Aston Villa’s third consecutive season outside the Premier League is underway, with Steve Bruce hoping to guide the club back to the top-flight come May.

Bruce had Villa close last season, with his side losing the play-off final to Fulham.

Although Bruce divides opinion at Villa Park, it is safe to say that he has taken the team forwards, having inherited a squad falling fast under the management of Roberto Di Matteo.

Di Matteo was the man Villa turned to following their relegation from the Premier League in 2016, with the Italian handed a big budget to get Villa back to the top-flight at the first time of asking.

Villa thought they’d appointed the right man, with Di Matteo having won promotion with West Brom, as well as a Champions League with Chelsea during his short managerial career.

However, it wasn’t to be for Di Matteo, who lasted just 124 days before he was sacked.

The ex-Chelsea boss took charge of 11 Championship fixtures, with his multi-million pound squad managing to win on just one occasion. Di Matteo departed with Villa sitting 19th in the Sky Bet Championship table.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing in football, as Villa’s supporters will know.

In our latest FLW Rewind, we take a look back to June 2016, when Villa moved to appoint Di Matteo ahead of their Championship return.

The reaction was positive, with not many of these supporters envisaging what was about to follow in Di Matteo’s 11 fixtures…

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