The 56-year-old may have been backed handsomely in the transfer market but that is not equating to instant success for Aston Villa.
If Rome wasn’t built in a day then it will take longer than six months to turn around a football club who have spent the best part of a decade locked in a downward spiral.
Especially when a traumatic relegation was met with huge upheaval on and off the pitch. As well as a new owner, a new CEO and two new managers, a grand total of 40 players have either left or arrived at Aston Villa since last summer.
No wonder Steve Bruce has described the upheaval as ‘ridiculous’, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.
A number of fans have been left dissatisfied with the club’s progress in the second tier this season, especially after a run of five defeats in six left them mired in mid-table despite spending big in both the summer and January windows.
The likes of Scott Hogan, Jonathan Kodjia, Conor Hourihane and Henri Lansbury (below) all represent very astute additions, although Bruce is facing up to the unenviable task of attempting to shoehorn his new-look squad into a coherent game plan; something recent results suggest is proving more difficult than anticipated.
“When you look at the bigger picture and see that there’s been something like 40 ins and outs in a six months – it’s nothing short of ridiculous,” he told the Birmingham Mail.
“No club has had a turnover of people, managers, coaches, players, academy staff, directors of football, chairmen, etc. No club has.
“We’re hopefully at the bottom and hopefully now is the time to re-build and start from a fresh and take the club where it wants to get to.”
It is difficult to disagree with Bruce’s assessment but, from the rather knee-jerk reactions of some fans in a modern era obsessed with instant success, the 56-year-old perhaps has less time on his hands than he expected.
Then again, maybe he can have few complaints. He stated back in December that he wanted more quality in the squad and the additions of Lansbury, Hourihane and Hogan provide exactly that.
However Bruce is yet to prove that he possesses the tactical nous to construct a fully-functioning starting XI out of some expensive raw materials; the ill-fated implementation of Birkir Bjarnason as a wing-back against Nottingham Forest suggesting as much.
In truth, Villa fans have a right to expect more from a talented squad.
The fact the performance levels of Lansbury and Hourihane, superb for Barnsley and Forest, dropped immediately after donning claret and blue cannot be a coincidence. The buck stops with the manager.
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