Bruce was sacked by Villa earlier this month and has since been replaced.
David Moyes has told The Telegraph that he believes Steve Bruce is one of the “very best” managers in English football despite his recent sacking from Aston Villa earlier this month.
Bruce was sacked after guiding Villa to just three wins from 11 Championship outings despite harbouring pre-season expectations of a promotion push, after reaching the play-off final last season.
Villa have looked disjointed and without any real identity this season, players playing out of position and a number of defensive problems including a lack of cover at centre-back and a goalkeeping issue yet to be sorted.
Plenty of work for incoming manager Dean Smith, then, but Moyes reckons Bruce is still one of the best in the game and compared him alongside the likes of Jose Mourinho, Rafa Benitez and Martin O’Neill.
“I look at some of the managers who are being criticised, people like Jose Mourinho, Martin O’Neill, Steve Bruce and Rafa Benitez – I’d say they are up there with the very best,” Moyes said.
“We see this happening to managers all the time when they get to a certain age. But these are managers who have been incredibly successful over a long period of time.”
Moyes is himself out of work after an impressive stint at West Ham in which he took the east Londoners from the relegation zone in the Premier League to a comfortable 13th-placed finish.
He was in the running for the Aston Villa job following Bruce’s sacking but was never considered one of the favourites, with Thierry Henry, Rui Faria and Brendan Rodgers mentioned a lot more.
Villa begin their new era under former Brentford manager Smith on Saturday, as they play host to Graham Potter’s ball-playing Swansea City who have started in average form – sitting in 11th place.
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