Blogs

Confirmed: Bruce and coaching staff sacked by Aston Villa

|
Image for Confirmed: Bruce and coaching staff sacked by Aston Villa

Aston Villa have confirmed that Steve Bruce has been sacked with his contract being terminated with immediate effect.

The West Midlands club announced via their official website on Wednesday that Colin Calderwood, Steve Agnew, Stephen Clemence and Gary Walsh have also been axed from their senior roles in a day of long knives at Villa Park.

Villa’s 3-3 draw with Preston on Tuesday night proved to be the final nail in Bruce’s coffin, with the ex-Birmingham manager being sacked by the Championship promotion hopefuls exactly two years to the day after Roberto Di Matteo’s dismissal.

OPINION

Bruce was the right man at the right time when Aston Villa hired him to replace Di Matteo in 2016, but since the start of this year, the experienced boss has seen his side’s form get worse and worse. Losing the Championship play-off final could have been the end of Bruce but money worries perhaps stopped Tony Xia from pulling the trigger sooner. Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens have since bought the West Midlands club and have not waited long to make their first key decision at the club. Who will replace Bruce now? Brentford boss Dean Smith is probably one of the more popular choices while there is no doubt that Sam Allardyce could be mentioned as a candidate. No one knows what kind of direction that Sawiris and Edens want to take the club, so their replacement for Bruce is going to say a lot about the future of this club.

Share this article