Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has tried to turn Mile Jedinak into a centre-back with disastrous results for the Championship club.
There is one damning fact which makes a mockery of Aston Villa’s recruitment this summer. James Chester is the club’s only natural and senior centre-back.
Thanks to a financial crisis which enveloped the club after their play-off final defeat to Fulham in May, it was always expected that veteran defenders John Terry and Chris Samba would not get new contracts. The out-of-favour Tommy Elphick, meanwhile, was loaned to Hull on deadline day with no time to sign a replacement.
And that has left Chester, Villa’s reigning Player of the Year, partnering Mile Jedinak for most of their Championship season so far.
Jedinak, a defensive midfielder by trade, filled in in defence on a couple of occasions last season but he never really looked like a reliable, long-term option. So it should come as no surprise that he has struggled so much in his five Championship starts in 2017/18.
And it seems that Jedinak’s display in the 4-1 humiliation at Sheffield United on Saturday is the final straw.
According to the Sun, the under-fire Steve Bruce is eager to bring the 37-year-old Terry back to Villa Park; a move that seems as desperate as it does sensible.
A return for the former England skipper should bring an end to the Jedinak experiment; one that has blown up in Bruce’s face.
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