Tim Sherwood delivers his verdict on Steve Bruce after Aston Villa win at QPR
By Amir Mir
Tim Sherwood believes Steve Bruce is “still learning” about his Aston Villa players after they beat QPR 1-0 at Loftus Road on Sunday afternoon.
Promotion expert Bruce picked up his sixth win in 11 games in charge of the Midlands club following his arrival in mid-October.
The former Premier League manager made six changes to his side for the weekend clash, after they were beaten in midweek by Norwich.
The high number of changes paid off for Bruce as his side sealed a valuable three points in their fight for promotion.
Striker Jonathan Kodjia, who missed a penalty in the first half, found the back of the net 15 minutes from time – his eighth goal of the Championship campaign.
After the match former Villa boss Sherwood explained what Bruce must be thinking of his players.
“I think the group that played against QPR are the ones he [Bruce] can rely on,” Sherwood told Sky Sports, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail. “After the performance that they gave him against Norwich, a manager will put his head down and think ‘who can I pick that’s going to give me a performance?’ and that group are in his mind.
“The others have to look at that and think ‘why am I not one of them?’ and they have to do something about it. I think he’s learning. He’s had about 11 games and he’s yet to name an unchanged team, perhaps through injury and largely because he’s still learning about them”
Former Tottenham boss Sherwood was sacked by the Midlands club last season under the previous regime.
Prior to his sacking he helped the club survive relegation during the 2014-15 season when he replaced Paul Lambert in the Villa Park dugout in February.
He also guided them to the FA Cup final at Wembley, but they suffered a heavy defeat as Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal thumped them 4-0.
As of now Villa currently sit in 13th place in the Championship table on 31 points from 22 games, six points off a play-off spot.
Bruce’s side will be looking to maintain their unbeaten home record when they host newly-promoted Burton on Boxing Day, before taking on Leeds in a mouth-watering encounter three days later.
In other Aston Villa news, Ian Taylor hails this immense defender after the QPR win.