Raver50032

Whilst that is true - I have concerns that QPR just had a decent win and we'll be going there in need of a 'pick me up' performance and result. Struggling to see where it will change a the moment with such a quick-fire rash of games.

Norwich, in form, against a Villa side that is yet to really find it's feet this season. Disappointed with the defeat, certainly. But not surprised. Despite the new manager saying we need to work better with ball retention, some of our passing was poor and numerous times we seemed to get caught in possession or bundled off the ball and turned over. There is a lot of work needed with this squad, so although the 'honeymoon period' is over, Smith will get my patience. All the usual stuff about 'not his players,' 'not been with the squad long enough because of international break,' 'not had a pre-season' and 'not had a transfer window' all apply. It's pointless losing your rag at the manager or the team for this performance. We are what we are. Small time chanting from the Norwich fans amused me - '1-0 and you fVVcked it up...' Really? Lol at you. Just lol. Long way to go, but as is, we are nowhere near as good as we think we might be. All the early willy-waving 'promotion is still our target' I hope won't come back and bite smith on the buttocks. Grealish MotM for that one long looping pass he did towards the end of the first half alone. Ref, dismal for not treating Abraham's injury with more respect. Even Farke seemed to think it was a triviality.

As it stands, a point would be very decent value for us. Anything more will be a Brucie Bonus.

Nice to be able to drive to work with my head nodding to Radio Mirror Park and then stroll into the office with the renewed confidence of a strutting pigeon. I had low, nervy expectations for this game because of our previous problems and the lack of time for Smith to really get to know the players sufficient to put up a considered fight. The game was nervy at times, but we showed some promise. Very pleased for Dean Smith - it was a very big occasion considering the passing of Doug. Hopefully, we can see the upward trend of results continue from here. Still think we need to be patient with Smith. We have more difficult games to come.

Sensible Soccer? Bring your gamepads folks and let's get it on.

No, Robert De Niro's still waiting...

I was just trolling the board... I wanted Bruce out after last season's start and never really recovered for me apart from the occasional cock tease result and run.

To be fair to Bruce, didn't he deliver the best win percentage in living memory and beyond? And he still wasn't good enough. With Smith, we might not hit that level of win percentage, but we expect him to be good enough.

Sadly not, we face a fixture rash after the international break with three games in 6 days. I guess it would be too late to dick around with the timings for Saturday now. Going to be an amazing afternoon, win, lose or draw. A farewell to Doug, and a welcome for Dean.

Sad to hear of your passing Doug... may you look down on a bright start to a new era at Villa Park from the Holte End in the sky... (more realistically, the Trinity with padded seats in the sky)... Claret and blue skies.

Come on, it's taken us 'there or thereabouts...'

Most seem to be getting caught up in some sort of romantic nourishment for a gamble on Henry and Terry. Some normally very sensible posters too, which is surprising given where we are at as a club. Some normally sensible posters rounding on 'One For The Road' for displaying some rightly deserved and asserted caution. It is a gamble... so Henry can talk a good game. This could all blow up in our faces. I'm not naïve enough to believe that ANY other potential appointment would be as equal, less or more of a risk. But as is no customary for Villa Talk, the 'I know better' circular debates and roundings continue to manifest. Proper popcorn time this last thirty pages. I remember the rounding that Grasshopper got for his interpretation of Steve Bruce and Steve Bruce's Aston Villa. He isn't around these parts any longer, and yet in the end, he was proven pretty much well justified and correct. I'm not saying that 'One For The Road' is fully correct, or even fully justified in his concerns about Henry/Terry. But why are so many of you engaging in a faux-circle jerk over what could end up being nothing more than a grandiloquent gamble? It's a big name with little substance, especially in the area where it matters for where we are as a club right now. I posted towards the end of MON's tenure that in the following ten years, there would be more chance of us playing in League 1, than the Champions League. And so it has panned out, much to my chagrin. The nature of the 2018-19 Championship is such that given our properly dismal start (performances and 'on paper' results considering the stature of the oppo) to the season, it's a fine line between chasing the play-offs/early league leaders and us descending into a fully blown relegation scrap. So many are now blinded by taking a significant risk, just to 'try something different' or set sail in a 'new direction.' Come on folks, this is Aston Villa (more like Aston Vanilla actually, always getting licked). If it is Henry/Terry, and it works, then fine, I'll join in the celebratory sausage joculation. But let me register my concerns here for posterity... my uncertainty... my doubt and anxiety. I don't think we can afford to take such an audacious gamble. Is this really the 'statement' that the owners would want to make? There is so much at stake here this season. The only real positive from this appointment would be that neither Sol or Dwight would need to write to the FA.

David Moyes? The bitter little Gremlin? Wow Villa... trololololol. If it's him, he'll be gone within a year. Would represent zero progress. Club might as well have made an appeal to the fans for patience and stuck with Steve.

Just once... why not try and go 'full Keegan?' With you SGC. Nothing to lose really, our expectations of KMac this weekend will be less of a Big Tasty, and more of a 99p cheeseburger.

Change was due, sadly for Bruce (and us) was overdue. My like for the guy diminished over time after he rallied against the fans. There were several, much more nuanced ways of riding the unrest that was bubbling than how he began to manifest himself in the media. So I went from believing him to be a 'nice guy,' to something less so. As such, I can't sit here all dewy eyed and thank him for anything really. I can still count on the fingers of one standard human hand, the number of actual 'good' and 'positive' performances his Aston Villa played. How we were 2-0 up away at Barnsley at half time last season is beyond me for example. some big wins merely papered over the cracks. The rest of it, repetitive, tedium. More than enough time and resource for a credible manager to deliver something more positive than the end game we got. Wembley was a much wasted opportunity. An expensive (for us) wasted opportunity. Enjoy your time away from the game Steve. Was very sorry to hear of the familial losses earlier in the year and for a time, respected you for coming back so quickly. But football management at this club, was sadly beyond you.

Are Blue Peter still doing an appeal?

I've edited the thread title to reflect recent events at Villa Park. As Dem says above, this is a kind of a 'holding pattern' dead rubber until the new incumbent is coronated to the biggest of poison chalices in the Championship.

Didn't see it... Was it like when Sturridge did his robot celebration right into a group of young Villa fans in the lower Trinity that time we got basted 6-0 at home to Liverpool? I thought that was way out of order. In the heat of the moment, look at some of the posts in the Match thread... or in the moments after a tricky game in the reactions thread. People do strange things in the 'heat of the moment.' Not sure crucifying somebody for what is alleged in this thread is really the right thing, whether the management team deserve to go or not. If he was using racist language or mocking a disabled supporter for their disability, then I am sure the haranguing would be justified. Just my two cents.

Poop or bust for me now... Home crowd baying for blood, signifies that he'll find it very difficult to come back from now. Should he stay there will be trouble... If he goes it could be double? Or words to that effect. I don't fancy kicking the nest of wasps that the Millwall (no-one likes us, we don't care) massive are for this one. We have enough misery in store I fear without having to suffer their chest pumping wibble. Another long afternoon for those attending of the Villa persuasion. Good luck with it. Take your own cabbage. No penalties for Whelan...

Trololololololololololol... 'Mind the gap...' Wow Villa... just, wow.

Bruce can't win either way tonight... Win against Preston and 'we' will say 'it's only bottom of the league Preston...' Lose, and the words will be a little more strong and choice. Hard times to be a Villa fan, and a Villa manager.

So assuming we are <cough-cough> 'there or thereabouts' in January, it's possible our pants could still be pulled down by the EFL before the season ends if we are deemed to be in the poo-poo? I'm starting to lose interest now. The sooner football all blows up in its own face the better, then we can all start again.

Interesting viewpoints on this and I risk going off topic a little. Anyway, I used to admire Dwight Yorke after seeing his little 'Roger Milla' jig around the corner flag in his early days as a Villa player and then seeing him blossom into a fabulous player for us. I adored my little Yorkie bar. Then he had his head turned... broke my heart. I didn't begrudge him getting a little bit of glory with Manchester United per se, but I will never forget (nor forgive) the day he came back to Villa Park with Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup and scored for them at the Holte End. If it wasn't bad enough being repeatedly beaten over the back of the head by a young fan behind me touting a rubber dinosaur, Dwight Yorke, when he scored, grinned into the Holte End. He flipping well GRINNED. Seemingly right at me... his white teeth sparkling as he (what I interpreted anyway) poured not just salt... but, vinegar and vitriol on the flames of my already broken heart. What a word removed. If I had a gun, I would have shot him. (Well, an air rifle with rubber bullets... okay, okay... a Nerf gun with foam darts) I screamed, I bawled, I raged... so bad, that I felt dizzy and had a tightness in my chest. I was in my early 20s. Scared myself silly. Football can sometimes flip you... make you act in ways you never considered possible. It's tribal... and often can be feral. I'm way, way short of feeling like that with Bruce, to bring things back on topic. For the record, I've never quite been like that since. I still rant, still lose my temper, but it's never been quite like my falling out with Dwight 'shit-bag' Yorke.

Interesting that he now seems to be trotting out the 'some fans have been against me from the start' mantra. Well, it's up to you Steve to win them over. That is your job. Deliver what your 'reputation' aspires to and get the club promoted, and you will stand a much better chance of winning them over than your current offerings.

Must... Not... Lose... I would imagine that sore loser Lee Johnson will be rubbing his hands for this game given how things are developing at Villa Park this season. One win in eight... hysteria... etc. Live and exclusive on Sky Sports. Can't wait... We're just waiting for the inevitable now... and Mr Bruce has openly said 'I never walk away from a challenge.' No? Explain the summer you walked out on Hull then... What you're doing here is clinging on until you get paid off. At least have the decency not to try and pull the wool over the fans eyes. Probably two DMs in this game for us. Must, not, lose.