Former Celtic and Aston Villa striker Alan McInally has backed the arrival of Phil Thompson to Villa Park.
Through their appearances on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday, McInally has developed a friendship with Thompson, who has been lined up as Gerard Houllier's No.2.
"Phil and Gerard Houllier were a partnership at Liverpool and were pretty successful there," McInally told the Birmingham Mail.
"I can understand totally why Houllier would want Phil as his assistant.
"The good thing from me being an ex-Villa player is I'll be able to take his Liverpool glasses off and slip a pair of Villa glasses on!
"I've warned him to within an inch of his life never to be horrible to Villa when we're on telly together!
"He's a good lad. He's a football man. He's been incredibly successful as a player and got to a position where he stayed with the team he was very fond of as an assistant to Houllier and they know each other inside out."
