City In November 1994, MacDonald was named caretaker manager of Leicester City for a short period between the departure of Brian Little and the arrival of Mark McGhee. Aston Villa In August 2010, following the immediate resignation of former Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill, he assumed the role of caretaker manager at the club. He had previously been the manager of Villa's successful reserve side and assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national side under Steve Staunton. MacDonald had been employed by Aston Villa since 1995 and had held a number of different positions at the club. MacDonald's first game as caretaker manager came at Villa Park against West Ham United on the opening day of the 2010–11 Premier League season which Villa won 3–0 including the last goal for James Milner as a Villa player. He then led Villa to a 1–1 draw in their Europa League qualifier first-leg match against Rapid Vienna. His second league game in charge resulted in a 6–0 defeat to Newcastle United. Villa named Gérard Houllier as their permanent manager on 8 September 2010; however, MacDonald remained in charge for the following two Premier League matches against Stoke City and Bolton due to Houllier having to work his notice with the French Football Federation. With the departure of Houllier and his number 2, Gary McAllister, the Villa hierarchy let it be known that MacDonald and Gordon Cowans would have futures at the club no matter who the new manager was. On 13 December 2018, Aston Villa suspended MacDonald after allegations of bullying from ex-midfielder Gareth Farrelly. Farrelly gave an interview to the Guardian newspaper where he described MacDonald as being "relentlessly negative" to him in the 1990s. Furthermore, Farrelly claimed MacDonald was "incredibly aggressive, with constant verbal and physical bullying". Other players came forward to give information including Greg Walters a trainee at Aston Villa between 1998 and 2000. Villa initiated an internal investigation and MacDonald was temporarily reassigned to non-player facing duties. On 20 August 2019, Aston Villa announced MacDonald's departure with immediate effect. Aston Villa apologised to all former players that came forward as part of the investigation into Kevin Macdonald's behaviour. In the clubs statement it said "Aston Villa wishes to apologise to all former players who were affected by behaviour which would not be tolerated by the Club today". Swindon Town On 28 February 2013, it was announced MacDonald