Saunders: “Villa are bigger than Tottenham, Chelsea, City and Everton”

Former Aston Villa man Dean Saunders has made a statement which will have the fans of his old club smiling, but will have certainly riled those of the Premier League big boys.

Speaking to BBC Sport Saunders, who made well over 100 appearances for the Villans in the mid-90s, said:

“Villa are one of the biggest clubs in the country – if it were down to size they would be in the top six in the Premier League,

“Villa are bigger than Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham and Everton.”

However, whilst Villa may have been a better club, over the last few years they have experienced a dramatic fall from grace and currently sit 15th in the Championship.

“The difference is the way they have been run. That is the reason Villa have gone in the opposite direction.

“So instead of doing a Spurs, they have done a Sunderland – they were hanging on and just avoiding relegation for the past four or five years, but it was inevitable it was going to happen.”

Steve Bruce now faces a tough job to get the Midlands club back on track, although, having won their last two on the trot, keeping clean sheets in both, the former Hull boss will be looking up.

However, with those two wins being at Villa Park, Bruce now must take his team on the road to both Rotherham and promotion chasing Huddersfield back-to-back.