MarkLillis

Last season we drew at home to Preston and lost to Millwall. However slim the possibility is, if we win the next two we pick 5 points versus last year.

Not sure we can beat Bristol City. At their ground, in the from we are in....... So I'll go for 1-3 loss, in which we start off well ,take the lead andthen get penned in until we finally concede and let in a couple of late goals.

I see your point.Fans (including myself) are worried about results and performances.Depending on the personality of the fan that anxiety will manifest into a physical reaction at VP when things go wrong in the pitch. We could help of course.By just keeping our doubts and anger inside....and then go to the pub and have a winge in a safe environment that doesn’t affect the team. Of course no one can or should be expected to do this.Football is an emotional game and ALL fans react badly to situations like this. Which is why Bruce will go....unless he turns it around starting Friday.

I think it’s entirely possible if we give him another month we can complete two years of Bruce tenure by being in virtually the same position that he found us in....

When strikers demand the ball then it is because they are confident - Scott Hogan had lost his and so he did the running without the demanding.... The lad obviously has standards that he expects form his team mates regarding when he should have the ball passed to him. I'm sure that our lads will start look for him now they know they will get a mouthful when they don't! Of course the harmony of the team will rest upon his finishing as players wont put up with it if he is not doing anything when he gets it!

Please no... Just no...nothing else No.

Its difficult to argue with your reasoning . But if I'm honest I would be more worried seeing him ON the team sheet than off it... There are many reasons why football managers do things and this decision will be played out to its conclusion in the next few weeks no doubt. Either we get results with the team Bruce has decided to stick with or we don't and he loses his job. But you seem to be a little annoyed by Mr Bruce at present I can see, I hope results don't get worse......

But of course we will not play with ten men. We will use another player. My question is how do Elphick' s Villa performances make it mean that our other options (however poor they maybe!) are worse? As whenever I have seen him he has been ponderous and flat footed,not especially strong in the air and not a very good reader of the game either..... Or is it just that his official position is CB and that makes all of the difference?

Ok so I understand not wanting Huth. Yes Bruce should have address the CB problem with someone younger with a real future. But the Elphick thing really? When has Elphick done anything to justify being kept on? He has hardly played well for us at all and his performances this year have been no better than Jedi.......

How can this chance be given to him? Fans do not accept mistakes, he will be crucified. Young Ugo performances cant happen in this team, the players aren't big enough to support him and the neither are the fans.

This opinion is misguided. I know many older people who are very fit. Simply because they do what it takes to stay in shape. I also know very unfit younger people who cant run for a bus.... Age is not an indicator of a persons condition.

When I think of Steve Bruce I'm picturing an evil plotting character with dark rings round his eyes cackling and plotting our downfall to line his own pockets..... Well I do now after reading this thread. Honestly the man has had a bad start to the season after a very difficult summer. We were very close last season and we will be again...... if not he will go well before. I worry about our fans sometimes no wonder we are a laughing stock despite our numbers.......

When I played Sunday league (a while back) we were a reasonably good team. Good players in all areas for the standard anyway. All of us though would look around the pub car park waiting for our captain to show. Not because he was the best player or the youngest.... But because when he arrived the team felt more confident...without him which (fortunately was not often) we suffered and lost games we should have won. If Terry has this effect on us as a team its a no brainer. Call it anyone's fault if you like....... but this team needs a player like him and there is only one available so I pray it happens!

There are many solutions to our problems.... Terry is a legitimate choice that many other managers may also make if the opportunity presented itself. Bruce will stand or fall by his decisions.

You can argue that Terry,Elmo,Snodgrass and Hourihane all played well enough last year. They are Bruce signings. No manager has a 100% success rate with signings. I am providing what seems to be alternate view on Bruce, we played very well for long periods ;last season the reason we didn't go up was the bad start we had. This year the opportunity to NOT make such a bad start is still here... there is a possibility of at least 10 (if not 12) out of the next 12 points. I think we can expect a reaction from Bruce and his team and I think we will get one too. This is of course is my own opinion and not really based on this seasons dire performances but on my experiences of the championship and how transient from can be in this division.

I think they are not looking to sack him. I think the funds were made available for new players and Steve Bruce has to be allowed to bed these new players in. McGinn looks good but is not at Snodgrass level yet Nyland shows flash's of form but in general has not hit the ground running EL Ghazi two games one assist one goal Bolasie and Abrahams yet to play Jedinak is Bruce's choice at CB and also will get better as the season goes along (disclaimer - not saying I agree with this but he is a seasoned professional and can adjust to his new position) We are definitely weaker this season at present than we were last year. I would say that we will improve as these players start to play to their full capabilities.

of course sky sources say he will be "bitterly disappointed" if he cant get his dream move to Boro.

I have a lot of faith in Steve Bruce and the way he builds a team. We should have a certain type of player at Villa, recent managers have not understood this. However I believe he is very much of the opinion that "players win you games" and the players are expected to be able to see problems arising and adjust to them as and when they happen. If this is true and their are only guidelines from the management team not clear instructions on what they should do for every period during the game rather than clear rigid instructions, then we have a problem as players on the pitch are not reacting when patterns of play change.

This sounds around about right. He looks at the players he has and decides the best format (4 3 3 last year) then tells them to sit in when the other team has the ball and only press when they think they can definitely win the ball back. Its hardly tactical genius. What he does well is decide on those players and motivate and keep them "up" for what is a long hard season.

Steve Bruce. Would i like him to stay? Yes,I like having him in charge, he is a very knowledgable man who is widely respected,he chooses to play in a style that sometimes i don't enjoy but on the whole i respect his decisions as he has earnt that respect.He also signs "proper footballers" players which for too long have passed us by. If he gets a budget this year he will not waste it as so many people think,he hasn't done it before and he won't do it again. Should he stay based on his performance over nearly two seasons of managing the biggest club in the division? This is more difficult to answer,as he had a very strong squad in both seasons and on occasions we have not pressed home the advantage that such a strong squad has given us.The tactics and team choice have let us down often and at the play off final can anybody say they went there confident our experienced but one paced side would prevail? Will he stay? He could well be replaced by new owners as the fact is Aston Villa are underachieving with every game we play in this division. Its a very difficult job to get Villa back up. What we are and what we should be are two different things,i think Steve Bruce can get us back BUT HIS GAME NEEDS TO BE UPPED THIS SEASON as Villa had too many bad periods which cost us last year.

What we need. Looked a handful in a poor Sunderland side at VP earlier in the season. Direct physical type of striker that hopefully Davis will develop into a better version of..

VAR will never change the fans reaction. All the decisions were spot on correct(after a bit of deliberation-im sure refs will get quicker) Yet Baggies fans think the win was gained in spite of the technology,which clearly allows the ref to make a correct decision.They think it helped the ref get things wrong even though the cameras show otherwise! How can referees win? Bottom line when decisions go against their team supporters can’t see the wood for the trees

Is there something I’m missing? We have money but can’t spend it because of FFP right?

Nakhi Wells puts a real shift in.Not sure about the quality he possesses but I think his style of play is similar to Hogans. Would not be surprised to see him here on loan.

A good one at Stoke away the season we got relegated. "You're nothing special we lose every week!" Could see the Stoke fans laughing. Gallows humor....