Report: Aston Villa contact Andrea Stramaccioni and Dean Smith over manager’s job

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Failure to take Aston Villa up could cost Steve Bruce his job, with Brentford’s Dean Smith and ex-Inter coach Stramaccioni allegedly considered.

Could defeat in the Championship play-off final be the final straw for Steve Bruce at Aston Villa?

The 57-year-old was appointed by Villa in October 2016 to lead the fallen giants back to the Premier League, but a 1-0 loss against Fulham at Wembley means one of the most historic clubs in English football will have to make do with another season of Championship football.

But Bruce, who was won promotion from the second tier four times in his long managerial career, might not be given a third chance to succeed. The Daily Star reported that Leeds United are monitoring the former Birmingham and Hull boss should he lose his job at Villa Park.

And, according to Tuttomercatoweb, Villa have identified two possible replacements for Bruce and are already in talks with one.

It is understood that Andrea Stramaccioni has met Villa executives to discuss replacing Bruce in the Midlands.

The Italian has had a strange managerial career so far. He was named Inter Milan boss in 2012 after sterling work with the youth team. But the then-36-year-old lasted just one campaign with Inter finishing a dismal ninth, failing to qualify for Europe for the first time in 15 seasons.

Stramaccioni then led Udinese to a disappointing 16th-placed finish a year later and has also endured forgettable spells at Panathiniakos and Sparta Prague, who finished fifth in the Czech league last season.

So Brentford boss Dean Smith, who TMW claim has also been contacted by Villa, would be a much safer choice.

Smith led the Bees to ninth in 2017/18 and the Londoners have played some of the most attractive football in the Championship under his stewardship.