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Alex McLeish has reacted to the latest Aston Villa managerial change by insisting he would have turned the club around given more time.

McLeish, whose successor Paul Lambert has now been replaced by Tim Sherwood reckons the Villa Park faithful “didn’t see the best of me” because he was still drained from his Birmingham City experience.

Villa are no further forward than they were almost three years ago when McLeish was sacked by Randy Lerner after his first season in charge.

They are currently second bottom in the Premier League table after Sherwood's first match ended in an agonising last gasp 2-1 defeat to Stoke.

The former Birmingham City boss believes his attempt to rebuild his reputation overseas is evidence he could have eventually transformed Villla.

McLeish has lifted Genk from mid-table to the top six of the Belgium Pro League after claiming the club was in turmoil when he took over last summer.

90 minutes in the life of a Villa boss - Tim Sherwood runs the gamut of emotions

Speaking on talkSPORT about Villa’s current relegation battle, the 56-year-old Scot said: “It’s massive for the club, they’re a huge club Villa.

“Possibly I was in there a little bit drained from my Birmingham experience. They probably didn’t see the best of me at Villa.

“At the same time it was a tough job to try and keep the guys stable in terms of making the financial figures add up a little bit. I know that Paul Lambert had to do that as well.

“It’s never easy when you lose quality. The people expect you still to be up there in the top six.

“We had quite a good first half of the season and we beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It kind of went a wee bit pear-shaped when I lost Robbie Keane and Darren Bent for the last 15 games.

“We had the guys there that couldnt score the year before with Gerard Houllier. So it was quite a nervous last part of the season.

“There was no chance that I could do that job in a year to change that club. But I’m quite confident with the job I’ve done in Belgium I would have turned in around.”

After an ill-fated 40 day spell managing Nottingham Forest in 2012-13, McLeish accepted an over to manage Genk last August and is enjoying the challenge.

“When I came in we were 14th in the table, struggling a wee bit for confidence, we’re now up to sixth, in the top six and hopefully on schedule for the play-offs so the boys deserve fantastic credit,” he added.

“It was a difficult season for the club. It was a bit in turmoil at the beginning of the season in terms of politics and fan trouble so we’ve steadied the ship and we’re heading in the right direction.”

Genk is the former club of Christian Benteke and McLeish has revealed that the powerful Villa striker was among his targets when he was the manager at Villa Park.

“We had Benteke on the radar at Aston Villa when I left – he was in the database,” added McLeish. “I never got the chance to say ‘let’s go for that guy’ so I can’t take the credit for the actual signing, but we definitely had him on the database.”

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