Steve Bruce still in shock over former Aston Villa boss Graham Taylor
Villa boss Steve Bruce says the death of legendary manager Graham Taylor has left the club in shock.
Taylor, who twice managed Villa, passed away yesterday at the age of 72.
He is credited with leading a rebuild of the club following relegation from the First Division in 1987.
Under Taylor, Villa achieved promotion at the first attempt and went on to finish second in the top flight during the 1989-90, before he left to manager England.
He later managed Wolves, before returning to Villa between 2002 and 2003.
"I'm like everyone else, in total shock," said Bruce. "I have two close members of my staff who played for him for a number of years, in Tony Coton and Tommy Mooney.
"Of course there are people on the staff who worked with him for years. The one thing that shines out above anything is what a very, very good human being he was and a delight to work for.
"The tributes to him are only fitting. I didn't really know Graham at all but the one thing that shines out is that he was very decent, working class and treated everyone with the respect they deserve.
"It shines through here, whether you were the laundry lady or the centre forward he treated everyone with humility."
Villa travel to Wolves for a derby tomorrow evening, with both clubs planning a tribute to the former boss.
Bruce added: "I'm sure there will be many more tributes, the football world is in a state of shock that we've lost someone like Graham so early because nobody expected it.
"The humility of the man was second to none."
