ciggiesnbeer

You would think so. But I think Sunderland fans are just clinging on to Coleman as the one decent thing they have left at the club. I think they are wrong mind, I dont much rate Coleman. But I dont blame them. I mean what else do they have?

They have two who they rotate as the "number 1" Ruiter who is the joint worst keeper in the division. The second is Steele who is the joint worst keeper in the division . I am not kidding they both really are that bad. edit: Actually looks like they signed Lee Camp on loan as GK till the end of the season. So that may help them.

Decent haul that.

I think so. Winning every league game the entire month when nobody else did is hard to argue with.

I definitely don't You could well be right. I hope so. It would be nice to have another option. I have to say regardless of what actually happened this guy definitely pissed off Steve Bruce and repairing that relationship is on them.

And men of different character. One gives a damn and his committed to his craft, the other.... well lets be polite here... doesnt seem to.

For me, he and Snodgrass are two of the best if not the best wingers in the league. We are most effective when the rest of the team gets the ball to them, let them do their magic, and good things happen. He absolutely carried us for the first half of the season and might well yet do the same for the second. He took a while to adjust here but now he is a great player I am delighted he is with us. I think we signed him at his peak and for his best years. Pretty canny business by whoever did it. Particularly as we ended up with some money for "Can run fast" Traore.

Big gap between Big Sam and the rest of that pack imho. Not sure where Steve would fit in to be honest. Its an interesting question though. But Big Sam is the best of the bunch by some distance, and I dont particularly like him or his football nor would I want him here. But he absolutely knows what he is doing.

I asked last week. They said they couldn't show the Barnsley rerun because it was on Sky. No word on the others though. Sucks because we have been on a great run and the reuns are the reason many folks sign up for AVTV in the first place. It couldnt hurt to drop them a line to nag them as well avtv.support@avfc.co.uk they are responsive and good folks but i think it would help for them to see how improtant a feature these reruns are to customers.

When I talk to my wife about this she doesn't understand either. How I have gone from being angry each weekend to happy and enjoying football again. We ended our last discussion with me saying "Look love, you are in the same boat as Kate Middleton. You and Kate. The same." Which seemed to make everyone happy

I thought he was on 50K a week? Thats what google says anyway. Am I wrong did he take a pay cut?

I wouldnt and I respectfully disagree. I think Steve Bruce did an ok/poor job last season but lest we forget we were in danger of doing a Sunderland. We really were. The fact he has transformed years of neglect and a losing attitude this season is to his credit. I dont think he had an easier job compared to our other managers at all. If it was so easy why did RDM fail at it with the same backing? I think its fair to say he is one of the best managers in the division. His current and previous track record back that up. Also when it comes to his transfers, well he is easily the best in the transfer / loan market we have had for a long long time. He gets a player for a very specific reason , usually for decent money or using his influence for a loan and everything he does transfer wise is towards his very focused aim - Get promoted this season and worry about next season later. Thats a coherent transfer policy that he has done very well in, particularly considering he doesn't have an open chequebook due to FFP.

Thinking about it I am gonna go ahead and withdraw this concern "That and I am not sure his work rate is going to fit into this high tempo team" thats bollocks I was getting from Sunderland fans. I just rewatched the Villa /Sunderland highlights and it reminded me. Grabben was good that game, he worked plenty hard. I have changed my mind. Assuming his attitude is good I think he will be a fine addition.

John Terry? Back three? Sweeper system? Using his excellent distribution to play from the back with devastating effect? Bloody hell we are getting all a bit Italian sophisticated in here. I like it.

God no, I would want gone as well! I just think he could have handled it better.

My Grabban concerns aside I am pretty chuffed with January...... actually everything about the club in January has been great. It does now feel like we have a squad thats deep and quality, plus we now play a style (4-1-4-1) which is both effective and, dare I say it? Attractive , modern and exciting. How the heck Steve Bruce managed to morph in this manager is beyond me, but the results speak for themselves.

Not his biggest fan to be honest. I think he behaved a bit poorly at Sunderland and if Coleman's comments about him are anything to go by he maybe a bit of a poor influence in the dressing room. That and I am not sure his work rate is going to fit into this high tempo team. Still he is here and will hopefully make my concerns look ridiculous, so welcome.

I dunno , a decent bid for a 31 year old winger (6-7million?) would proably get him. West Ham will likely be in between managers this summer and given Sullivan openly wants him gone I could see it happening.

Can we keep him dad? Also, I dont recall another loanee ever as clearly wanting to play for us as Snodgrass does. I mean he always goes to gee up the crowd and LOVES playing for us. Its so nice to see.

As I have always said (no need to check my posting history) Steve Bruce is a football genius.

I am just LOVING being a Villa fan at the moment. Yeah I know Aston Villa SHOULD be the big bad boy in The Championship but it has taken a while to shake the relegation hangover. It feels like Aston Villa is showing why its a big club again and saying "I'm back"

Seems fair, he really was a surly loser after he got thrashed at VP.

Happy with that. It feels so good to have a team that feels .. well.. solid you know? I would love to keep Snodgrass but I defer to Bruce. He has , so far, expertly managed this squad to do one single thing. Get us promoted this season. Even though we were on the backfoot for a while it always felt like we could nick it. We are not pushovers any more who will fold at the last moment. Happy times.

I want our CEO thinking about how we challenge for Europe and winning things. Like much of Xia's Villa, Wyness seems a competent steady pro who knows what he is doing. After the Lerner years that comes as a massive relief.

I will take it! Someone else on here smarter than me said we seem to be able to play a bunch of different ways right now. I reckon thats right. Its a nice feeling as well.