Bruce gets axe at Villa

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

Villa are currently 12th in the Sky Bet Championship after winning only three of their first 11 League games this season.

Bruce had come under increasing pressure after Villa’s poor start to the season and had a cabbage hurled at him during Tuesday night’s home draw with Preston North End.

“Aston Villa Football Club 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 official website.

A further statement issued on behalf of the board added: “The process of recruiting a new manager has begun. In the meantime, Kevin MacDonald, Aston Villa Under-23s manager, will be in charge of the team for our trip to Millwall on Saturday.”

Bruce, who has won promotion to the Premier League with two different clubs - Birmingham City and Hull City replaced Roberto Di Matteo at Villa Park in October 2016 and at least lasted significantly longer than his three immediate predecessors.

Di Matteo was in the hot seat for only 12 games, while Remi Garde and Tim Sherwood before him were also only in charge for a matter of months.

Among the early names linked with the job are Thierry Henry, who investors Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris reportedly wanted in the summer, Brentford manager Dean Smith, former Inter Milan boss Andrea Stramaccioni, Claudio Ranieri and Shakhtar Donetsk boss Paulo Fonseca.