Despite an initially strong run of form under Steve Bruce, it would take a remarkable achievement for Aston Villa to secure promotion after a disappointing defeat against Cardiff.
There was a great deal of uncertainty upon the introduction of Steve Bruce at Aston Villa, mainly because of his ties to Birmingham City. However, a strong start to his reign at the club had many supporters believing that they could challenge for the play-offs throughout the remainder of the season.
Unfortunately, after another poor result against Cardiff, those fans will be reminded that it could be a goal that is beyond their reach. Whilst it is certainly possible for the club to close the gap to the top six, the general strength of this league seems too much to overcome when you consider a range of factors.
General view of Villa Park
Away from home, Villa seem to be much shorter on ideas and creativity as opposed to at Villa Park. It seems as if they let the occasion get to them and there are too many players on the books that cannot handle the pressure, which likely stems back to their Premier League relegation.
Aston Villa fans
If one or two of their top stars, namely Kodjia, go down with injury the core of the team is significantly weaker. There aren’t enough options throughout the squad to maintain a realistic promotion push, and some of the decisions made by Bruce against the Bluebirds highlighted that.
Westwood and Gardner were overrun from the first whistle, and the manager’s reluctance to make the necessary changes from the very beginning was one of the causes for the defeat.
Villa’s form, over the last ten games, is up there with a number of teams in the playoffs, but Bruce and his side need to be one of the best sides in the division for a month or two to bridge the gap to the top six places in the Championship, while also hoping those above them don’t make similar improvements.
It’s far from a disastrous situation given where they were a few months ago, but there’s still alot of work to be done in January and beyond.
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