Aston Villa are reportedly considering potential plans should Steve Bruce lose his job, and Dean Smith is apparently their number one target.

According to a report from The Sun on Sunday (30/09; page 59), Aston Villa have decided that Brentford boss Dean Smith will be their top target should they decide to sack Steve Bruce.

Bruce is coming under plenty of pressure from the supporters at the moment. Despite taking the Villans to within one game of promotion last season, some fans are clearly not happy and are hoping for a change.

Villa now sit 15th in the Championship having won just one of their previous nine games in all competitions. They are just six points off the table’s summit, but their form suggests that it is much more likely that the gap is going to get larger in the coming weeks rather than close.

But it appears that Bruce cannot allow that to happen. The Sun on Sunday (30/09; page 59) reports that the board are considering their options, and a decision could be a few games away if Bruce is unable to turn the situation around.

And what perhaps makes the state of play look slightly more ominous for Bruce is the report suggesting that Smith has found himself at the top of the club’s wishlist.

Smith has done incredibly well during his time at Griffin Park, and the Bees now find themselves in the play-off places having flirted with the top six for a number of years in the second tier.

Smith has made no secret of his support for Aston Villa in the past, but it would be interesting to see whether he would have enough interest in making the move to Brentford’s Championship rivals if Bruce does ultimately leave. Villa are a massive club, but the Bees clearly have something very good going at the moment.

For now however, Bruce reportedly still has a chance to turn his situation around and get Villa back to looking like the team they were in the second-half of last season. Brentford fans will certainly be hoping that he succeeds in keeping his job.

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