Steve Bruce Named Aston Villa Manager: Latest Contract Details and Reaction

Aston Villa have announced the appointment of Steve Bruce as first-team manager a little more than a week after Roberto Di Matteo was relieved of his duties as coach of the Championship club.

Former Manchester United defender Bruce, 55, left the helm at Hull City in July and was linked with a series of positions in England's top two tiers before Villa announced his arrival on Wednesday:

The journeyman manager has come to Villa Park with the second-tier outfit currently sat 19th in the Championship, with bounce-back promotion to the Premier League his major target for the 2016-17 season.

Bruce has also become the latest manager to take on the task of rebuilding Villa to their former glory in the top flight, with the Claret and Blue having run through their fair share of coaches in recent times:

The Birmingham outfit were relegated from the Premier League after finishing bottom of the table last season, amassing just 17 points and winning only three games throughout the 2015-16 league campaign.

Steve Clarke was in temporary charge of the Championship club following Di Matteo's underwhelming exit from the outfit, but the Sun's Graeme Bryce confirmed the Scot wouldn't be remaining at Villa Park.

Bruce's task looks like a steep one at first glance, with Villa having notched just a single victory in the Championship this season, the joint-worst record of any team in the division.

This will be Bruce's ninth managerial position since he stepped into coaching as Sheffield United chief in 1998, and the Mirror's Alex Richards suggested his experience may be what's needed to fire Villa back up England's ranks:

It seems as though the Villans are in good hands considering Bruce has gained promotion to the Premier League four times in his career, twice at the helm of Birmingham City and twice with the Tigers.

KICCA's Ian Stafford attested to the ex-United captain at least looking the part ahead of his return to management:

His first test in the new role will be at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers this Saturday, with Villa hoping to overturn midtable opposition and immediately send a message to the rest of the Championship.

Bruce has had fortune in his previous employment at Birmingham, but Villa will hope the former coach of their greatest rivals can shed some of that knowledge and bring them back to English football's promised land.