Steve Bruce risks upsetting Aston Villa fans by choosing ex-Birmingham City hero as his best-ever player

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The Villa manager has selected a star of his reign on the blue side of the second city.

Aston Villa may be in accomplished form in the Championship under manager Steve Bruce in recent weeks, but the manager has risked irking supporters by naming one of his former Birmingham City stars as the best player he has ever coached, in an interview with Villa’s official YouTube channel.

Bruce, a former Blues defender after his departure from Manchester United, spent close to seven years as manager of Villa’s arch-rivals at St. Andrew’s from 2001 to 2007.

During his time in the blue half of Birmingham, the former centre-back led the Blues to two promotions to the Premier League.

Bruce has managed some talented players during his time at the helm of Wigan Athletic, Sunderland, Hull City and now Villa.

However, he revealed that it was one of the stars of Birmingham’s Premier League years who goes down as the best player he has ever coached.

Bruce told Villa’s YouTube channel: “I think it’s quite easy. I hope the Aston Villa supporters take this the right way, but I had a certain centre-forward, Christophe Dugarry, at Birmingham, who had 50 caps [for France] and who for six months was solely responsible for keeping us in the Premier League.

“He was for six months the best player I’ve ever had the fortune of managing. A French international, he had a little bit of flair, a little bit of extravagance, but he had the lot.

“He was the complete player, a little bit up here mad, but that added to him. He was certainly the best player I’ve been able to manage.”

Dugarry only scored six goals in 30 league appearances for the Blues after joining from Bordeaux, but the man who was a part of France’s World Cup- and European Championship-winning squads in 1998 and 2000 respectively was certainly their leading star during his 18 months at the club.

Bruce may have risked the wrath of Villa fans with his choice, but there is no doubt that Dugarry, who also played for Marseille, AC Milan, and Barcelona – with whom he won La Liga in 1998, was a top-class player for a club such as Birmingham.