Lerner's Driver

Didn't we decide Hogan was sh*te?

Snodgrass may have struggled at WHAM, but as we all know, players don't always fit the club's they join, so if he signs, I won't be writing him off as garbage before he's even kicked a ball, not least because he has performed under Bruce before. I hope he does join, as I think he will be an asset and I've just lumped a ton on him.

13 hours ago, Jareth said:

A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush

You been twitching again, Jareth?

Some shit stuck to the wall.

Just now, terrytini said:

He doesn't deserve swearing , name calling, or abuse.

But he does deserve the sack.

 

I agree.

6 minutes ago, JPAngel said:

No offence taken on the ITK. I'm simply passing on the message.

I like Bruce as a bloke and it's good to see that he's as frustrated as we all are - but the key point here is that if he can't change it and only has excuses then it's time to go.

The only way my outlook has been changed by learning this is that I should probably be a little less ruthless in my criticism (which I was elsewhere) and at the end of the day, he's just another human. Or a potato. 

Empathy on Villa Talk? Whatever next? Well said, JPA! Irrespective of his performance thus far, he doesn't deserve the swearing and abuse he gets from some.

15 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

If I thought big Sam was realistic he would be my number one choice.

but I think pardew would be best option short term

Pardew though

I think we'll draw or win.

34 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I'm not claiming to. But I'm not the one saying my approach was the sensible one and everyone else was wrong. 

I may have got it completely wrong regarding Bruce, I said so many times. But having the opinion he should go because of the issues I saw was not the foolish thing to do IMO. 

Firstly, I never once said everyone else was wrong, you just made that up. My main issue was with the way dissenters chose to express their concerns. As I said above, I didn't/don't have any particular affection for Bruce, I simply prefer taking a balanced view and attempting to articulate it in the same way. On balance, he's finished, so you were right all along.

3 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Just because you and others failed to spot obvious issues doesn't make it the sensible decision. 

 

With the greatest of respect, you have no idea what I saw or didn't see, all you know is that I called for time and a reasonable approach because that's all I did! Irrespective of the outcome, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that at the time and nor is there now. We can all scream I told you so in hindsight, but every manager has their positives and their negatives, every manager is a gamble and more to the point, most of them fail, especially with us. So, let's be clear, you and others have no special insight or gift in predicting future success.

6 hours ago, Villan_of_oz said:

I backed you, I stuck up for you, I debated your cause for you.... 

Last night was a disgrace, after so much enthusiasm for this season. I feel depressed. 

As much as this pains me and will cost me a tenner and much pride with @Grasshopper I want us to lose Tuesday, so you get fired!

I can empathise, but really, you have no need to scold yourself. All you were doing is arguing for reasonable time to be given to a manager and players who have shown they can perform at other clubs in similar situations. It wasn't even so much a passionate argument for Bruce, as it was for time. There are many intangible things which can influence success and failure and you sensibly erred on the side of wait and see, rather than diving in with your analysis. That said, given the time, he has now wasted his opportunity. 

Personally, I'm not so much depressed as baffled, as to why Bruce has failed to implement 'his way' on this team. Personally, I never really liked him as a manager of other clubs because his professional salt of the earth banter just comes across as hokey, but never the less, he often seemed to fashion a side capable of getting results and going on long winning runs, even if the end product was predominantly functional, rather than stylish.

There was a spirit and determination to his teams' displays, which most of the time, guaranteed a performance at the very least, but that core feature, (which was really just a reflection of him as player and a man), has not been transposed at Villa. Many of us were prepared to accept his somewhat lumpen approach as a needs must, but the results have now dried up and without determination to succeed, or a system that encourages flare to create problems for the opposition, what else have you got?

By his own admission, he doesn't know what to do and he has nothing left to give, so he has to go. Allardyce is a more effective Bruce, so would probably get us in the top six this year, but he is apparently retired now and again, has his limitations. I think we have decent players, they just need organising to their strengths by a manager with nous. Warnock would jump at Villa and could probably do a job,, but he's also unlikeable. 

We need someone with the right mix of imagination, ingenuity and steel, who can hit the ground running and wouldn't take months trying to 'understand' the Villa conundrum. Possibly someone who has been watching from afar and may even be secretly coveting the job. Is Dean Smith our next John Gregory?

The time has come. I've long argued for him to have more time on the basis that he's done it before, but the lack of any discernible pattern to our play, despite the abundant resources at his disposal, means it's time. Bruce Out.

2 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

So I haven't looked in this thread for a few days. Have we decided if Bruce is any good yet or is he the worst manager we could possibly have?

Not yet, but the jurors are being assembled and the evidence is gradually building. Some think he has 2-3 more games and he's a dead man walking. Don't worry, there will be a general consensus before you know it.

1 minute ago, Eastie said:

I think huttons  had one of his better games today , although his crossing is questionable  

Final ball is his eternal failing, but his assist for the goal. Well done Alan!

C'mon Villa.

2-0

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

I assume everyone who was shitting themselves after we lost 2-1 to Shrewsbury are now chuffed to bits, given our pre season record is actually pretty good?

Enjoy the temporary peace and rest for your eyes - there will be another essay of doom packed full of proof, before you know it...

3 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

Comments like this annoy me more than any other tbh.

But it seemed so certain. We'd all decided it a week ago. I'm sorry if it upset you.

Why didn't we lose? We were supposed to be incoherent, clueless and lose. Bruce out anyway. Sack him now.

Is commitment enough? No. Take the money if it's on offer.

On 22/07/2017 at 12:50, rjw63 said:

Because they're words removed.

Gotcha. Irrational then.

30 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

I don't care what kind of money we get or how badly we want a player gone, we should NEVER sell to scum heath.

Why not? 

It all works beautifully on my One Plus 3. Good work. Looks great!

31 minutes ago, DoubtGin said:

 

done !

I'm sure most people don't give a monkeys, but I don't understand the point of 'the first interview' with a new signing because they all say exactly the same thing in exactly the same 'voice' which clearly isn't theirs.

Bruce, big club, back where we belong. It's not even subtle! Whatever happened to the good old days when footballers told us about their favourite colour and meant it?

7 minutes ago, Grasshopper said:

completely unnessessary accusation

Very easily inferred from the evidence available and 'proof' is King to the soothsayers.

37 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I'm amazed that after 5 years these posts still exist. This mocking of negativity is actually mocking of being bang on the money as everyone who has been negative about this club in recent years has been proven to be 100% correct, yet they're mocked as though they are insane. 

The unrealistic opinions have been the positive everything is going to be fine posts over the last few years. 

 

Our fortunes have to change at some point and we have arrested the slide, so some would argue perfectly reasonably, that some progress has already been made. Whether it's enough progress is of course debatable, but progress of sorts it is. By this definition, to predict a trend of 'continuous failure' would be inaccurate.

Secondly, was it not the opinion of several vociferously anti Bruce posters that citing his previous record was irrelevant? If so, perhaps the same rule should be applied to his critics. They correctly predicted failure in the past, but that is surely no basis for assuming your success again now because now is now with a whole new set of experiences and accumulated knowledge.

Moral of the story: nobody can be certain so why not retain an open mind and dare I say it, even a little positivity?