Former Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov has insisted that he will be back at Villa Park in the foreseeable future, but only as the club's manager.
The Bulgarian has expressed his will to manage the club that he made 185 appearances for between 2006 and 2013, but admitted that it is 'way too early' for him to assume the role now after Roberto Di Matteo's sacking.
Petrov, speaking to TalkSport via "?Birmingham Mail, has this to say regarding the Aston Villa 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."
Aston Villa parted company with Roberto Di Matteo after he managed only one win in 11 league games.
"It is about results. If you don't get results, you obviously don't stay in your job," added the Bulgarian.
"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."
Petrov has performed roles among the Villa coaching staff before. In 2013 he was the assistant coach for the academy, and in 2015 he was brought in as a first team coach by Tim Sherwood.
@SRands1978 would love petrov as an assistant. Villa through and through
He went on to discuss further the decision to sack Di Matteo so soon.
"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."