Bruce wins battle.. now for the war

SURVIVING HENRY CHALLENGE JUST THE BEGINNING FOR VILLA CHIEF

STEVE BRUCE has seen off Thierry Henry for now at Aston Villa – but the toughest challenges could still lie ahead.

Bruce got the green light yesterday to continue as Villa boss despite the club’s takeover.

New owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens publicly backed Bruce after buying a majority shareholding last week.

But the ambitious duo want promotion to the Premier League and now Bruce has to lift Villa from their 1-0 play-off final loss to Fulham.

They return to competitive action in less than two weeks on Monday, August 6, at Hull, when Bruce will want his men firing back in the Championship.

But it won’t be easy following a summer of uncertainty, upheaval and cut-backs at Villa Park, after the manager just missed out on promotion.

The crisis started when Chinese chairman Dr Tony Xia’s funding dried up, which forced him to find new investors.

The cash crisis left Villa on the brink of administration as they were unable to keep skipper John Terry, whose contract expired after they failed to go up.

Bruce also lost several other key players, who were on loan, including West Ham winger Robert Snodgrass and Manchester United keeper Sam Johnstone, who has since joined West Brom permanently.

Loanee striker Lewis Grabban, who scored eight goals after arriving in January, has now gone to Nottingham Forest from Bournemouth.

Both young loan pair Axel Tuanzebe and Josh Onomah showed promise on loan from Manchester United and Spurs respectively, but are no longer at Villa. Bruce also lost two of his closest allies behind the scenes as chief executive Keith Wyness and director of football Steve Round left. Wyness walked to sue for constructive dismissal and then the £300,000-ayear Round was sacked.

Now, with just two weeks of the transfer window remaining, and without many other senior football officials at the club, Bruce must rebuild the spine of his side to make them competitive again.

It may not be as simple as just getting the new owners to open their cheque book as concerns about meeting Financial Fair Play regulations persist.

Bruce must decide whether to raise money to reinvest by selling prized asset Jack Grealish (left), who is wanted by Spurs.

Grealish harbours ambitions to return to the top-flight and is attracted to Tottenham by the possibility of playing alongside their Three Lions stars.

It will be a big, bold call from Bruce and the owners if they do sell their best and most talented player.

But if Villa start the season with a hangover from Wembley, the club’s owners are likely to quickly revisit Bruce’s future.