Barry Fry slams Aston Villa fans before taking swipe at Tony Xia

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Aston Villa fans are an expectant bunch, and so they should be.

Peterborough United Chief Executive Barry Fry took a swipe at ungrateful Villa fans, when speaking to the Birmingham Mail, suggesting that the Villa Park faithful do not know how lucky they are to have the 56-year-old in charge of their club.

The west Midlands outfit currently sit in fifth position in the Championship table, just five points adrift of the automatic promotion play-off spots, but Bruce has by no means been immune from criticism, with some sections of the Villa support calling for him to be sacked.

Villa seem to have emerged from their mid-season slump, having chalked up consecutive league wins, and a top-two finish all of a sudden seems like a very real prospect for them.

Click HERE to read: Aston Villa’s five-point plan for the January transfer window

In all fairness though, that should be the minimum that Villa fans expect, considering the money that the former Manchester United captain has spent during his time in charge at Villa Park.

Fry, though, told the Birmingham Mail why Villa fans should be grateful to have a manager of Bruce’s ilk in charge of their club:

“Villa fans do not know how lucky they are to have Steve Bruce as their manager. Steve could easily have been Manchester United or England’s manager let alone Villa’s. I can’t understand some of the stick that Steve has received since he took over at the club, his record at getting Championship teams into the Premier League is second to none.”

He then went on to criticise club owner Dr Tony Xia, for his failure to sufficiently back the 56-year-old in the transfer market:

“Villa have been in turmoil since Martin O’Neill left in my opinion. What I am amazed at is the lack of ambition shown by the Villa owner – why buy Villa if you don’t want to take them back to the Premier League? They have a great stadium, training ground and a huge fan base – I cannot believe the club is not backing Steve to the hilt.”

Next up for Villa is an FA Cup tie with Fry’s Peterborough on Saturday, and there will surely be a red-hot atmosphere at Villa Park, following the 72-year-old’s comments.