Big shock. That’s all I know right now, but it’s absolutely confirmed. Not a joke.

Martin O’Neill has resigned with immediate effect. Kevin McDonald has been named as caretaker manager ahead of the game against West Ham on Saturday.

I’ll drop links in here as they emerge.

This is the club statement in full:-

AVFC
Aston Villa can confirm that Martin O’Neill has resigned as manager of the football club with immediate effect.

Kevin MacDonald, reserve team manager, has assumed the role of caretaker manager and will prepare the team for the opening Barclays Premier League game of the season against West Ham on Saturday at Villa Park.

Paul Faulkner, chief executive of Aston Villa, said: “The club would like to thank Martin for the great work he has done at Aston Villa over the past four years. He has helped to establish the club in the upper echelons of the Premier League, has taken us to Wembley and we have also qualified for European competition for the past three seasons under his management. We wish him the best in the future.”

Martin O’Neill said: “I have enjoyed my time at Aston Villa immensely. It’s obviously a wrench to be leaving such a magnificent club. I would like to pay tribute to the Villa players, my coaching staff and the Villa supporters for all the support and encouragement they have given both the club and me personally during my time as manager. I wish them all the best for the future. I will obviously be assisting the club in the immediate short-term with regard to the handover of my duties.”

No further comment will be made by either Aston Villa or Martin O’Neill until further notice.

16:49: At this stage there’s nothing more worth adding. The media are all just rehashing this statement and my information is that no one at Villa Park are answering their phones.

The timing is obviously about as bad as it gets. Whatever the cause, it’s serious.

15:10: In other, unrelated news, Nicky Shorey has joined WBA.

15:12: The players are in the dark too according to BBC’s Mark Chapman.

15:26: Of course, the crowd who have wanted MON out for some time now must face the reality of thinking seriously about who can replace him. Not easy.

18:16: The last statistical analysis I did of MON’s reign was back in April and was a comparison with John Gregory as he had just reached the same number of league games in charge. There’s links in the top of that post to previous stats posts.