NurembergVillan

Not again!

The way we're looking at the moment, if he keeps us in the Championship this season he'll have worked miracles.

Must just be orange Inj rather than red Inj.

Ummm, that's about the size of it yeah.

Main problems we're facing when we have the ball - 1 Nobody in space to pass the ball to; 2 Not enough pace on passes, which slows the attack right down.

This referee is absolutely shocking.

We just look miles off the pace.

Grealish has been in and out of this game. I'd be inclined to get Westwood on for him and play 4-3-3.

We're getting battered here. Every week we just look like England against Iceland. Awful.

I've been following Villa since 1987, and we've never been any good with throw ins.

Right then. Who's gonna miss this one?

We could do with giving away less free kicks really.

Fixed.

PLEASE Villa.

We probably won't play 5 strikers, so there's a good chance.

Fair play to him. He wouldn't have got in that suit 3 months ago.

I think that's a well thought out post, and provides substance to your view. It's hard to disagree with most of it. A couple of points I'd highlight are - the notion of him eventually failing. I guess ultimately every manager fails. Even Sir Alf Ramsey lost his job eventually. There aren't many Alex Fergusons knocking about, and in terms of clubs being left with a lacklustre squad - he certainly left United with one of those even if he managed to get one last hurrah out of them. Mourinho, Wenger (depending who you listen to), Benitez, they've all failed somewhere. Guardiola hasn't, but you could argue he jumps ship too easily - something else that has been voiced as a concern about Bruce. Secondly - "a dynasty building manager like Wagner". He's been a first team manager for less than a year, and hasn't completed a full season yet. As we're only part way through the season he could be another MON/Pocchetino type who has teams flying out of the traps and then start to stumble towards the end of the season. As you're talking about that "type" of manager though, I absolutely see your point. I'd love to think we can get someone in who will do just that, but football is so dynamic these days I don't know how many I could list. It's more of an onus on the club than it is on a manager. Whether it's Barcelona or Southampton, it's a commitment to a particular style or way of working over a period of time. Is Bruce going to start the ball rolling on that? Hard to say. There's no evidence to suggest he's done that before, although most clubs have got worse after he left. Hull seem to have the nucleus of a decent team that he's left behind there. He's very much a man for now though. He sorts out a mess, and we're just about the biggest mess in English football right now. Apart from possibly Leeds and Blackpool, but they're used to it..!

Nope, not PFE. I genuinely would question the judgment of a 30 year contract and a new Lambo every day if it was true. I would question the judgment of giving any manager a 5 year contract, as outlined in your hypothetical scenario, too. It's impossible to know the position or requirements of a club (any club) so far in advance, or the performance of people hired to move things forward. I've not seen anything to suggest that he's been given such a lengthy contract, though, so it that sense we've probably both got nothing to worry about. What a relief! Am I happy with the Bruce appointment? Kind of. I think he suits where we are right now, this minute, and if I was annoyed at anything it would be that we are where we are right now, this minute. I've not had long held ambitions of Steve Bruce coming to Villa Park, but I'm a big believer in adapting to circumstance and that's what we've got to do here - from chairman, to fan, to Doris. And just for the record no having a go, or little digs, or patronising are intended here.

I have to question the judgment of giving him a 30 year contract and a brand new Lamborghini every day if true.

At least he's stopped doing it on the floor.

As per my reply to the other post that quoted me, it's not about this in isolation. It's a broader mindset of negativity around the club. I'm not dancing on the roof that we've hired Steve Bruce, but I can understand the rationale. I can't say for definite that he's 100% going to be a success, and it seems a push to suggest that he 100% won't be a success. I've worked at companies who are in trouble, and the negative mentality around the place tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think it's true here too.

I didn't say that, did I? I said there are elements to our fanbase who are poisonous. I'm talking about people who decide our players are shit after 2 games, who decide our manager has no chance of being a success before he's even been announced, who claim our owner is a fraud because they've never heard of him. It's not about the opinion, it's about the mindset of it. The terminal negativity that is bringing this club to its knees. The absolute certainty that no good whatsoever can come of decision X. I'm not looking for people to have blind faith, hope, and positivity. I'm just looking for newcomers to our club to be given the chance to bring us all some happiness. Surely that's what we all want. Isn't it?

There are elements to the Villa fanbase that are absolutely poisonous. We can have new owners, new managers, new players, but until our fans are all pointing in the same direction we've got absolutely no chance. It's disgusting.