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Mick McCarthy: This might be the issue at Aston Villa, delivers verdict on Bruce
By Amir Mir
Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy believes Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce might have an issue with bedding in his new players into the squad.
Villa purchased eight players during the January transfer window after they had added a further nine during the summer window.
Those nine players were brought in by Bruce’s predecessor, Roberto Di Matteo, who was sacked by the club in mid-October after a poor start to the Championship season.
Since Bruce’s arrival, he has had a mix start to life at Villa Park, starting off in a positive fashion, but they have not won a game since the turn of the year.
McCarthy’s Ipswich visit the Midlands at the weekend and the former Wolves man had this to say about his opponents and his managerial counterpart.
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“He has changed it around,” said McCarthy, as posted by Ipswich’s official Twitter account. “He inherited what he thought was a lot of good players and then he has turned them around. You would think with almost £30million of strikers you would want the pair of them in the team.
“Despite the fact that he appeared to have a good squad when he came in, in his own mind he has strengthened further still. There might be an issue with bedding them all in and getting them playing. But, he’s got a hell of a good squad of players.”
Bruce mainly strengthened in the attacking department last month, bringing in three midfielders, one striker, three defenders and one goalkeeper.
The likes of Brentford forward Scott Hogan, Nottingham Forest captain Henri Lansbury and Barnsley playmaker Conor Hourihane were some of the main additions.
However, since their arrivals, Villa have lost two games on the bounce, most recently against Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest last Saturday.
Despite Villa’s poor away form, they are yet to beaten in front of their own supporters this term as they drew their last fixture at Villa Park.
In other Aston Villa news, Alex McLeish has stated what took him by surprise at the club as he also makes this Rangers comparison.
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