Former Aston Villa manager in line for shock new job

The man who lead Villa to the Championship play-off final in 2018, Steve Bruce, is in line for a shock return to management.

It is understood that Bruce is in talks to take on the manager position of the Jamaican national team. The former Villa boss, now aged 63, has been out of work since being sacked by West Bromwich Albion in 2022 and 'The Mail' believe that has held initial talks with Jamaican officials.

The position is vacant following the departure of Icelandic Heimir Hallgrimsson just over a month ago. Jamaica's poor performances at this year's Copa America led to him to resign and he has since taken the role of Head Coach for the Republic of Ireland.

Steve Bruce has 476 Premier League games as a manager under his belt which sixth for most games managed in the English top flight since the Premier League era began in the early 1990's.

In terms of his Villa days, Bruce took over at the club from Roberto Di Matteo in October 2016 after the Italian lasted just twelve games. Villa were unbeaten in Bruce's first seven games in charge and a win away at Reading gave the club their first away victory in 14 months. After a rocky start to the 2016/17 season under Di Matteo Bruce did well to guide Villa to a mid-table finish in their first year out of the top division.

The 2017/18 season saw Villa make the play-off final at Wembley in a year that is best known for the emergence of top talent Jack Grealish. Grealish, under Bruce's guidance, played a key part in Villa's fight for promotion. However, Villa lost 1-0 to Fulham in the final and faced a third consecutive season in the Championship. Villa's form was rocky in the opening couple of months of the 2018/19 season and his time at Villa came to a miserable end in October 2018. Villa squandered a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at home to Preston North End and a fan proceeded to throw a cabbage at Bruce from the stands. Poor performances and results had turned fans against him and he lost his job the next day.

Should he get the job, Bruce will be hoping to help Jamaica to strive to achieve better results in the major competitions ahead of the beginning of World Cup qualifying next June. The potential of this agreement may also mean a link up with Aston Villa hero Leon Bailey in the future as well.

UTV