TRO

I think there is a case to say the quality of football on display is questionable, but I believe such was the extent of our fall......getting back to winning games and keeping clean sheets was his initial priority on our way back to respectability. I do not subscribe to the theory that the manager is some kind of anti- football protagonist that has set the team to play turgid football.....I believe it is a by product of not being close to the finished article. Steve Bruce is well aware of the comments made about the football by Terry, GH, you Bobzy etc......These issues will be addressed, but only when he is confident the initial things have been fixed. The only difference I see in the posts is ......some fans want jam tomorrow, others are in receipt of the poor football, but are willing to wait. I am not blaming the players, they are learning to play with each other, but equally to blame the manager for issues that involve poor back passes, errors in goal, missed chances etc is folly......These are player issues, that they have to work on, not manager issues. Steve Bruce is trying to "boil the ocean" give him time to get around to all the elements.

I think he will do , Terry. It is all about our perceptions......but I think he has tried to focus on building the confidence at the back and create clean sheets.....He will then gradually move on the the other departments, without disrupting the defence. I concur with your preferred playing style......However Ipswich was formidable too that season.

"Makes it hard for an opponent" love it just love it. I have a lot of time for this guy......a bit of an unsung hero.

The swagger will come with the confidence derived from winning. Then the convincing wins we all crave, will arrive. all in good time.

I think the personnel in this team Pete will change again......its part of an evolving process. our demise is/was such that we were never going to buy the necessary players to right the wrongs in one or two windows. We all know that most important thing right now to build the confidence and develop the club culture is winning. That Football we all crave will return and I agree with you the description that Terry alluded to in his earlier post I concur with.

I think he is still learning about his players and the team formations are a part and parcel of that.....along with injuries ,suspensions and form drops. We, equally are learning about him and whether we favour him or not......that will change with the development of the team for better of worse.....rarely is there an intransigent stance due to the peaks and troughs of our performances. We are WIP so naturally, opinions within us will vary as team performances will vary. I have set my stall out on here as to my opinion of Bruce, but I would be a liar if I did not have that opinion challenged during that rough spell in Jan......winning and losing does play a big part in our views, which is only natural. We will all have challenges to our opinions, whatever our general view is. Personally,I am cautiously excited at what lies ahead.

Precisely.....if you don't strive for betterment , you stagnate.

I think we all say these things......but it does make you wonder at times if it is fully appreciated how far we had actually fallen......and much is required to get back.

Welcome to the Villa Legends club Scott. just the beginning of building it

I am hoping for big things from this boy, next season.

It had to happen such was the magnitude of the surgery required.....its done now. I think it will be more focussed and controlled moving forward. Its easy to say it was too many, but not every club had the same level of rectification to do.

There is in my view one player, that I am looking for big things from next season. He is young, but I think he has it in him, to improve dramatically. I think in terms of the team......We need big performances from him to set alight Kodjia and Hogan. We need a wide man that tantalises the life out of the opposition, every game. In the same way that Brian Little and Gary Shaw came on to the scene.....I am hoping he can emulate that impact. That player is Andre Green. IMO.....He can be a big player for us......and we need a big player in that position. fingers crossed.

Further disruption.....when you are trying to build your way back it's brittle and you lose your talisman.....the team had a wobble, losing their main man. its all part and parcel of getting your overall strength back......look at Johnstone and his turn around.

I appreciate it wasn't eye candy, but those clean sheets are invaluable. They are fantastic building blocks. nice to see Scott get off the mark.

or Bobby Moore

I think he will sign another CB in the summer. we need commanding aerial power to push up and squeeze and allow the AM's to support the strikers. It all comes from the back, we currently sit too deep and creates gaps, which subsequently affects our other aspects of play.

Liability......in his present form

I want us to go 2 up top to release some of the goal scoring burden off Kodjia. We don't want to burn him out or be over reliant if his goals dry up, where he gets mentally tired of having no help in scoring. I think 2 is more sustainable and balanced.

Mere....(ly)Green

sadly, I didn't.

I appreciate your comments, but still say they seem paradoxical to me you make references to "looking for evidence" to negate your doubt in him, but you equally have no evidence to the contrary, but you seem to have chosen to accept that as your default position. i think some of us see him as a success, until he proves he is a failure.....and some see him as a failure until he proves he is a success......by definition, some will be happy Now, some will have to wait, I'm afraid. I accept you reserve the right to have doubt in his ability and I accept that you are not blaming him for our overall state. However, what I fail to understand is when a team is in transition, why are comments being made that insinuate we are the finished article.The team won't be the free flowing blow the opposition away force that we ALL want to see. I can't speak for the man himself, but I am sure by his comments that he is clear on the strengths and weaknesses of his team.....These things take time to fully fix, so is it any wonder that when still see flaws is part of the journey. It may wel be this team will look different again in A few seasons time , in having to improve each players attributes. Steve has started out with an impressive start, then hit a rocky spell of losing 2 key players and stumbling in to window that could have been 2 months earlier ideally....He has now found some form once again as his players are getting to know how each other operates. Progress, too, is not ALL plain sailing.....it is quite customary to zig zag your way to success. UTV

you explain your position well. However, I do feel that your support for Bruce is a tad begrudging and that until we are turning teams over every week, that will continue to be the case. I would respectfully ask you to consider divorcing the current manager from the demise of the past and refrain from associating your frustration with him......judge him on what he has done to trying to turn around a football team that has fallen far from grace faster than an astronaut from space. The demise and mismanagement of our precious club, is almost unprecedented, very few clubs have been so poorly served for so long and that damage is no small feat to remedy and has required far more than just a football manager......the whole place needs time to gel. The fans that never wanted Bruce in the first place are not going to be convinced in the early stages of his address.....mainly because the rate of improvement will be at its slowest, that is customary in these types of circumstances When a job like this is taken on,the rate of improvement varies and inevitably the slowest signs are at the beginning,that rate will accelerate on the back of good work and solid foundations and all the staff pulling in the same direction( which wasn't the case, it was toxic, the place was a war zone ) The fans are a Kaleidascope of personalities all tying their emotions to the claret and blue flag......some will see the "shoots of recovery" before others.....others will be less convinced until they see the evidence staring them in the face.....No one is more right than the other. I hear some fans say......what do you see now,that I don't.That is a very difficult question to answer, but I will say this......Something's in this game repeat themselves over and over again.i have seen scenario's like this before at our club, not the same, but similar.It takes a much work from many to change. Only everyone concerned pulling in the same direction, will have the desired affect. I do not possess the powers to convince others.....but I am convinced in my own mind that we are on the road back.....despite the snail like pace at times, its happening. It would be lacking in empathy to ask for patience in light of the last 10 years.....but I would respectfully ask fans on here, to not be so hard on themselves and have more faith in what is being attempted. Enjoy the ride back to respectability, guys......I think it will be fun.

I don't think that has ever been intimated, not in that context anyway. You have to be careful......There is nothing so destructive as some one making an effort to put things right and living with a judgment of expectancy that is unreasonable. It makes you weary.

ditto. good post Pete.

I don't mean this in a nasty way......but you best comeback when we are fixed.....otherwise, its going to be a miserable time.Personally I love watching us getting gradually better from one month to another....there will be some knock backs for sure.....but the good runs will gradually out do the bad ones and then you know is changing.....apart from watching the games. Whether its a government , whether its a business or whether its a household that has got in to dire debt.....It takes time.....It is callow to think otherwise. If,you are somehow not able to grasp that.....You will beat yourself up over this, but no manager was ever going to fix this in the timescale you are seemingly looking for. I too want wins first, but as other posters have written the football is not entirely right yet, so its not eye candy......the defence is better, but the attacking play is no where near right.....first things first, we have to slowly build on it. You cannot even attempt to link Steve Bruce with the shenanigans of the last 6 years.....its brutal to even think it.....so give him a chance. No one is suggesting that 5 wins is a new trend......there is simply still too much work to do, to get in to that......but the work is ongoing and you are talking as if it has finished. you say "the poison needs to be eliminated"......what on earth do you think he is trying to do. That's the road he is on. He has just had 4 wins in 5 and 4 clean sheets and he is talking in terms of only just starting......He himself has said we are only just starting. What this is tantamount to is going up to the site agent when Canary Wharf was being built and asking when can i see something worth looking at, when they were just putting in the footings in .......The response would probably have ended in............OFF