Ridgewell left Villa for local rivals Birmingham City nine years ago.
Former Aston Villa and Birmingham City defender Liam Ridgewell has told Talksport there are more positives than negatives to the Villans appointing Steve Bruce – his old boss at Blues.
Bruce is the early front-runner to replace Roberto di Matteo at Villa Park, with the Italian having lost his job on Monday following just one league win all season.
Alex McLeish was the last manager to cross the second city divide when he moved from City to Villa in 2011, but lasted only a season in charge.
As such, many Villans have expressed reservations about going for Bruce, despite the 55-year-old’s credentials at Championship level.
Bruce, who left Hull City on the eve of the new Premier League season, won two promotions apiece with Blues and the Yorkshire side, and Ridgewell feels his St. Andrew’s connections would soon be forgotten.
“I moved from Villa to Blues and the fans were great with me,” he told Talksport on Wednesday.
“Hopefully if Bruce does go in there they can get behind him also.
“I think there are more positives to negatives in appointing Bruce.
“He is a strong-willed man who knows what he wants from a team and a player, and he won’t accept anything less.
“If he went to Villa and started winning games, the fans would forget it quickly.”
Ridgewell arrived at Villa Park from West Ham United in 2001 and quickly established himself as a first team regular.
The versatile defender later spent five years at St. Andrew’s, winning the League Cup in 2011, before moving to another local rival in West Bromwich Albion.
Now 32, Ridgewell recently lifted the MLS Cup with Portland Timbers.
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