Aston Villa have removed Under 23 coach Kevin McDonald from working directly with players whilst they conduct an investigation into his behaviour, as reported by the Daily Mail.

One of his former players, Gareth Farrelly, has claimed that McDonald was both verbally and physically aggressive during his time at Villa and took him to 'to a place at 20 that nobody should have to go to.'

Farrelly has spoken out after a similar probe against McDonald in 2016 found no evidence of such behaviour and he subsequently returned to his role within the Villa set up.

43-year Farrelly is a one-time Republic of Ireland international, who also played for Everton and Bolton. He's since retired from the game and become a qualified lawyer, but in a recent article he claimed the atmosphere at Villa was 'toxic' during his time there.

He's quoted in the Daily Mail article as saying: "'His regime destroyed far more kids than he ever developed. If people had been treated better, fairly, you can't say they would definitely have made it but they would have had an opportunity to develop and kick on more."

Aston Villa have released a short statement, confirming their swift action and what happens next:

"The club referred these allegations immediately to its local authority and the football authorities, and with their agreement has commissioned an independent investigation into the former player's complaints. That investigation will commence immediately and as a neutral act Kevin has been temporarily reassigned to non-player-facing duties pending completion of the investigation."

58-year old McDonald played for Leicester, Liverpool and Coventry in his early career, as well as having a brief spell managing Swindon Town in 2013.

The Verdict

Swift, decisive action. That's what Villa have taken, not quite a suspension, but certainly enough to show they're taking the allegations seriously.

This is a very concerning situation, the safeguarding of young players from all types of negative behaviour is very important indeed. Villa have some incredibly talented lads in the Under 23 set up too, anything that might hold them back needs to be dealt with.