Bruce sacked as Villa boss with club money men thought to be keen on Henry

Aston Villa are looking for their fifth permanent manager in less than five years after Steve Bruce and his coaching staff were sacked.

Villa are 12th in the Sky Bet Championship after winning just three of their first 11 league games. Bruce had come under increasing pressure and had a cabbage hurled at him duringtuesdaynight’shomedraw with Preston.

“Aston Villa can confirm that manager Steve Bruce and his assistants Colin Calderwood, Steve Agnew, Stephen Clemence and Gary Walsh are leaving their posts with immediate effect after having their contracts terminated,” the club said on their website. “The process to appoint a new manager is under way.”

A further statement issued on behalf of the board added: “We would like to place on record our gratitude to Steve and his team for their hard work and commitment.

“Kevin Macdonald, Aston Villa Under23s manager, will be in charge of the team for our trip to Millwall on Saturday.”

Bruce, pictured, who has won promotion to the Premier League with two different clubs – Birmingham and Hull – replaced Roberto Di Matteo in October 2016 and at least lasted significantly longer than his three predecessors. Di Matteo was in the hotseat for only 12 games, while Remi Garde and Tim Sherwoodbeforehimwere also only in charge for a matter of months. Among those linked with the job are Thierry Henry, who investors Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris reportedly wanted in the summer, Brentford manager Dean Smith, ex-inter Milan boss Andrea Stramaccioni, Claudio Ranieri and Shakhtar Donetsk boss Paulo Fonseca.

Bruce guided Villa to the play-off final last season, but they were beaten 1-0 by Fulham and the club’s failure to return to the top flight left them financially vulnerable.

Owner Dr Tony Xia was reported to have cashflow problems and the club failed to pay a £4 million tax bill in June before reaching an agreement with HM Revenue and Customs soon afterwards.

Former England defender John Terry – himself touted for the manager’s job – left, while chief executive Keith Wyness and director of football Steve Round also departed before the start of this term.

The club announced billionaire businessmen Edens and Sawiris would be investing heavily in the club in July.