According to an official statement published on the club's website, Aston Villa and Birmingham City have settled their dispute over the appointment of Alex McLeish for an undisclosed fee. The settlement extends to all ongoing negotiations between the two clubs, so it would appear as though some members of McLeish's backroom staff at Birmingham City will now have the all-clear to move across the city to Villa Park.

This news isn't especially earth-shattering but it is of course a positive as it means the odds of a protracted legal battle hanging over the club's summer have all but vanished. That just leaves a protracted Stewart Downing transfer saga as the thing most likely to make the run-up to the season completely miserable, so at least we're coming out ahead in that regard. 

Hopefully now that things have been made nice and legal and McLeish has a staff in place we'll begin to see some movement on the transfer front. As excited as I am about Shay Given (which is moderately) it would be nice to actually have the signing, you know, confirmed and everything. And I wouldn't mind at least momentarily thinking that we'll be bringing in another player or two.