delboy54

Hi everyone, and what a start to the New Year! Not able to get to this game....yes I regret it now. 50 years ago in May 1968 my old Dad took me to Villa Park for the first time...I was 10 years old. Villa lost against Brissol City 2 - 4 in front of a crowd of about 15000. I still have the footy program of that game. I just want to say I have waited 50 years for "revenge" against that lot! Regards to all Del

With our current state of injuries, if our young upcoming players cannot get a game now, then they will never get the chance.....

well there goes this seasons chance of doing the treble....

The only game of those listed above I managed to get to was the 2 -2 with qpr in the 1977 semi final second leg......a great game 48000 and the announcement that the Holte end was now full and gates were closed to prevent anymore in..........that was a rare occasion (all standing in them days) Strange how these games all come back like it was only yesterday isnt it? I did have the pleasure of meeting one of my hereos for the first time before the Brentford game, Sir Brian Little, shook is hand, and told him that I saw him scoring a hat trick against QPR in the 1977 replay at Arsenals old ground (the library). He said "oh I remember that!"......not washed my hand since......Brian Little a true gentleman and Villa legend....with a bit less hair now. VTID Del

Wow nearly 1000 pages of Steve Bruce..... I am sure when we lose to Barnsley on Saturday (its on Sky - thats why we will lose), then that will be 2 points from a possible 9 from the last 3 games. Not good enough whoever the manager is. I am sure there will have been some private enquiries going on to sound out a possible replacement. Businesses do this all the time - contingency planning. At the time it was the right appointment whatever we now think, I am dissapointed to be back where we were 11 months ago with no progress. That has been the major issue for me. VTID Del

Couldnt get to the Norwich or Wigan games But correct me if I am wrong, did we break with tradition and attack towards the Holte End in the first half of both games rather than as normal attack towards the Holte in the second half? Perhaps that was the solution all along to all these years of woe! Regards Del

Maybe Bruce has accidently discovered the right formation for us Maybe Bruce has see that playing players in their normal positions works Maybe we have finally found the "start" button for this season Maybe he has seen how bad Hutton played Maybe he now has seen we have abundance of young players who want to perform on the "stage" and not worried about the opposition Maybe we are on the way back Maybe the Wigan and Bristol City games coming up will see us reverting to "business as usual" Maybe I sould stop typing maybe Maybe....

Ok if the players are good enough to get us out of this league, and the manager has done it 4 times before, then who is to blame? I would look at getting rid of the coaches - is it true that Bruce has never worked with Calderwood?

I think Bruce is a genuinely nice guy tbh. I wish he would just resign now it will be best for everyone. What gets me though he was a professional footballer at the highest level, took teams out of this league a number of times (4?) and yet seems to have no idea on what to do, tactics, formation, team etc etc... I think football has passed Bruce by...

Hi Just read that Guardian article again (posted in full elsewhere)....snippets of it below.....it makes scary reading to be honest.. "Shortly after taking charge at Sunderland Steve Bruce was asked if he had considered experimenting with a Christmas Tree formation. "I'm not really into tactics," he replied. At the time that response was easy to interpret as a deliberately flippant or, perhaps, a self-deprecating means of avoiding answering the question. As the seasons passed, though, the suspicion grew that the former Manchester United captain had simply been honest." "Arguably one of the principal reasons Bruce is no longer in charge at the Stadium of Light concerns his apparent inability to tweak formations or tactics during matches. Whenever a rival manager re-configured his system mid-game, Bruce invariably failed to come up with a countermeasure." "If he failed to cut it as a tactician, the 50-year-old did not seem much of a strategist either. Including loans, 30 players were signed – several of whom have subsequently been moved on – during Bruce's two-and-a-half years on Wearside. That represents an unsettling "churn" factor and hardly proved conducive to developing either a clear playing philosophy or strong team spirit." "Always rather amorphous, if not downright scrappy, Sunderland's high-tempo style lacked creativity, not to mention control, in central midfield. Unable to dictate play, the team frequently failed to press home early advantages."

My thoughts: Giving Bruce the job was a no brainer at the time to be honest, he had been there done that and got teams out of this league. On paper it was the correct choice in my book. I never liked any of the football his previous teams played, but at the time we needed an experienced manager. The problem is I think modern football has passed him by, he is on record of not really being into tactics. Yes I know footy is a simple game but there are areas you try and exploit other teams weaknesses as seems to be case every week when opposition find it easy to find our weaknesses. If its not Bruce that is the problem, that what is? My conclusion is that its the coaching of players and I think as much as I like the bloke and really wanted him to do well for us, he seems now at a loss at what to do next. Its time for SB to consider his position. The Dr like any owner is not going to sit on his hands and see his investment give him such a poor return without action, so I think its a case of SB to honourably leave or wait get pushed by the Dr to be honest.. But who we have as the new manager?..................... as long as its not Moyes Regards Del

Moyes???......is anyone serious about him coming to Villa as manager?......come on my 84 year old mum could do a better job Mind you as mentioned by Dimitri_C, Moyes will fit right in with our boring, predicable, negative football that is currently on offer

Danger of over reacting to last nights game. It was on the TV, how many times does Colchester play in front of Sky TV? Colchester are up against the mighty Villa. Of course Colchester want to raise their game. Its always going to be tricky playing lower league clubs on a cold and rainy night on a water logged unfamiliar pitch in front of SkyTV. Regards Del

What was that saying ? "if you put an infinite number of monkeys in a room with a typewriter (remember those), one day they will write the complete works of Shakespeare". So in a similar way, if Villa keep buying new players and playing them in different positions and in different combinations of players, one day we will end up with a team that can play football for 90 minutes. Regards to all Del

I see on the official site that kick off is August the 4th at 2:30 pm So we should have about 20 minutes to go now...anyone know the score?....it seems quieter on here than usual when the Villa are playing... Regards Del

I am still concerned with lack of proven regular goal scorers in the team. If Hogan "clicks" then great, but what if he doesnt?, can we rely on Gabby until the "Kodger" is back from injury? Regards to all Del BTW shame about Grealish. It always seems to be our players. When you think about how many good Villa players suffered career threatening (and ending) injuries over the years.....does this happen at other clubs?....should we be looking for a loan to replace Grealish in the meantime?

Just bear in mind that Newcastle lost their first two games of the season last year and still went up. Its consistancy that we need this year - convert those draws last season to wins and those losses to draws and we will be near the top. Regards Del

Hi all Not sure if this belongs in this thread but may affect many of us for the first few home games (the mods will make a new thread i guess if not..). I have seen on the www.roads.highways.gov.uk that Junction 6 on the M6 Aston Expressway is going to be closed every weekend from 7th July through to the 4th September (i.e 6 or 7 consequetive weekends). Now this effects me coming from the South on the M6 so I am wondering if its a good idea to get off at Junction 5, get to and park at, Star City and walk to the ground during the home games. Any thoughts on this or alternatives? I normally park at the King Edward VI Aston School car park - convenient but normally 1 hour to get out - which is a pain. Best regards Del

I called the ticket office yesterday Monday, and they were just about to release them at 1700 yesterday.....looked now and they are on sale. Yes I agree it seems very late in the day. I want to go to the Colchester game (I only live 45 mins away) no tickets yet for non season tickete holders like me. Hoping that there will be a few left... All the best Del

Saw some of the game last night. JT was in a different class, made space for himself, and allowed others to pass to him when his team mates ran out of options...which was most of the time. He is a proper footballer...wish we had a few more footballers in the team as well. I agree with some posts on here...JT must be wondering "what the hell was I thinking when I signed for this lot"... Del

Please not Moyes he has proven himself to be rubbish now.......sooner stick with SB Cannot even believe that we are discussing SB exit after a couple of friendlies.! If after the first 10 games things are no different I am sure there will be changes.....there will HAVE to be changes. Now what those will be who knows, but SB and coaching staff will be under pressure . If I were a manager and needed to recruit someone who could touch type I would not expect to have to teach that person once I employed, them how to type....they would know how to type. So why are footballers any different?. It has to be a case of poor coaching, poor (or lack of tactics/game plan) or not using the players correctly or all of these factors. I would hardly expect the typist in my example to have to clean the drains if its not a skill they have... Regards to all on this great forum! Del

Hi all I didnt see any of the Shrewsbury game but it sounded like any of the games we played last year...hardly any shots on target etc... I was able to see the Villa 10 times last year and apart from the very rare second or first half of a game where we actually looked good, the rest of it was pretty dire to be honest. In almost 50 years seeing Villa play,..... for the first time I walked out early during the Ipswich game home loss.....dreadful performance. My concern is not really the players to be honest. Most of the "new" signings have proven themselves playing with other clubs. My concern is when SB says he "doesnt do tactics". Now if he is not involved with this side of the game them who is? Arguably many will say tactics is overrated, its just a simple game. But many teams that we played last year were able to neutralise us and take advantage of our known weaknesses. So why are we not doing the same to these teams? Coaching is I think the main issue, this is where the problem lies... Why are we not playing our players in their natural position? what is the point during these friendlies in experimenting by playing players in positions that they dont normally play in? SB should be by now, fine tuning the "playing system", so that all players know their jobs and when injuries and suspensions come along then integrating replacements into a known (hopefully successful) system should be easy. It appears that we are far far away from this as possible. In fact I would say that tactics, team formation or style of play, call it what you want, we are no further forward in developing this than we were 9 months ago. Rant over........Enjoy the Summer! Regards to all Del

Interesting all this. Perhaps we should insist on a second medical test done by a third party. If he comes out as ok then get some oily lawyer to extract £ millions from Seville in compensation.... Regards Del

Hi all Might be slightly off topic...but relevant to next Summer!.... Interesting to read yesterday that Newcastle (well Rafa) was saying how difficilt it is to sign players now they are in the premier league due to the huge and crazy transfer fees. Of course the mighty Villa will be promoted at the end of this upcoming season, but does this mean that we could be in the same position needing to recruit more players for life in the premier league? Regards to all Del

Hi everyone Well what with all this John Terry speculation, I am still concerned regarding this Villa team that still has not been addressed. Last season one of our main problems was lack of goals. So many times we tried to hang on 1 - 0 up only to lose or draw. Whereas if we had been 2 or 3-0 up we (probably) would have still won. Too much reliance on "young Codger" we need more goals to come from elsewhere, we all know what happens when he is injured/suspended... We need more goals...where are they coming from? I have seen nothing so far that changes things from last season VTID (all the way from Suffolk) BTW looking forward to the Colchester game...just 45 minutes from me (instead of 2 hours drive to VP)...as Del Boy would say "Cushtie"