Colin Calderwood leaves Brighton to join Steve Bruce's Aston Villa revolution
Villa's search for Steve Bruce's assistant appears over after a raid on Friday's opponents Brighton for Colin Calderwood.
The Seagulls confirmed Calderwood had resigned his post as Chris Hughton's No.2 on Thursday night and the 51-year-old is now expected to join Villa in the coming days.
A club statement read: "Brighton and Hove Albion can confirm that assistant manager Colin Calderwood has resigned from the club to take up a new position elsewhere.
"He was placed on gardening leave on Saturday 12 November 2016 to serve his notice period."
Villa had spoken to former Cardiff boss Paul Trollope about the post but Calderwood, who had been Hughton's assistant since February 2015, emerged as the preferred candidate and his services have been secured despite Brighton being reluctant to let him depart.
It had initially been reported Calderwood, who also worked with Hughton at Newcastle, Blues and Norwich, would be told to stay away from Friday's game before his resignation was confirmed.
The former centre-back spent 12 months as a player at Villa between 1999 and 2000.
Bruce has been working without an assistant since replacing Roberto Di Matteo in the Villa hotseat last month. Stephen Clemence, who played with Calderwood at Tottenham, moved from Hull City to become first-team coach, with goalkeeper Gary Walsh then following suit earlier this month.
