da poker： Aston Villa are now a Championship side and until last night, they looked set to join dozens of other outfits destined for a stay in the second division.
da jogodeouro： Let’s face it, Villa have struggled this season and after sacking former manager Roberto Di Matteo, things appeared as chaotic as ever in the Midlands.
But last week, Steve Bruce entered the Villa Park fray and he’s had an instantaneous impact. The former Birmingham City man has helped Villa to four points in their last two games and most importantly, a first away win in an astonishing fourteen months.
It’s a run that needed to come to an end at one point or another and yesterday’s last-gasp win at Reading was proof brighter times are to come at Villa Park.
But could the result now spur Villa on to make a promotion push under their new gaffer?
With that in mind, here’s FIVE reasons Villa’s season could be about to turn around…
The confidence is finally noticeable
Anyone that saw the game yesterday evening will know that Aston Villa have finally found a little bit of swagger.
Over the past year they’ve been timid, quiet and innocuous on the pitch. But at the Madejski Stadium last night, they began to show the character needed to do well in the division.
You could hear voices shouting, leaders leading and players looking a lot more confident. This is a big step forward for Villa.
Supporters back behind them
Over 4,000 Villa fans travelled to Berkshire on Tuesday evening to back their side and give them credit, they supported their team until the very end.
In recent years, they’ve grown frustrated by the backwards football, negative playing style and abysmal defending.
But against Reading, it was clear the optimism was back in the paddocks for perhaps the first time in over a year.
The Steve Bruce factor
Whether you love him or loathe him, it’s clear that Steve Bruce has made an instant impact at the helm of Aston Villa.
He’s done this sort of work before with the likes of Birmingham City and Hull, and can surely apply those experiences to this current situation at Villa.
He’s already got his side playing with more confidence and going forward, he’ll be hoping to see more improvements.
The forwards are scoring again
Both Jonathan Kodjia and Jordan Ayew dispatched for Aston Villa at the Madejski Stadium yesterday, which would have been music to Steve Bruce’s ears.
For months, Villa have been struggling to get their forward men to find the net regularly but the signs are now there to suggest this could be about to change.
Villa boast a plethora of talent in their ranks and if they can get them firing, they could and really should be a real force this campaign.
The fantastic talent on the bench
Aston Villa brought on an unbelievable £25million of talent as second-half substitutes.
This sort of depth is going to make the Villains a real force this season, if they can get their players scoring again this weekend.
Most teams in the division would love to have the depth they do and they really should be making the most of it to get back up the table.