Danny Higginbotham has backed Steve Bruce for Aston Villa, whilst warning David Wagner and Lee Johnson about the job.
Danny Higginbotham at Stoke City
Pundit Danny Higginbotham has told Sky Sports’ EFL Weekly podcast that he thinks Steve Bruce would be a great appointment for Aston Villa.
Villa sacked manager Roberto Di Matteo a week ago, less than two days after his side lost 2-0 away at Preston North End to make it just one win in 11 Championship games.
Factor in the embarrassing EFL Cup loss away at League Two side Luton Town, and it was just one win in 12 games in charge for Di Matteo, making his sacking far from a surprise.
Former Hull manager Steve Bruce
Now, owner Tony Xia must look for another manager, and needs to get this appointment right having failed with Di Matteo.
The favourite for the job is Steve Bruce, with the 55-year-old currently out of work having left Hull City over the summer, and he even told Sky Sports on Sunday that he has held talks with Villa about taking the job.
Whilst Bruce has four promotions to the Premier League on his CV, his history with fierce rivals Birmingham City – a team he both played for and manager – has led some Villa fans to question his potentially imminent appointment.
Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner
Now, pundit Danny Higginbotham has had his say on Bruce, telling Sky Sports’ EFL Weekly podcast that he thinks the former Hull boss would be a great appointment, even though fans will point to the last ex-Birmingham manager to take charge at Villa, Alex McLeish, as a reason not to go for Bruce – though Higginbotham believes Bruce’s record in the Championship makes it a completely different situation.
Whilst Higginbotham thinks that Bruce is the ideal man to turn things around at Villa Park, he also suggested that Huddersfield boss David Wagner and Bristol City manager Lee Johnson would be better off staying where they are.
According to BBC Sport, both men are on Villa’s wish list, but Higginbotham believes they should look to win promotion with their current teams this season after superb starts to the campaign.
Bristol City manager Lee Johnson
“As a neutral, it does look like he would be a very successful man to bring in,” said Higginbotham when asked about Bruce. “I think people will look at it and think about Alex McLeish coming Birmingham to Aston Villa, but this is a completely different situation. Villa were then in the Premier League, they’re now in the Championship, and Steve Bruce has had four promotions – whether it be automatic or through the play-offs – so, for me, he’s a man who has got great experience.”
“There’s no doubt about it, they’ve got some fantastic players. You look at what they’ve got going forward as well, they should be doing a lot better than what they are, so for me it would definitely make sense for Steve Bruce to come in.”
“I think if you look at Huddersfield and Bristol City – okay, they’re not as big as Aston Villa – but they’re doing very well, the pair of them are doing excellent jobs. I just think that, they way that both of them are working at their clubs at the moment, on a continual rise, they will believe that they can get their teams promoted, so I’d be very wary [of moving to Aston Villa],” he added.
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