Following Aston Villa's collapse against Preston in the Championship on Tuesday night and the club's overall lacklustre start to the season, Steve Bruce was removed from the Villa Park dugout.

Aston Villa currently sit in 13th place with 15 points and, while that has not been deemed acceptable by both supporters and the club's hierarchy, performances as well as results has cost the the 57-year-old his job.

The Villans will now begin their search for a successor with Daily Telegraph journalist and Aston Villa supporter Matt Law hinting at Paulo Fonseca being a potential target for the club, despite the current Shakhtar Donetsk boss having no interest in moving to the Championship.

In English football, Aston Villa will always be seen as a giant of a club, but their status as a second division outfit is damaging their appeal.

The acquisitions of Tammy Abraham , Yannick Bolasie, John Terry and Robert Snodgrass -- all Premier League quality players -- over the last two summer transfer windows shows the Midlands club still have a lot of pulling power, or at least compared to others in the division.

However, if things do not change quickly, any potential snub from Fonseca is unlikely to be the last.

Take a look at Matt Law's full take on Fonseca and the Aston Villa manager vacancy below...