Former Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has described Tony Xia’s Twitter activity as “Donald Trump like” during a recent podcast.
McLeish, who managed the Midland club during the 2011/12 season, has delivered his verdict on the owner’s social media presence and compared the situation to his time at Birmingham City.
The Chinese businessman has been known for his outspoken and honest verdicts about the Villa squad on Twitter, but the former Birmingham boss thinks that it has the potential to undermine manager Steve Bruce.
“It’s kind of Donald Trump like isn’t it? It’s just a modern day phenomenon,” McLeish explained on the Totally Football League Show podcast.
“It’s difficult for me coming from a different era to understand why the chairman would want to speak so much, but it’s his club and he can do what he wants.
“I think it is very easy to say something that maybe affects the gaffer, the manager and you have to be careful what you say.
“I had it at Birmingham with Karren and the two Davids. They said one or two things towards the end of the season when we were going for promotion.
“I said look if you can just let me do the football speaking I’d be much obliged. We had a good agreement, very amicable and we went on to get that promotion back to the Premier League.”
Villa host Middlesbrough for the second time in seven days on Tuesday as they clash in the Carabao Cup before they prepare to face Nottingham Forest in the Championship on Saturday.
OPINION
Mcleish’s thoughts on Xia Twitter activity couldn’t be more accurate, and although the businessman appears like one of the fans, this can be damaging. Any frustrations or comments he’s made during more difficult times at the club just sparks uproar from fans and ultimately puts more pressure on Steve Bruce. Xia should be supporting his staff as much as possible rather than trying to ingratiate himself with the fans. The owner has remained quiet on his Twitter account since Villa’s 3-0 victory over Barnsley which suggest that the owner either only tweets his frustrations or he has learned to remain quiet on football matters. Hopefully for Bruce it’s the latter.