Steve Bruce will make a return to Aston Villa when his Newcastle United side travels to the Midlands tonight.
Steve Bruce has admitted that he was left shocked by the physical transformation Jack Grealish made during his tenure at the club.
When Bruce, whose Newcastle side travel to Villa Park tonight, took charge of his first and only full season at the club (he initially joined in October 2017), Grealish ended up being out of action before a ball was kicked during that 2017/18 campaign.
He ended up missing half of the campaign and during that period he worked on the physical aspect of the game.
Bruce shared that when Grealish returned to action, he was left gobsmacked by how he looked after six months, as he praised Oli Stevenson for the work he did with Grealish.
“He got a horrible injury, got an injury in pre-season where he damaged a kidney,” Bruce told The Telegraph.
“But he damaged his kidney so badly and was in the hospital for three weeks. And then he came out and missed four or five months. And his mate, Oli, who we took from the Academy because we were skint and couldn’t afford one [fitness coach], we employed him for the first team.
“And he, single-handedly for me, changed him. In the gym and what he worked on – he came out after six months, and we looked at him and went ‘oh my god.’ Physique wise, he’s a beast now. I think there was a little bit of shock really [at the time] but he is a terrific player.”
Villa ended up finishing mid-table in their first season in the Championship, with Bruce in charge for around half of those matches.
But the following season, when he brought in his own players, including now Villa first-team coach John Terry, he guided the club to the play-off final, where they were beaten by Fulham.
Bruce was sacked months later, and he now finds himself managing his boyhood club in Newcastle, as he will come up against Dean Smith, who is also managing his own boyhood club.
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