Grasshopper

2 hours ago, Jareth said:

Why not? Fans don't extend such courtesy to the manager. It's a shame so many Villains are so constantly angry about the manager, even after a heartening end of year win. I'm not making any assumptions but I think it is not good for people in general to remain so angry, constantly. It is the new year, I don't think you lot should forget your unhappiness towards Bruce, but if for one moment you extend that anger to anybody near you then you should think twice, life is far too short for this grumpiness. 

WTF?

thats just like picking out certain oints in his tenure to give him yet another „clean slate“ for him to serve up more sh*yte hoofball, lie and patronise the fans and above all else fall short of target set by the board.

people are grumpy because the bruceball is sh¥te and we‘re not in an automatic promotion place. Then he has the audacity to have a go at the fans. The **** should simply just **** ***

7 hours ago, TRO said:

We need posts like this and Nurembergvillan and Viva la villa.....to calm everyones jets.  

If either of 2

1 football was good

2 football got results

we wouldnt need anybody to calm our jets

7 hours ago, TRO said:

We can all see Bruces shortfalls.......We just want Promotion.  

which looks unlikely with Vrhce

7 hours ago, TRO said:

just hope we can acquit ourselves well tomorrow.

Acquitting?

what does that mean?

we simply need to win

Quote

Give him a break, he’s human, he’s under pressure, he’s massively relieved. Interpret his comments in that light.

No

he‘s a shit manager

and a word removed the way he insults fans

31 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

What you initially said was:

'EVERY successful team has had some sort of Plan A & B. I can only suspect that if someone doesnt know what an ethos is in a team game, its because he either hasnt seen one or has forgotten as it‘s been so long.

I can tell you for sure that Ron Saunders, GT (mk1), Atkinson, Little, Gregory & MoN had one'

An ethos sounds useful! So I'd like to know what it is, exactly. This should surely be our blueprint, but it only can be if we can identify what it is. When you now say:

'with some sort of plan one can have some set parameters in which one works within so that the task at hand can develop into something'

. . . I suspect you don't know what an 'ethos' is either. 

sorry I missed out the word

„Good“ before Ethos

GH Out

17 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

So an 'ethos' is a thing that all of our successful managers in the last 30 years have had, but none of our unsuccessful ones?  

As you choose to missinterpret my point, My Ethos thing was (or it should have been obvious) that with some sort of plan one can have some set parameters in which one works within so that the task at hand can develop into something. How good the „ethos“ is or how one executes it is more than likely the deciding factor.

17 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Didn't Venglos have an 'ethos'? Or McLeish? Or Garde? 

From what I gathered at the time, Venglos tried to modernize (Europeanize for want of a better word) the training and stuff like diet, lifestyle.....etc for professional atheletes. it didnt work though - neither did Doug selling our best players.

McClose had an ethos - Bore Draw every game for survival - one could argue that he was a success.

As for Garde, no need to comment, the guy was shafted.

17 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Can you define what it is, other than 'being successful'?

See above

Regarding, Bruce‘s ethos. whatever it is it isnt working and is creating a situation which is only costing us time and money

Quote

I don't really care if the team has an identity or an ethos - mainly because I don't know what it is - probably neither did Ron Saunders in 1980/81. Just put a team on the pitch to give us the best chance of promotion next season - when we start talking about ethos thats a problem IMO - not a solution.  You mention we don't have an ethos, identity and have focussed on the short term - yet we look to have the best crop of youth players for a good few years - getting good results too......

 

I went to nearly every home game and a number of away games that season.

Ron used 14 players that season, the first 11 plus Spinks Darcy & Geddis (iirc)

It was 100% clear who could do what and we didnt have a single weakness.

EVERY successful team has had some sort of Plan A & B. I can only suspect that if someone doesnt know what an ethos is in a team game, its because he either hasnt seen one or has forgotten as it‘s been so long.

I can tell you for sure that Ron Saunders, GT (mk1), Atkinson, Little, Gregory & MoN had one

RS won us the league, GT promotion & 2nd, RA 2nd & LC, BL LC, Gregory & MoN had us playing in Europe and challenging the top 6 of PL

We NEED someone with a clear ethos, not only a playing one but an ethos of who we buy and how we tweak & adapt to every challenge that awaits us. It‘s the only way now that we cant checkbook our way out of this league

On 26/12/2017 at 23:20, mykeyb said:

If we had a midfield that feed Grealish further up the pitch he could then slip balls through to Hogan to score from. 

It's who goes first him or Bruce

hopefully Hogan stays

I‘d go

                       JS

     Bree Chester RDL Taylor

Elmo Onomah Hourihane Snod

                   Grealish

                     Hogan

Bench

SJ Hutton (no other choice) Elphick (no other choice) Jedi Doyle-Hayes/Lyden O‘Hare Davis

A dark cynical side of me thinks that if Bruce went the whole hog of selecting

                Bunn

Hutton Richards Elphick

 Elmo Whelan Jedi Thor

    Hogan Davis Gaby

Our suffering would reach such an embarrassing climax that it would result in the end of this torturous nightmare

Odds on it‘ll be

                         SJ

Hutton Chester Elphick Taylor

Elmo Whelan Jedi Hourihane Snod

                        Davis

90+mins of sitting back, sideways passing then Hoofing.

29 minutes ago, maqroll said:

A loss here and Bruce will get the sack. Massive game.

I think we will lose.

The sack? would be the best for everyone concerned, 

will it happen? I think it‘ll go down to the wire (01.01.18 v BC)

The way I see it is this.

We NEED promotion this season. If we dont go up we need to change our approach from quick fix to long term growth.

The questions are

1 is Bruce capable of getting us 2nd?

I think no

2 is Bruce capable of 3rd-6th?

Maybe yes (in theory) but I honestly think no.

3 if we get to the playoffs, would we beat 2 of those 3-6th positioned teams?

If they were Burton, Sha or Sunderland I like to think YES

if they come from a pool of Cardiff, Derby, BristolC, SheffU, Boro or Leeds I‘d say NO

4 next season is a new ball game and a long term build would be our best bet. Is Bruce capable of a ling ternm build? 

I‘d say No

5 If its the case, we dont go up, is the present board capable of seeing a long term plan through (ie choosing someone, budgeting accordingly and showing leadership for the club to „go that way“ in support of a manager and making clarity for fans, new players, youth and sponsors to get on board for the long haul)

IMHO

Bruce as manager no (he woukd be sacked for failing anyway)

Wyness as CEO ? - this is my deepest concern.

If Wyness (for example) has the mentality to try something different (indeed Bruce was different to RDM) and go after a different type of new guy then why not? if he‘s stuck in his ways and goes for a Bruce Mkii then he must go too.

All to play for with a change, only the change has to be decisive and along the right lines.

if that means Bruce & Wyness must go, then so be it.

Boro will score from their 2nd or 3rd corner

Pulis will put someone on SJ

He‘ll send out a busy Bee to hassle Whelan and or Jedi into a mistake

He‘ll have his MF line picking up every second ball from our hoofs & Goal kicks

He will tell them to „press“ our throw ins to turn over possesion

and

it wouldnt suprise me if they fast start for a quick goal or 2 then sit back and watch us misplace our possesion and create chance after chance eventually scoring.

prediction

bad performance

certain defeat

Pulis will have done his homework

I think that after the next 2 final whistles we can say goodbye to automatic promotion.

decisions on 02.01.2018 may point us to which direction we are going in from then on in this season

Sounds like a pre-warning from DrT has lead to wyness issueing a rally-call.

He must have been made aware of - or realises himself - that the next 2 games mean falling further away from the playoffs is D-day before a 12 day break

18 minutes ago, Rob182 said:

Enlighten me then please. I'm under the impression that there will be some balancing of the books to be done, but we'll still be far from being doomed.

On 24/12/2017 at 12:18, Eastie said:

Do you work as a busker ?

what do yok mean?

or did i miss an obvious joke?

3 minutes ago, pacbuddies said:

So he will be gone by 2nd February and we only have 2 games until then. Has someone amended the fixture list?

sorry

meant

02.01.2018

Bruce will be gone by 02.01.2018 The club will wait that long because Wyness will want to give him every last chance possible.  but he‘ll still hoof it up

The thing is

We have 2 games till then. keeping Bruce means zero pts, that will be 3pts from the last 21pts available.

The maximum pts we can expect if Bruce stays for those 2 games is 2 pts (5pts/21pts)

I still thing ANYBODY other than Bruce, Agnew, Calderwood, Clements could get more than no pts v Boro/BC

So we have nothing to lose anyway.

For these 2 i‘d take BL picking the team and Terry motivating them

its there for all to see that Hutton Hedi (as a CB) Whelan and gaby have no place in this team

We need a new impetus, and I honestly think that if a „team-picker“ picks players in their natural positions and says „do what you‘re good at“ we‘d see a marked difference to our play

                         JS

Bree/Elmo Chester RDL Taylor

Snod Onomah Hourihane Adomah

                      Grealish

                  Hogan/Davis

(without Terry Green & Kodjia that is our closest to „round pegs in round holes“ - RDL the only exeption)

If Bruce can get us „there or thereabout“ (which isnt good enough btw) surely anyone with a method/cincept/style/system can do better

I dont know how to find my „aftermath cardiff january 2017 post“

but I‘ve found my Derby aftermath post from February

I could only copy & paste so ya‘ll have to take my word for it that it was from then

Havent posted for a while.

—————————————————————

The game

We are a really shit team with a lot of capable players organised into a system that limits us sooooo much.

One sees different things live to TV coverage. The atmo at the game is second to none, whereas TV gives you an all round better view if youre not in an ideal stadium position.

My conclusions live/tv remain the same. IMHO We will NOT get promoted playing like this. even IF we did, PL teams would only destroy us abd we'd be relegated straight back down.

I dont think Bruce is capable of change, so he has to go for me.

We will now get a repeat of his October impact, scrape a few results with bad performances climb the table a bit but not make any great strides simply because the football/setup bruce plays will just be 1-0's scrappy offerings that cannot and will not develop into a pattern of intent or play.

Bruce wont change cos he cant.

There were many alarming things I saw closer up on Sat.

SJ - is a joke of a keeper. the failed punch/Bent foul was embarassing. He kicked long to kodjia (not his game) then when Amavi came on kicked it to him being marked by a 6ft plus defender. One can see that the Defence shit themselves whenever the ball comes in only for Derby to be such a bad attacking force that they didnt test SJ.

Hutton - oh dear, we could have conceeded 3 times in the 1st 5mins through his bad play, once to Adomah, once leaving a winger free and being up the park caught out of position.

Chester/Baker - thank McG for these 2

Taylor - not really exposed as their winger was shit (not much help from Green)

Jedi - how sad that we rely on a 32yo to protect. not buying a DM has and will cost us.

Lansbury - did really well but Bruce setting us up so deep nullifies a lot of what he could bring to our attacking play.

Bacuna - shocking 94th minute but till then was my Motm (note - he should be RW of a front 3 or 4 in MF, his cross for Green was inch perfect - would give us more there)

Green - Would have been great for him to score - needs to learn a bit of game craft to be more involved - big future - impact sub is his best for the now (not last 10mins -> last 30 at least)

Adomah and Kodjia cant be as effective as they could be under SB's system.

Bruce has to go for a number of reasons imho

1) brought in to steady ship and kick on for promotion this season - hasnt worked - time to go

2) major decisions wrong that have had a negative effect on results/players/perfornances

SJ for Gollini

Gaby inclusion

Gestede sale wrong timing

Ayew sale (needed as makeway for Taylor?)

McC - not sure this was handled well

Lansbury played too deep

Hourihane not played effectively

Kodjia is not a taget man

Hogan has had NO service

Sitting back - note to Bruce - we have NO pace up front to counter

3) We are AVFC with good players in this league, we should not be out played/possesioned by the teams in this league (bar Toon Brighton Leeds Hudds Reading)

4) no risk no fun - this hoofball is NO fun at all

So now we are in our second cycle of collecting points through nicking it to mask the points "time to gel" "own players" "past promo's (with non-descript clubs - NOT AVFC).

Its all the wrong way of doing things leading in the wrong direction.

we should be safe after Rotherham not mathematically but statisticly.

We could get enough points without a manager, bunn in goal playing 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3 (no HuttonAmavi)

Bruce Out for me.

Even if the players like him as a guy/manager I'm sure Lansbury, Hourihane, Grealish, Kodjia & Hogan are not happy at our way of playing, I dread to think if Chester would leave in ghe summer.

We can turn this shit/flop of a season into our advantage by using the last games of this season as our "pre-season" with a view to play offensive football with intent to beat teams and become a force in this league.

Continuing with Bruce is not the way because he wont and cant change.

We need a new approach - a new Manager/Coaching staff- a new GK - 1 DM and 1 ST.

I dread even more if Tony loses his patience and sells up

Keeping Bruce for "stabilty" but blowing our only chance with big finances would be criminal and keep us out of the PL for years.

Bruce Out

We give up a 2-0 lead

VT goes a bit „Bruce ay gorit azeey?“

day later

iternal hope returns because all fears will go when Brucain triumphs v Brentford

Yes we have stooped to the depths that beating BRENTFORD is a navigational sign to the PL.

So what is when we lose? draw even?

.......They reply with a question

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

What argument? 

Brilliant!

1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

If we keep him and the results are crap, we should sack him. That seems a sensible and logical process and conclusion.

At the moment, the results aren't crap, we're sixth - the results are okay, they're not wildly brilliant but they aren't bad either. It's not a matter of the results "staying" crap, they'd have to change - so, for now, I say we keep him and in answer to your question, if things change then we should rethink that decision based on that change.

For me, the results aren't the major reason to criticise Bruce - the football is the concern.

 

 

The results are a direct consequence of the football.

is the football getting better?

is the football getting worse?

But the real point is if the football doesnt get us results v top 6 teams, whats the point of trying to beat them in a playoffs situ even if the football only gets you pts enough for playoffs.

It becomes the equiv of buying a lottery ticket.

why not quit with the shit now. when apparently we‘re good enough for the playoffs anyways, then we can try winning the playoffs with a different method of play.

A different method is with a.n.other, not Bruce cos he cant change, wont change.

When all is said and done a new manager is needed anyway

so why not now?

2 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

Could we have a new manager ,maybe ?

its ok, you got it.

when someone has „nowhere else to go“ with their arguements, they reply with a question

40 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

You even said yourself before kick off that Bruce had selected the correct team (for only the second time ever in your view).

Now you are having a dig he played Jed at the back. Thats why your views hold no credibility.

I can't stand Bruce as a manager but some of your posts are cringe worthy and make you sound like you know nothing what's so ever about football. 

I think you are just p***ed off with me because £10 of your money is on its way to VT