villasteed

It seems that my diplomatic opinion is in the minority here. To me it would be crazy to sack our manager after just 2 games - Bruce's first full season. I understand the Cardiff game was totally unacceptable and if there are more performances like this one, I'll be calling for Bruce to go too. But let's see where we are after 10 games. I don't think that's too much to ask. I'm certainly not accepting mediocrity, as suggested in other posts, but sacking Bruce doesn't guarantee success. If anything, it could cause even more disharmony and yet another season of mediocrity and transition. In the same way, we don't know that Bruce is going to fail like many are suggesting. We simply don't know what will happen.. And who can we get to replace Bruce? It's a very serious question that no one has answered.

Before Bruce took over, we had only won one of out first eleven Championship games. Prior to that we had just been relegated from the premier league wining only 3 games all season. This is after 5 years of Premier League struggles.. We all have high expectations for Villa but you can't argue that Steve Bruce hasn't improved on this record. I'm not saying he's got a great record but at this point we need some stability and if we sack Bruce now, we just begin the merry-go-round all over again. The grass isn't always greener and the list of potential Bruce replacements fills me with mild dread.

Football is a strange game. A strange games that hightens emotions and evokes a passion that some people don't appear to be able to control. I'm sitting here reading some of these comments (not just this thread) with a slightly puzzled look on my face. "Sack the manager". "He's taking us down". "He plays terrible football". "He's clueless". "We're doooooomed". "I've never liked him". Whilst some of these statements have an element of truth, they are huge exaggerations...or just plain burps of uncontrolled emotion. The reality is: 1) We're only two games into a brand new season - the first of which we showed some promise. 2) Steve Bruce has been our manager for only 10 months - in that time we've had good run of results (losing only one in nine) and also a bad run of results (nine games without a win). Inconclusive. 3) The list of managerial candidates who are available to replace Bruce are a depressing list of failed managers or inexperienced punts who may or may not do any better. I'm not here to say that we should all love Bruce, or that we should stand by him with blind faith, but he IS the current Aston Villa manager and while his record is not exactly amazing, it isn't sacking worthy. Especially when you consider our shocking recent history (pre Bruce) and the and the amount of changes we've already been through. Will Bruce lead us to promotion? I don't know. None of us know. But what I do know is that changing manager doesn't guarantee us success. In fact it just creates more chaos and confusion and in all likelihood another cycle of moaning about our manager and wishing them to be sacked without really considering the consequences. There's a bigger picture here. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but if you want Bruce out, realistically, who will take over? How many years will it take for them to build a new team? Do we have the finances to back a new manager? How many more managers will we need to sack? Does a new manager guarantee success? We really need some stability. And whether you like Bruce or not, we have stabilised under him so let's give him the opportunity to progress.

So you want Pulis as Aston Villa manager because he wanted to sign Sigurdsson and Michu..? I'm sorry, but these are the comments that frustrate the hell out of me. For one, is it even factually accurate? And secondly, who didn't want those two? You also seem to think a new manager is going to get some sort of financial backing...

the problem here is a subjective one I simply don't agree that the football was ok in the early part of the season and the first half on Sunday....there were problems there for all to see.....several times on sunday,westwood was out muscled in midfield and that was in the first half before the sending off that has just about got that game "out of jail"....cleverley was just as lightweight too. as a team the majority can't read the game, can't pass and move, have difficulty with the physical side of the game ( lack power, too may lightweights).....If the start was as good as you make out it would be more sustainable... its as brittle as old bones. as for their equaliser, Gabby was waiting for a bus.....nothing to do with the sending off...poor play and poor reading of whats going on. The run we had was tough, but on the back of the good start as you say, I would have expected a bit more of a fight.... 3 goals in minutes against arsenal was not my idea of a fight. The manager came out every 5 minutes with the ready made excuses for the forthcoming 5 games( after the liverpool game) and the players duly obliged....sure we are missing quality, but they could/should be better than this. You don't think Benteke would have defended that corner better than Gabby?

I'm sorry but you can not blame Lambert for the failures of our youth teams. This is where we need some perspective. I agree that Lambert can be blamed for the poor performances of our first team but there are some very big things wrong at Villa and the manager is a very easy scapegoat. Until there are some serious changes at the top, any manager will struggle here. are you seriously suggesting the manager is not responsible for the teams below him. He is the man on the footballing side of the club, everyone reports to him. Martin O'Neill would have put a contract out on you for saying that. I agree there are some serious problems at the club, they usually get highlighted on a Saturday Afternoon....round about 4.50pm Please have some perspective. Surely these people are more accountable: Youth Team Manager - Tony McAndrew Academy Manager- Sean Kimberley Head of Academy Coaching - Tony McAndrew I'm not saying Lambert shouldn't shoulder some of the blame but he should not be made a scapegoat.

The managers you've named above were ultimately failures (with the exception of Ron Saunders)... Success and failure too is equally subjective....I have to say i think you have a strange way of depicting failure if you think a league cup is failure and flirting around in the top half of the table and dishing up believable football to boot. If you think those guys were failures....I dread to think how your evaluate this dross. Success is relative. We had good teams under those managers playing in a fairer league (before the ridiculous input of money). I agree that now we would accept their achievements as a success, but why were they sacked (or resigned) if they were deemed a success at the time? Ultimately, while they did have successes, things took a turn for the worse and they became failures. Mid table is now deemed as a success and we should still achieve that, even with Lambert.

I'm sorry but you can not blame Lambert for the failures of our youth teams. This is where we need some perspective. I agree that Lambert can be blamed for the poor performances of our first team but there are some very big things wrong at Villa and the manager is a very easy scapegoat. Until there are some serious changes at the top, any manager will struggle here.

The managers you've named above were ultimately failures (with the exception of Ron Saunders)... I admit it is very hard to defend Lambert but surley people can understand my concern that nothing will actually improve by bringing in a new manager. Especially with some of the terrible managers who've been put forward. Money talks. And while there is little money available for Lambert, or a new manager, we just have to accept that things are going to be a struggle for us. We have to take risks on cheap foreigners because that's all we can afford. They rarely come off. It's not just Lamberts fault. What are our ambitions? Mid table? I'm confident that our squad can achieve that. Anything beyond that will need some heavy investment, rather than a new manager. Just trying to add a bit of perspective to this very one sided debate

Not me. Lambert has been appalling, and investment won't make him any less clueless.He signed Benteke. If there was a truly standout manager available who's interested in joining us, then I'd be more inclined to agree with the 'sack Lambert' camp...but there is no standout replacement. Any change now will just be for change sake and not necessarily in the best interest of the club.

I appear to be in the minority here but I can't be the only one getting a sense of déjà vu. Every few years we have the same topic 'sack the manager' along with a few names banded around who should replace him. It's happening now and unless there is some major investment in the playing squad, it'll be the same in a few more years. Tony Pulis?! Seriously?! Now, I can't and wont defend Paul Lamberts record, particularly our home record, but the level of investment in our playing squad over the past few years has to rank somewhere amongst the low/mid table teams. Amazingly enough, that's where we're positioned. We've had a shocking run of games, but the first half against Spurs (and start of the season) was actually pretty good. I'll go as far as to say if Benteke hadn't been sent off, we would have won. Now we're without our best two players (Delph and Benteke) for another month or so. That's not Lamberts fault but it could cost him his job. I'm just getting tired of the same old revolving managerial door, not just a Villa but at all clubs. One average manager moves out only to be replaced by another manager. I personally feel we just need to back a manager and stick with him. The likelyhood of Pulis improving us is slim with the current financial limitations so let's all show some rare loyalty and back a man in desperate need of some backing. We just need investment. That's the only thing that will improve this club. Not *insert average manager name here*. Now who's with me...?

Boost is the daddy of them all!!!