vreitti

Having played football for far too long myself, my take on today's youth/youngsters is a lack of focus mainly. There's just too many distractions nowadays, and things that ultimately come in the way of 'making it', when you're not devoting everything to football. I don't think it's necessarily a straight up lack of belief in general that's the cause. Promising youngsters do of course need to have 'mild successes' along the way, otherwise the belief will naturally disappear. The effect of a good hands on coach is also vital, something I believe we severely lack. Some of these superb young talents make it look so easy, e.g. Dele Alli. Whereas others, like Grealish just don't seem to have the same willpower or mental strength, even though the natural talent is there.

I so so so want to disagree, but knowing that all of the above is in fact the most likely outcome, it just makes it altogether impossible. I hope we get an honest assessment of the season from the owner in the coming days. I'd very much like to know if he thinks we've improved and are on the right track.

This says it all really.

Agreed, and indeed it takes longer, when the wrong guy is kept on longer.

How do you know? @TRO might be Steve Bruce, and I'm fairly certain @Grasshopper is Tim Sherwood.

How come most of these players were tearing the league apart before joining us? This 'players are crap' argument simply does not hold water, not even close. It could be argued they simply don't fit into 'our system', but it's a rather difficult argument to make, as we have no system. Fact is they aren't performing. Heck Hourihane isn't even starting.

And we know for a fact that this is what's going to be the case? I'll admit, I've got absolutely no clue what actually occurs during preseason at this level. It's all assumptions and blind hope for me. However, I can't remember a season were we've come out all guns blazing, filled with confidence, playing teams of the park. My memory is most likely selective here, as we've had to endure all sorts of turgid shit for more years than I care to remember.

Honestly, I'd rather not jump to conclusions based upon how other teams have turned around their fortunes. A preseason might have helped them out immensely; then again, they might have already had other 'foundations' better in order before that, regardless of said league position last season. I really wouldn't know, as I don't follow other championship clubs all that closely. I can see the reasoning for sticking with Bruce, but I think his previous record of promotions is a rather weak argument, as circumstances this time are different, and for the umpteenth time, I really haven’t seen any progress from a strict ‘style of play’ perspective, that would fill me with confidence that he actually knows what he’s doing. If he’s given more time, a proper preseason, more money, etc., sure he might develop a much needed ‘style of play’ that’ll ultimately improve performances. However, I just feel we are an attractive enough prospect as a club, that we would be able to get in an even better manager, one that’ll be able to hit the ground running. Promotion next season (for me) is a must, and the likelihood of that happening will not diminish with a new manager in the summer. In addition, the squad is now good enough that a major overhaul isn’t needed anymore, imho. For the record, we could be way worse off than Steve Bruce. In fact, we’ve been so, for the last 6 years.

Did I say 'nothing' happens during preseason? I just happen to think the importance of a preseason is greatly exaggerated by some.

He's probably the only one. He's actually playing in the same "league" nowadays, albeit in an upper division. I'm hoping we advance for next season, so I can get a chance to repay the "slight mishap" against the scum. Some scars never heal. I do think we also have a Finnish youngster Sundman, nowadays, but I know nothing about him. SCG can probably shed some light on the subject. Ps. sorry for the off-topic.

It sure was. He had me playing as centreback, and I was terrible.

Absolutely, and with the time Bruce has already had, he should've done far better, which is my entire point. Fair enough, but consider for a second when Conte actually arrived, and how long it took him to realize what needed to be done. In comparison Bruce has already had a lot more time, preseason or not. A straight off comparison like this is of course unfair on Bruce, given the material Conte has is far superior in every aspect, but I think my point is still valid from a strict theoretical point of view. And as I've alluded before, my biggest gripe with Bruce is that he seems content with the way we are playing. Sure he says otherwise, but I think it's evident he isn't trying to change things as of now. He may have reasons for this, reasons that are beyond my knowledge of things, nevertheless I can't get over the feeling he should've done a lot better, as I still after 30 games cannot see anything apart from 10 men sitting deep, defending, and lumping the ball upfield, hoping that Kodjia does his magic. All this might of course change, during or after the preseason, and I hope to god you, and everyone else still behind him are correct, as I know he isn't going anywhere, however much I cry about it here.

Sadly I've played for more than 25 years. Actually lost our season opener yesterday. If only we'd have had Bruce to oversee our preseason.

Nice to see someone besides the players taking part of training for a change.

This is another thing the I cannot understand. How on earth does a director, CEO or what not 'suit' implement an "Aston Villa way" of playing? Surely this has to come from the manager to begin with?

Can someone please explain to me what actually happens during this magical pre season period? I've honestly never really understood the fuss about it all. I can't remember us ever coming off a pre season all guns blazing, playing teams of the park. To me it feels more like another excuse to give underperforming managers further, unwarranted time. The players are all off on holiday, most likely getting pissed on Ibiza, right? They return early/mid July, overweight and out of shape, right? They have about a month or so to 'gel', before the season starts. Apart from the usual wheeling & dealing, what does the manager actually do during the summer? Are we to believe that all managers need the off season to figure out a formation and implement a style of play? Seems absurd that this cannot be done gradually when ever. Sure results might suffer at first, but if a manager knows what he's doing, the turnaround usually occurs. Chelsea this season is the perfect example. Whatever Conte did pre season, didn't pay dividends, so he made the necessary changes early on, and now they're most likely winning the league. I get it that we've been a downright mess for ages, and that the task at hand probably was far greater than anyone could have ever imagined. Still the more I think about it, I feel like Bruce should have done a lot better. Granted he's made us hard to beat, but for me it just isn't enough, when considering what we've spent and what he's got at his disposal. I wonder what the likes of Hourihane, Hogan, Lansbury, Grealish, et.al. are thinking.

One has to wonder if Hogan even was Bruce's choice, considering the way we're set up. The same goes for Hourihane I suppose.

If he's actually unhappy with way we are playing, why isn't he doing anything about it? If he's trying to do something about it, it sure as shit isn't showing, and raises serious questions about his ability as manager. Wouldn't you agree?

Lighten up pal, it was a joke.

Apart from us fans, I honestly don't think anyone cares all that much about us anymore.

If we're seriously considering sticking by Bruce and letting him do another huge squad turnover in the summer, the board (& owner) really are more lazy than I ever could have imagined. He may very well be able to get us promoted next season, even with this turgid, negative approach, but he hasn't (imho) earned the right to give it another go, simply because we play like utter garbage, week in, week out. Now I can buy into the notion that he knew not of an alternative, other than to become ultra-defensive, in order to stop our apparent downfall. But why hasn't he tried to change his approach since it became clear we're safe? If anything, he's become even more cautious. Sure let's blame the players, because it's not like we've signed any decent players, with actual proven track-records in this division. It's quite pointless to start naming managers to replace him with, but I'm 100 % certain we would be able to attract and get a bucketload of more capable managers (foreign & domestic), with an actual interest of fielding a team that plays football, that would yield just as good a shot at promotion as sticking with Bruce would, if not even greater. Ps. I'm thrilled we beat the scum.

Watched Monaco yesterday, and I'm fairly certain that Mbappe fellow would be a decent signing. He'd probably hack it on the wing as well.

THIS. How hard can it really be? Any half-decent manager should be able to do this, simply come up with a 'plan A' formation and tactic, then stick to it. This is by far my biggest gripe with Bruce. He keeps saying all the right things, "we need to be better with the ball", and what not, but honestly he doesn't seem to bothered by it all, otherwise he'd surely do something about it.

How do you look good when you're simply lumping balls forward all day long, then running around chasing shadows? I would argue that most of our players are merely following instructions, doing as they've been told.

The players today were fine. The problem is they're all running around like headless chicken. We are totally devoid of anything even remotely close to a game plan. The way I see it Bruce is barely able to pick a formation. Most of the players don't have a clue what they are supposed to do out there. And fact is we have plenty of genuinely good players. Just look at what Hourihane did 4 months ago, then look at him now. That is on Bruce. Sadly he doesn't possess the tools to fix it.