Steve Bruce, Aston Villa manager.

But for how long?

Bruce's future is among the multitude of issues to be resolved as Villa try to pick up the pieces of their devastating failure to achieve promotion to the Premier League.

The 57-year-old has been on holiday as he tries to recover from the crushing disappointment of the Championship play-off defeat to Fulham at Wembley.

With the club in financial turmoil, Bruce is yet to receive assurances that he will remain in charge of the club next season.

There have even been reports linking him with the vacancy at Championship rivals Leeds United.

Since the Wembley woes a fortnight ago, BirminghamLive has carried a Bruce approval rating poll asking fans to vote over whether the manager should stay or go.

The poll has attracted more than 15,000 votes, with 61 per cent choosing 'Yes, he's the man to get us up' and 39 per cent opting for 'No he hasn't achieved what he was asked'.

poll loading

Should Bruce be given another season at Villa?

17000+ VOTES SO FAR

Here's what football editor Mat Kendrick had to say about Bruce's position in his open letter opinion piece about the club's plight this week.

Bruce was a top class defender and it seems his son Alex has followed in his dad’s footsteps when it comes to defending the Villa manager.

He ended a recent tweet endorsing his father with the word ‘Failure’ and a crying-with-laughter emoji. The inference being Bruce senior had actually succeeded.

Admirable loyalty, but there’s no disputing the fact that Bruce and Villa failed last season.

The brief was promotion. Villa didn’t get promoted. Ergo failure.

How accountable Bruce is for that remains to be seen.

While somebody finds a pair of tweezers to pluck the splinters from my backside let me explain why I have mixed feelings about the managerial situation.

Bruce repaired the broken relationship between the team and the fans, raised the standards in the dressing room and helped provide more wins and happy memories in 2017-18 than Villa have managed in the previous decade.

He also did it on a much tighter transfer budget than predecessor Roberto Di Matteo. The £2.5 million he had last summer to shape his side wouldn’t even have bought Ross McCormack’s gates.

It was Bruce’s contacts, influence and reputation that attracted John Terry, Robert Snodgrass and Sam Johnstone, although such players come at a cost in terms of wages.

He’s got a better win-ratio than any Villa manager since 1934, albeit a level below where Villa are used to operating.

There’s no doubt he’s improved on what came before, but the last 10 years set a very low bar for Villa and the landscape at the club will look very different in 2018-19 to last season.

If the 57-year-old Geordie survives, it arguably needs to be a different Steve Bruce.

Rebuilding squads for long-lasting progress is not exactly Bruce’s forte as Sunderland fans, amongst others, will testify.

If and when the dust settles on this seismic summer, ‘promotion, promotion, promotion’ can’t be the marketing spiel.

Boring as it sounds, it really has to be ‘consolidation, consolidation, consolidation’.

Villa must (genuinely) plan for the next five years and beyond, not the off-chance that they might or might not sneak up next season.

Is Bruce the man to carry that through? Can Bruce, at this stage of his career use his experience to adapt his philosophies or would a younger, fresher-thinking manager with a track record of bringing through youth and a more aesthetically pleasing way of playing be a better fit.

If it is to be baby steps in the right direction rather than bungee cord leaps forward and back, and surely it has to be, then is Bruce the best man for the job? Would he want to be? Could Villa pay off his rolling contract if they didn’t want him to? Is compensation for a replacement another cost too far?

There is some sense to the Dean Smith school of thought, but would even a boyhood Villa fan risk their career at a basket case of a club like this right now - and if this job chews up and spits out a manager with Bruce’s miles on the clock, how would a relative rookie from here or abroad cope?

More questions than answers... right now Martin Lewis, of bargain-hunting Money Supermarket fame, would be a better bet for the job than anyone!

MORE VILLA NEWS

Aston Villa fitness coach Massimiliano Marchesi has been axed as part of a cost-cutting measure prompted by the club's financial troubles.

Marchesi had been a part of the backroom team since being recruited by Roberto Di Matteo in the summer of 2016 but he is no longer required next season.

The Italian conditioning expert is known as Max, but also arrived with the nickname 'The Sheikh of Muscles'.

Here's a quick lowdown on the departing coach:

Who is he?

According to his official website, Marchesi is ‘one of the most successful Italians abroad’, with a quarter of a century of professional physical coaching experience.

Whilst that may not be the most objective of sources, Marchesi’s CV boasts a qualification in professional fitness from the Federal Technical Coverciano Centre in Florence, as well as a degree in Motor Sciences.

Where’s he worked?

Born in Modena, his nickname 'The Sheikh of Muscles' originates from working in the Middle East where he spent 10 years in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar working with their respective national sides.

After a stint with Al Ghafara Football Club, ‘Max’ was hired by FC Inter in 2014 as a physical sports rehabilitation coach.

What’s his job?

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard, and Marchesi has made a living off pushing players to their physical limits.

As a result, he was part of the team that won the Gulf Cup with the UAE National Team in 2007. Equally successful with Al Ghafara, Marchesi won two major honours with the club in 2011 and 2012.

He also worked with Arab initiative “Project Leonardo”, designed to bring Italian style success to the Emirates Soccer Team.

Coton on his way

Tony Coton - the head of domestic recruitment at Aston Villa - has left to join Sunderland.

The talent-spotter is moving on as the club continues to deal with a worrying financial crisis.

Coton played a major role in the recent player signings but has decided to move on as Villa face up to a summer of struggle.

The former Birmingham City goalkeeping favourite previously worked as a coach at Manchester United before going into player recruitment.

He was convinced to join Villa by Tim Sherwood in 2015.

Coton revealed how he came to join Villa in his autobiography There To Be Shot At, which was published last year.

His exit comes as Xia, back in China, is still looking for outside investment to help finance the club in the times ahead.

He’s sourced a £6million loan which has helped pay off the outstanding tax bill, but Villa still have other huge running costs to contend with.

The owner has faced up to the possibility of losing star performer Jack Grealish with Tottenham leading the chase.

Mixed response

Aston Villa have made light of this week’s well documented struggles in an attempt to lift the gloom at Villa Park.

Responding to a tweet relating to ITV’s reality show Love Island, Villa’s official Twitter account made reference to this week, which has caused plenty of anxiety among the fanbase.

The claret and blues have faced the threat of a winding up order after missing a tax payment, while there has also been talk of administration on the back of the club’s failure to clinch promotion back to the Premier League.

It’s led to plentiful speculation that Villa will need to part with their best players to bridge the gap of debt the club have burdened because of Financial Fair Play restrictions.

On top of this, the club also announced that chief executive Keith Wyness had been suspended.

It’s been a forgettable week, all told, but social media can at least offer a way of lightening the mood.

How did it go down? There was a mixed response to the originial tweet from the club’s verified account.

Chris N: Fans moaning about negativity at the club then moan about the club putting this out, can’t win

Jak Batty: Why are people moaning about this you moan when it’s all negative and the club are trying to be positive about things and yet your all negative, exactly what’s wrong with some of our fans

James : Poor banter lads, unless your announcing something in the next hour or so delete immediately

AVFClivelounge : Really pleased to see this news. Best way to help this mess as fans is get out and get those season tickets

Bookies' odds

Jack Grealish is expected to leave Aston Villa this summer as the club plan to cash in on their prized asset.

The claret and blues need to ease their cash-flow crisis by selling key players - and Grealish will fetch the biggest fee.

Leicester City are keen and in recent weeks Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Newcastle United and West Ham have all been strongly linked as interest continues to grow.

Tottenham are leading the race for Grealish and are considering making an official bid.

Punters are backing the move as well, with Spurs accounting for 44% of all bets on the 22-year-old’s next club in the last 48 hours.

BirminghamLive understands that SIX clubs are interested in Villa’s star performer who is expected to fetch between £25m-£30m.

Reports yesterday stated that Spurs are looking to get Grealish on the cheap and will test the water with a £15m approach.

Boss Mauricio Pochettino has a history of developing young talent and has been known to get the best out of players.

Grealish is also close with Dele Alli who will speak highly of the club he currently plays for.