Aston Villa are on a downward spiral in the Championship at the moment, and despite the vast amount of money they have spent, they are seemingly in danger of being sucked into a relegation battle.

Seven points separate Villa and Wigan in 22nd, but if their woeful run of form continues, that gap could easily close up.

Steve Bruce's side have now gone eight games without victory and they have lost six of those games, which is more than relegation form, with every side below them picking up more points over the same span of games.

When Bruce took over at Villa Park, it was widely expected that he would be the man to resurrect Villa's season and at first, it looked like that would be the case, but things have soon turned sour.

Many Villa fans have called for the sacking of Bruce and the appointment of former Birmingham boss, Gary Rowett, who is currently unemployed after his strange sacking by Villa's midlands rivals.

Here, FLW's Chris Wilson will look at THREE reasons why Villa should sack Bruce and appoint Rowett.....

 

 

Bruce doesn't know his best system

In Villa's last two games, Bruce has experimented with different systems, but clearly, neither of them have been successful for him.

Against Ipswich, Bruce tried a three at the back system, which backfired on him, leaving Villa fans less than impressed.

You would think the change in heart was inspired by Chelsea's success but sometimes it is best to stand by what has been successful in the past.

When Bruce has got sides promoted in the past, he has used a 4-4-2 system, but even that hasn't worked at Villa, so he needs to find something that does work, but so far he's failed.

 

Rowett's record at Birmingham

Rowett excelled at Birmingham during his two and a bit year association with the Midlands club, transforming them from a mid table club to a genuine promotion candidate.

When Rowett was sacked from the Blues, they were in the Play-Offs and seemingly getting stronger and stronger as the season wore on, so the fact he was sacked was a huge surprise.

Now he is unemployed, Villa should bring him in to turn their results around.

Rowett knows how to win games and at Villa he is inheriting a much stronger side than he had at St Andrew's, so Villa should improve a lot.

Rowett will get them playing as a team

Under Bruce, Villa have earned a reputation of being a team who play as individuals, which is unlike a Bruce side.

However, the success Rowett had at Birmingham was built on a strong team spirit and often team spirit outweighs the collective of individuals playing together.

Some of the most successful teams in the Championship at the moment, such as Huddersfield, don't have the best players, but their team spirit is what their success is built on.