Three Championship managers have been sacked in December, is the Aston Villa boss next on the chopping block?
Steve Bruce manager of Aston Villa shows his frustration during the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County and Aston Villa at iPro Stadium on December 16, 2017 in Derby, England.
Aston Villa have dropped out of the play-off places in the Championship after their defeat to Brentford on Boxing Day.
The Villains are now level on points with Middlesbrough, who parted company with Garry Monk last week. Villa haven’t won a league game since the 25th November, drawing three and losing two in what’s been a bleak December for the Midlands club.
Villa were expected to be challenging for promotion this season and after a poor start to the season, Steve Bruce’s side recovered well to find themselves fourth by the end of November, within touching distance of the automatic promotion places.
Bradley Johnson of Derby County header is saved by Sam Johnstone of Aston Villa during the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby County and Aston Villa at iPro Stadium on December 16,…
But Bruce’s side are now eighth, three points behind sixth and nine points adrift of second. It’s by no means a disaster however the majority of Villa fans would have expected to be a lot closer to the top two than they are. The situation was similar at the Riverside. After a big summer of spending, the Teesiders expected to be closer to the top two so opted for a change.
The gap to second isn’t the only concern. Villa have scored just 32 Championship goals so far this season, only Preston North End have scored fewer out of the sides who currently occupy the top half.
Bruce has been in charge for over a year now and has had two transfer windows so has had more time than Monk. With the money spent, particularly last winter, it’s fair to say that Villa are underachieving to be outside of the play-offs although it must also be said that it’s the first time since October that they’ve been outside the play-off places so theoretically they’ve only been underachieving for a very short space of time.
dSteve Bruce, manager of Aston Villa looks on with Colin Calderwood during the Sky Bet Championship match between Aston Villa and Sunderland at Villa Park on November 21, 2017 in…
Aston Villa are one of, if not the, biggest clubs in the division so that alone brings an expectation which Bruce inherited when he took the job. Bruce has been under pressure to deliver promotion since arriving at Villa Park but their current position shouldn’t threaten his job just yet.
There are still 22 games to play and Bruce has been without captain John Terry, who’s been influential since joining the club, since the start of November. Villa won just one of their first seven games of the season and were 18th in the table in September. The 56-year-old’s job was under threat then but Villa stuck by him and Villa won nine of their next 12 games so Dr Tony Xia seems to have more patience than other Chairmen in the division.
Bruce’s CV and exploits earlier in the season prove he can get Villa going again, with the help of key players returning from injury.
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