WE CAN STILL BE A THREAT VOWS BRUCE
McGinn wonder goal in vain for Villa
VILLA manager Steve Bruce insists it’s 100 not out for him, despite his team flopping again.
This was Bruce’s 100th game in charge of Villa since taking control in October 2016.
Villa were 19th in the Championship then and flailing about, getting through managers at a wasteful rate and looking a million miles from a quick return to the Premier League following relegation.
Bruce steadied that ship, finishing 13th when another relegation had looked more likely as he took the Villa hotseat.
Last season they lost in the Championship play-off final and, after a summer of near disastrous financial problems, Bruce is trying again to get them up.
But Villa fans are losing patience. Bruce is taking big stick on social media and the home fans in the biggest crowd of the season (35,572) booed him off.
It’s not yet reached crisis point for Bruce but one win out of the last eight games, including the embarrassing Carabao Cup defeat at Burton, is fuelling dissent.
“We were poor,” admitted Bruce, not looking to excuse a lame performance. “We got lifted by a wonderful John McGinn goal to put us level – but how long did that last, 15 minutes?
“That’s not good enough. We didn’t play well enough. A huge disappointment. We had five, six, seven players below par and it turned into one of those awful afternoons.”
This was the sixth home defeat of Bruce’s reign, two of them to Sheffield Wednesday.