Aston Villa comment: No time for risk taking at Villa Park

That is surely the conclusion new men at the helm, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, must reach when it comes to planning for the future and deciding the fate of the club’s manager, Steve Bruce.

Had Villa’s finances not been so precarious, in the wake of their defeat in the Championship play-off final two months ago, there is a good chance Bruce would already have been moved on.

Certainly, Tony Xia had the appetite to make a change, after a second expensive failure to reach the Premier League. But the then owner simply never had the funds to afford the £1.7million managerial pay-off.

By contrast, Sawiris and Edens certainly do have the clout to make sweeping changes, while increased scrutiny on the managerial position is part-and-parcel of any takeover.

The question is, should they enact change? The answer, on balance, is no.

There is no question a sizeable proportion, though perhaps not a majority, of Villa supporters would like to see Bruce given the boot.

For all the good work he has done in putting the club back on the right track and cleansing the once toxic atmosphere at Bodymoor Heath, there is also the charge he failed to win promotion last season when Villa, it could be argued, had the strongest squad in the Championship.

Yet in every respect, the debate over the manager has been rendered irrelevant since last season finished by Villa’s off-field troubles.

Even now, less than a fortnight before the new campaign kicks off, there is an element of uncertainty over their summer plans.

Is this really the right time to create even more by changing manager, potentially bringing in a complete novice like Thierry Henry?

Xia’s reluctance to face up to the recent crisis meant the first two months of the close season were completely wasted. Just days remain and for now, Sawiris and Edens would be best advised to build with what they have. This is no time to be taking more risks.

Wolves might have created quite the surprise with some of their transfer dealings this summer.

But the prize for the most eye-catching deal of the window is already destined to go elsewhere. To Spain and SD Huesca, to be precise, following their signing of Ruben Semedo, just days after the defender was released from prison.

Huesca, newly-promoted to La Liga for the forthcoming season, moved to snap up Semedo on loan from Villareal after the Portugal international stumped up 30,000 Euros to secure bail, following five months behind bars.

The 24-year-old had been incarcerated since February on not inconsiderable charges of including robbery, assault, kidnapping and attempted murder.

All of which is of no concern to Huesca sporting director Emilio Vega, who jumped to the club’s defence.

“Ruben is in a very good condition physically,” said Vega. “He played matches in prison!”