Brucey: I’ll stick with them if they want
DEJECTED Steve Bruce has vowed to stay at Aston Villa next season – as long as the board want him there.
The Villa manager’s pledge to remain at the helm followed his side’s failure to make a return to the Premier League.
While angry over a number of controversial calls from ref Anthony Taylor at Wembley, defiant Bruce was adamant he is still fully committed to the Midlands club.
After missing out on a record FIFTH personal promotion success into the top flight, Bruce said: “There’s nothing worse than losing.
“We’re disappointed with the defeat.
“We have to dust ourselves down – and get ready to go again.
“Aston Villa is a massive, proud club and the board and owners now have some huge decisions to make.
“But I’m going to stay at the club because I want to stay here – if the people upstairs see fit.
“As for John Terry, I really don’t know what he’ll do.
“We had an option for another year if we’d gone up. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Meanwhile, Bruce was fuming at the aggressive treatment Fulham dished out to Villa’s dangerman Jack Grealish.
He accused the Londoners of deliberately targeting him with rough stuff during a heated battle to reach the top flight.
Although Denis Odoi was sent off in the second half for fouling Grealish, Bruce claimed Ryan Fredericks should have gone for an off-the-ball incident in the 29th minute.
The ex-Hull, Wigan and Birmingham chief said: “The lad should have gone for stamping on Jack.
“I was right there and I saw it.
“There was a decision to be made but it wasn’t.
“They picked on Jack whenever he broke but we can’t use that as an excuse.
“We were poor in the first half, got much better after that but didn’t get the breaks you need.”
As for Grealish’s future, Bruce, who won the Premier League with Manchester United as a player, believes he would benefit from another year at Villa Park.
He added: “We know we will have other clubs looking at our players. That’s always the case.
“But I’d love Jack to stay with us. It would do him the world of good to have one more season here.”