Steve Bruce Takes over Aston Villa

Aston Villa has named former Hull City and Birmingham City boss Steve Bruce as its new manager.
Former Manchester United captain Bruce, 55, who left Hull in July, succeeds Roberto di Matteo, who was sacked on 3 October, at Villa Park.

Bruce, who has lived in the Midlands since first joining Birmingham as a player in 1996, takes over with Villa 19th in the Championship table.

His first game in charge is at home to local rivals Wolves on Saturday.

Bruce will become the sixth man to pick the Villa team inside the last 12 months.
He then has matches against Reading and Fulham before returning to St Andrew’s for the Blues-Villa derby on Sunday, 30 October in only his second away match.

“It is one of the big clubs of this country,” said Bruce. “To be given the opportunity to manage it is terrific.

“I relish the challenge of trying to take the club where it wants to go and needs to be – and try to turn around the misfortune we seem to have had over the past few years.”
Villa will begin life under Bruce 10 points behind Birmingham, the team occupying the last of the four play-off places in sixth.

Northumberland-born Bruce is into his 19th season in management, in which he has taken charge of 784 matches with eight clubs, winning promotion in each of his last four seasons at this level.
That followed a 20-year playing career at Gillingham, Norwich City, Manchester United and Birmingham before finishing as player-manager at Sheffield United.

After his first season in management at Bramall Lane, he spent 17 months with Huddersfield, and had short spells in charge of Wigan and Crystal Palace before becoming Birmingham manager in December 2001.

Taking over a Blues side in 10th position, he led them up via the play-offs that season to reach the Premier League for the first time. And, although relegated in their fourth season, he took them straight back up in 2007.

He returned to Wigan after leaving St Andrew’s in November 2007, then had two and a half years at Sunderland, before joining Hull in 2012.

Bruce, who led Hull to the FA Cup final in 2014, twice won promotion with the Tigers to the Premier League, the second time via the Championship play-offs in May – his fourth promotion to English football’s top flight.

He was interviewed for the England job before the appointment of Sam Allardyce in July.