Mile Jedinak once again started at centre-back as Aston Villa were beaten in their latest Championship clash.
Aston Villa’s defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend appears to have piled the pressure on Steve Bruce, with plenty of fans seemingly in favour of a change in the Villa Park dug-out.
Bruce faced plenty of questions after a summer window that saw the Villans fail to strengthen their defensive options. And while Villa’s last three goals in the Championship have come from recent signings, including an incredible strike from John McGinn at the weekend, the questions about the defence have not gone away.
And Bruce is not helping himself. Mile Jedinak has often been used at the heart of the defence this season, but many fans already felt that the Australian was not cut out for the role before Wednesday visited on Saturday.
Axel Tuanzebe has plenty to prove, but the Manchester United loanee is a centre-back so not handing him a chance against the Owls and keeping faith with Jedinak was arguably asking for trouble.
And the gamble backfired as Jedinak – who earns £50,000-a-week, according to the Daily Mirror – looked poor against Wednesday in the 2-1 defeat.
It would be a major surprise if the Villa board were that close to giving Bruce the boot at this stage, but if their current form continues – the Villans have won one of their last eight – then it would become a shock if they did not consider the manager’s position at some stage.
And if, amongst that, he continues to play the struggling midfielder out of position and leave a centre-back on the bench, then perhaps Bruce can have few complaints if the situation comes to a head much sooner.
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