of Mohamed Salah, Thiago and Sadio Mane.

Delaney made a total of 193 appearances for Villa during his time as a player between 1999 and 2007.