Raved about by Bruce last month, Sheffield Wednesday’s Bannan says a boss like his current one could have saved Aston Villa career

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The Sheffield Wednesday star impressed Aston Villa’s new manager in March’s meeting between the two teams.

Sheffield Wednesday’s Barry Bannan applauds the Aston Villa fans

Praised by Steve Bruce a month ago, Sheffield Wednesday’s Barry Bannan believes things could have worked out better for him at Aston Villa had Gerard Houllier stayed on as manager.

Though Bannan’s Owls were beaten on his return to Villa Park ahead of the recent international break, the midfielder’s performance left a positive impression on Bruce, the current Villans boss.

He told the Sheffield Star: “How on earth we’ve let Barry Bannan leave this club on a free transfer tells you which way the club’s been over the last few years.

“That’s what we’re still trying to put right. Everywhere I look, we’ve let good players leave the club. Barry Bannan in particular, there’s another one down the road who has just won the Premier League [Marc Albrighton].”

Bannan made 82 appearances for Villa, whose youth ranks he joined as a 13-year-old, but moved to Crystal Palace in 2013 – five years after his debut for the Birmingham club.

Now 27, Bannan has had to drop into the Championship to rediscover his best form, for which he holds Wednesday boss Carlos Carvalhal responsible.

But could the Scotland international – who was named in the divisional team of the year last season – have been a success at Villa Park had he had a manager like the Portuguese?

“Possibly, yeah,” Bannan tells Sky Sports. “I think I had it for a little spell and I played quite a lot and that’s when I got into the Scotland team when I was 21, it’s when Gerard Houllier came in and he showed a great confidence in me and put me in when I was 20, 21, in centre-mid.

Former Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier [right]

“He was brilliant with me, but unfortunately he got ill and had to leave Villa so if he stayed, who knows, but it’s all ifs and buts.”

Houllier left the Villans in June 2011, which led to a change in Bannan’s fortunes under both the Frenchman’s successor Alex McLeish and his replacement Paul Lambert, who eventually sanctioned the Owls star’s departure.

Would you take the Sheffield Wednesday midfielder back at Aston Villa?