dn1982

1 hour ago, terrytini said:

If he succeeds then great - I think he will - but if we fail to go up I can’t imagine the Club would want rid, and rightly so.

There is no way we would be better off getting a new guy in, who then wants to change everything, than we would be with Bruce building on what’s here now.

In my view it’d be plain bonkers to get rid....particularly as our Form for  a good while has been good enough to go up next year.

For once we can have a steady ship and a ready squad.

Were going up this season anyway- our firepower will blast us through after the break.

We won’t have a steady ship or a ready squad though. Johnstone Hutton Terry Snodgrass will all go. We will have to sell players to replace others and to navigate FFP. If we could keep the squad together I’d be ok with Bruce staying but if it’s decimated id want a manager that would use our kids. Bruce isn’t that man. 

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

No I'm not sure. Maybe it was the wrong word to use.

I guess the point I was trying to make was that I don't think the issue was tactics or formations. It was how the players went about the game. They didn't play in top gear, far from it. Complacency, motivation, doesn't matter. They didn't approach it in the right way.

That's not absolving Bruce at all. He is responsible for instilling that in the players. But they do have to take their slice of the blame too.

First half we did ok. 2 nil flattered them but we weren’t no where near the tempo we needed and that’s why they’d scored. 2nd half I expected Bruce to get into them then we’d make a fist of it but then he lost the plot and went to 3 at the back. Bruce was pitch perfect v Wolves and he aswell as the player were not at it last night we’d can’t afford it to happen again.  

33 minutes ago, Eastie said:

Wouldn’t worry - they’ve got brentford, derby , sheff Utd and villa all away to play plus wolves at home - relax !

We just have to concentrate on ourselves. I think we can be 2nd by the time they play Derby. 

1 hour ago, ender4 said:

When you put it like that, i'm shitting myself. 

1 of those 3 criteria, yes fine. 

But we slip up on even one of those 3 criteria and we don't get promoted!

There’s more to it though. Cardiff have to play Wolves and this week have 2 tough away games. There’ll be a few more twists and turns and shock results before we get to the promised land. 

2 hours ago, rjw63 said:

Don't you **** start with the W**twoo* talk

I liked Westwood but I think Birkir is a bit more positive so I’ll  change its to makes us play faster and better. 

Can Jedi keep up his high standards 3 times in a week? I’d prefer a fit firing Jedi for Bolton so I’d play Birkir tonight as I think we’ll have a lot more ball and think he ticks us over better.  

Just now, Demitri_C said:

It dont help when they keep moving our home games. 

That cardiff one at home is annoying as midweek and thibk it might not be a full house now for that reason as its on sky also

I know but that’s oart and parcel of being the big club in the league. Personally I don’t look at if we on TV just can I make it and after Saturday I’ll be doing everything not to miss another one.  

1 hour ago, ozvillafan said:

I hear a lot about Fulham and Cardiff "coming up". I'm not sure it's true - over the last 10 games they have both gained 1 point on us (admittedly, they have a better for and against over that period).

With 10 games to go, there's plenty of room for slip ups - as you can see from Wolves recent form (dropping 11 points against their nearest rivals). It really is a matter of keeping a winning run going, something I'm confident we can do.

 

Edit: 1 image was enough.

I’ll take that over the next 10 games with the one exception of us beating Cardiff. 

11 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I have to say for those fans that do not attend many games for whatever reason (such as my self).  I would try and go to the more important games such as yesterday for the off chance you may experience an atmosphere like that.  Maybe I'm getting carried away but the ground really was literally rocking after that 3rd goal went it.  I'll never forget it.

To those that have been going to games week in week out and have suffered over the years.  Well yesterday was especially for you.

I understand your point about picking and choosing but we need to get Villa Park as full as possible for the lesser games as well. Tomorrow is now even bigger than Saturday so I hope fans who can but are unsure make the effort. We need to get that buzz every game hopefully it’ll be enough to get us up and then we can keep it next season in the PL. 

Nothing has ever stopped teams from having their squads in place before the season starts or not selling players after a certain date. This is just another way to hinder promoted teams for me. If you get promoted through playoffs you are immediately up against it. These new rules will be thrown out after a team loses its better players to foreign leagues but can’t replace them a season our windows are shut. The EFL trying to match the PL is stupid aswell. Championship teams could’ve got better deals if dropping down was only option for certain players which would make the league stronger. The loan system doesn’t work either. Look at players like OHare and RHM these players need short term loans at lower levels to get used to the physicality. A one size fits all model for the leagues doesn’t work. 

When we go up we will need half a 1st team never mind shipping players out and getting a solid 25 man squad. Hopefully we are planning for all eventualities but it’s goung to be a chaotic summer either way. 

When we played Wolves we let them run the show and conceded the midfield. Bruce got it badly wrong. He’d previously changed our team against weaker opposition but this time I think we will be very similar to the Blues team and with the same shape. Taylor LB Grabban upfront and with Jack back and a vociferous crowd I think we will win. If Jack stays fit we will get automatic. 

17 hours ago, Junxs said:

Think you've missed the point here, Onomah is simply not performing yet constantly getting picked ahead of players who are doing better or can do better if given the chance (Lansbury, O'Hare). Yet Bruce is arguing he is young and we should be patient with him when theres only 11 games to go and we are at least 4 points off where we need to be. There's a time and place to be asking for patience for a player whos not performing and especially one who wont be here after those 11 games. Yet he talks about Onomah being the same age as O'Hare who he wont even put on the bench, yet looks to be a much better prospect with his cameos and u23s performances. 

I don’t understand the thinking behind giving a player time who isn’t going to be here in the long run. We aren’t a development team. Same goes for Axel. If he is better than what we have fine but we shouldn’t ever be looking to develop a kid from somewhere else. Bruce has cited our kids not being ready yet gives game time to others who aren’t that much better if a team all. 

20 hours ago, Nigel said:

It's not just you but I think the term 'proactive' has become a bit all encompassing for everything great. Being proactive has nothing to do with attacking play, in most cases its quite the opposite.

Being proactive means dealing with a problem before it arises, not just attacking a team all the time. The charactistics will change with every game....a lot of the time with negative tactics to nullify threats....mourinho is such a manager.

I think what you were describing is an attacking manager. However I'm not sure how successful you can be with this one way of playing.

20 hours ago, Nigel said:

It's not just you but I think the term 'proactive' has become a bit all encompassing for everything great. Being proactive has nothing to do with attacking play, in most cases its quite the opposite.

Being proactive means dealing with a problem before it arises, not just attacking a team all the time. The charactistics will change with every game....a lot of the time with negative tactics to nullify threats....mourinho is such a manager.

I think what you were describing is an attacking manager. However I'm not sure how successful you can be with this one way of playing.

I actually quoted the dictionary definition of proactive! It’s not just attacking all the time. Look at how we played v Blues. We bossed the game from start to finish. Compare that to how we played v Preston. You can say it’s because we had players missing but every team has that issue at times. We are supposed to be one of the better teams in this league. We should be bossing more games than we do. There’s not many team so we should worry about nullifying as we should make them worry about us. Call it what you want. Proactive Positive attacking it doesn’t change the fact in this league we shouldn’t be afraid of any team. 

12 hours ago, Nigel said:

I think you are getting confused about the definition of 'pro-active'!

 creating or controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than responding to it after it has happened! so you can be proactive from the start. You can’t be reactive from the start so I think I’ve got the definition correct. Bruce sets us up not to lose more often than not and then reacts. I even stated we are better when we go at teams when we take the initiative and when we take control. Too many times we don’t do that. We’ve got lucky a few times recently and if we are to get 2nd we need to be proactive. 

1 hour ago, TRO said:

I think that is a moot point.

If the team is winning he is a proactive manager.....If the team is not winning he is a reactive manager.....I think many managers could be described in the same manner.

If you are saying he is a reactive manager all of the time, which I guess you are not.....then i would have to disagree.

many, many factors are at play, when games are being played and I fear that not enough comment is made on players form, just not being good enough on the day, its what is generally referred to as consistency in a player.

Manangers have only so much control over this and have to compensate or change players, when they see an obvious scenario.....if too many are affected a way of playing to get a result may have to be adopted.

its rarely one single dimensional factor.....unless a player blatantly gives away a goal or a monumental error like JED against Sheff Utd....that can change your game plan.

I do honestly think Managers are the main catalyst in a football clubs ability to be successful or fail......but I am very dubious during a game of the AMOUNT of effect a manager can have. He has one chance half time, the rest is mainly hot air, arm waving ( in some cases) and changes.

 

Picking teams and setting them up to attack from the outset is being proactive. It’s not just about in game management. In a lot of games it’s let’s keep it tight and see how we go but we are far better on the front foot. 

I believe since Bruce has been having family issues Calderwood has been running things more day to day and that’s affected the influence Agnew has been having on the team. We need to get be able to play like we did against Blues without Jack. Not picking Onomah and Whelan will help this as both slow play down to much. We are a far better side playing at a high attacking tempo. 

1 hour ago, Genie said:

You have missed the point, it’s clear 

Here it is -> Bruce is neither lucky or unlucky. He is where he is on merit. We won 4-2 because he’s a good manager. We’re 3rd in the table because he’s a good manager. He has the amount of promotions he has because he’s a good manager. 

It’s not about luck at all. 

Bruce was brilliant today. He played Onomah to give them a chance then made us play appaingly for an hour then next he let them think they’d win by going 2 1 down so he took Onomah off and told Snoddy to run the show. No luck involved. Not even when they had chances off the line it was all part of the plan. 

You have to play taylor if you are not going to play a proper left wing. At least he’s gives a left foot option there. Onomah is crap and Whelan looks dead on his feet as usual. Bruce proving yet again he hasn’t a clue and is just making it up as he goes. 

18 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Rare I disagree with you Mark but he was playing at this level regularly for Barnsley. I really don't think he'd have moved if he thought he'd be this out of favour or we'd sign another three RBs.

Bedeau is a little different as he hadn't broken through at Bury and is much younger.

For a club up against FFP to buy so called  development players is stupid! Bree must be having 2nd thoughts about coming here now. 

There isn’t a squad limit in the Championship Once you have registered them they are yours. In the PL there’s a limit of 25 so they get redone after  the transfer window. 

4 hours ago, Eastie said:

 Of course we need to get out of it but I will miss this league - scrapping around in the lower to mid reaches of the premiership will not be as exciting .

Last season wasn’t enough exciting and it’s onky been the last 7 wins that have got a bit of excitement building. The next 14 should be memorable let’s hope it’s for the right reason. 

I doubt any of us expected to win 7 on the trot but we have now got ourselves in a cracking position with 14 games to go. We can’t afford a blip though so tonight is massive. A win and we forget about Saturday but if we don’t the pressure starts to crank up. We’ve got enough depth in our squad to not allow 2 injuries to derail as much as it did on Saturday so it’s a big game for Bruce tonight. Most of us would agree he messed up on Saturday so I hope tonight we don’t let them gain any initiative in the game. Last night 2 of our brightest prospects yet again tore up the u23’s they should be involved more. We need an attacking threat off of the bench and I don’t think Davis gives us that. We are at home tonight go at them. We need 30 pts for automatic and can get 12 in the next 4 if we are at it. 

8 minutes ago, Eastie said:

Late December we were well off the pace , but our good run coincided with others recent slips has put us up there - Fulham and derby and have made up considerable ground in the last 10 games which has seen -

 

Cardiff 4 wins in last 10 league games.

sheff utd 3 wins in last 10 league games .

bristol city 2 wins in last 10 league games . 

‘Yes cardiff have picked up form but we’ve closed a big gap on them in those last 10 games .

It’s good to be back in the fight for 2nd. Can see it going all the way but if we keep up at 2 pts a game it’s ours. 

24 minutes ago, TRO said:

I agree.

I don't want to appear to be too critical, because that in itself manifests negativity and its harmful to other fans and subsequently the team.

Thats a worry to me too, but I think it is borne out of a lack of players in the squad who are comfortable in running with the ball.....rightly or wrongly, for me it seems we just try to crowd teams out and not turn over possession well enough as individuals.

I still feel that opposition teams are not afraid of us enough, in the same fashion Wolves are......consequently have to rely too much on our defensive qualities in the team.

I think when Jacks out, the creativity goes down a notch.

 

Having that extra flair on the bench would help. An OHare or RHM with his pace would give us something. Teams will now know no Jack and Wes fall apart so even in the team he’ll be targeted. 

6 minutes ago, terrytini said:

There’s been plenty times I have thought Bruce too cautious, I just didn’t see that on Saturday.

If you are a Fulham fan coming off the back of 7 Wins and 2 draws, and playing a possession game, you would be bitterly disappointed if the Away dominated the game. As it was it was 50/50 until the goal other than in possession ( meaningless).

We were not negative or defensive but maybe on balance more concerned with tightness at the back than openness up the front.

But that’s not negative, or bad tactics.

This season I’ve seen Wenger play it tight Away, Jose ditto....with the firepower they have !

I never said defensive or negative but changing 6 players around to cover 2 injuries is over cautious. I think first half they hadn’t a clue how we were setting up so it took them a while to get on top I actually thought we started well. I think we need to be braver and be confident we are good enough to go toe to toe with any team in this league. Having 2 players out would’ve gave them a boost but shaking up the team so much hurt us. We haven’t got any top teams away now so hopefully we will pick our best players in their best positions from now on.