Birmingham City chief Peter Pannu is ready to go to war with Alex McLeish and Aston Villa.
The Scottish Sun says McLeish, who is on holiday in Corsica, has a contract which changes on July 1 with his wages HALVED to £800,000 following relegation. That also means his release clause goes down to £3m.
Pannu claims McLeish - and Aston Villa - are desperate to get the deal done before then.
He added: "The reason they have to utilise this scheme is they know I will not grant them permission to talk. Alex goes on a trip to Corsica and Villa owner Randy Lerner has got a jet. How do I, unless I've got a satellite device, know they have not met?
"There is no way I can actually find they have planned anything together. I just got an email from Aston Villa, finally replying to our queries. As expected their legal department said: 'Now Alex McLeish is a free agent having resigned we are free to speak to him'.
"This confirms all suspicions. This shows what has happened."
Pannu now predicts McLeish, who has continually clashed with the Brum board, will claim constructive dismissal - something the acting chairman calls 'bulls**t'.
He said: "He thinks he can walk away because the £5.4m compensation is too much for Villa.
"The urgency of the whole thing with this email coming from Villa shows they can't even wait 15 days when the compensation goes into the second year and goes down to £3m.
"Because of this the option left to Alex McLeish and his advisors, is to make allegations against Carson Yeung and the board for interference or whatever bulls**t excuse he wants to show constructive dismissal."
