Days after traveling Aston Villa supporters chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” at Villa manager Steve Bruce, and less than 24 hours after he was the target of a cabbage assault at Villa Park, Bruce has reportedly been fired.
According to Sky Sports, Bruce has been let go after a run of 10 games that featured just a single win. The report has been confirmed by the Birmingham Mail. The club is down to 12th in the Championship table the year after losing in the playoff final.
Most recently, Villa drew 3-3 with Preston North End on Tuesday, the club at the very bottom of the Championship standings. In the match, Villa blew a 2-0 lead and missed a 97th minute penalty that would have won the game. An unidentified fan threw a cabbage at Bruce before the match started.
The move makes Bruce the first manager in the top two tiers of English soccer to lose his managerial position. He would have celebrated his two-year anniversary at the club on October 12. Bruce was not in charge when Villa was relegated in the summer of 2016, but took over for Roberto di Matteo just months after the start of their first season in the Championship since 1988.
According to the Birmingham Mail report, early candidates for the position include former Chelsea and Aston Villa defender John Terry and current Brentford boss Dean Smith. It also states a “number of” foreign managers are under consideration, although no specific names are given. That could be due to the reported likely involvement of popular agent Jorge Mendes, who has a relationship with new Villa owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
