Aston Villa boss Jack Grealish has raved about Jack Grealish’s display against Brighton.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce
Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce has told the club’s official website that he thought Jack Grealish was ‘terrific’ against Brighton and Hove Albion on Friday – and told the Birmingham Mail how he’s lured Colin Calderwood away from the Seagulls.
Villa came out of the international break with a tough trip to high-flying Brighton, with Bruce unbeaten in his first five games as manager after three wins and two draws.
Villa took a surprise lead when Nathan Baker’s header beat David Stockdale, but Brighton did hit back before half time as Glenn Murray smashed a long-range strike into the bottom corner to secure a 1-1 draw for Chris Hughton’s side.
In an entertaining encounter, Villa could have won it late on, with Jonathan Kodjia forcing a great save from Stockdale, with substitute Jack Grealish making a major impact.
Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish
The 21-year-old playmaker only came on after 67 minutes, but he turned in a superb cameo, helping Villa dominate the latter stages of the game with some clever and incisive play.
After the final whistle, manager Bruce spoke to the club’s official website about Grealish’s performance, admitting that he felt that the Villa youth product was ‘terrific’ – and he’ll do his best to make sure that Grealish fulfils his potential.
“As soon as you watch a good player, he’s got that lovely effortless swagger that good players have got,” said Bruce. “I’ll do my best to make sure he fulfils all of his potential. You can see what a good player he was. I thought he was terrific. He had a big impact.”
Chris Hughton (L) and assistant manager Colin Calderwood
Not only did Villa leave with a point, but they also left with Brighton assistant Colin Calderwood, as the former Aston Villa defender returned to the club as Bruce’s new right hand man.
Bruce confirmed the move to the Birmingham Mail, and whilst the switch has caused some friction between the two sides, Bruce revealed that it was a move closer to home which tipped the balance in Villa’s favour, and despite interviewing two or three candidates, Calderwood was at the top of the pile.
“I’ve not done anything sinister. I’ve taken advantage of a situation, basically. When I heard Colin was interested he shot to the top of the pile. We have interviewed two or three people but we wanted Colin here. The lure of Villa and that he’s closer to home is important to him because he’s found the travelling difficult,” he added.
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