dukes

There's always someone worse, but I don't really care about other teams crap players, I just wish we didn't have crap players.

When teams fear a player, they make tactical decisions to counter their fear. Doubling up on Gabby when he had his good seasons was one way they coped with his pace. Haven't seen this for a number of years.

Absolute rot ! Gone are the days where teams double up on Gabby, it's just not necessary. Even at this level he is a spent force and every manager in the league knows it (with the possible exception of one).

So he plays so badly so often, what does he do that's so bad ? Personally I think the problem is he doesn't do anything spectacular. This idea that he is terrible is simply not true in my opinion, he's been a decent player playing in a shit team with no confidence. It's probably time for him to go pretty soon, but in a squad that includes Gabby and Richards the level of hatred shown towards Westwood is pathetic and small minded.

I would argue that he's been as effective as any of our midfielders up until now. Jedinak has been so-so, a few good games but he hasn't ever really controlled midfield for long periods. Gardner, has been absolutely terrible. Bacuna has been laughably bad and declared he wanted to leave when we were at our lowest ebb. Grealish scored a goal Veretout bottled it at the first opportunity, likewise Sanchez and Gil Tshibola has done pretty much nothing. All of our midfield have been shit. There has not been a standout midfielder at this club in years, yet of all the above the fans turn on Westwood because i assume he's played the most games.

I really don't get all the hate for Westwood, there are lots of players in the squad that should be ahead of him for all this abuse.

Have you been to Birmingham in the last 10 years ? The city has changed beyond recognition, and is now extremely vibrant, and far from the depressing hovel of the 80's pedant alert: Brighton is a town and not a city it is a town that makes up part of the City of Brighton & Hove

So he's a Villa player already ?

So which one is it, are you moaning because we aren't makimg any signings because if we were then we would have done by now. or are you moaning because the signings we are trying to make aren't the ones you want. Everybody would love to find players like Kodgia for £2.5M, but for every Kodgia there are at least 10 Helenius's, it's not just a problem for Villa. Modern fans are the reason it is a problem, players aren't given time to adjust, and for foreign players in particular it takes time to adjust to a new league. Signings that fail put managers under pressure and so managers want to buy players that should get quick results. That's the reason that proven goal scorers in particular are in such high demand, there is no guarantee they will repeat previous form, but there is a better chance that players like McCormack and Rhodes will come good than not. incidentally, McCormack will come good in my opinion, he just needs to start a few consecutive games in a team that isn't trying to reignite the career of Gabby. i for one believe we are trying to sign players, and the players we have been linked with seem also to be the right type of players for once. January is a difficult time to be buying, and we just have to be patient.

One of the best, and deserving of the Villa Legend tag. RIP

Like I said it's total BS, but Villa fans criticising him for what he did in the past should be aware that he could just as easily leave us as he did Wigan, Crystal Palace and Hull (there may be others), he isn't bothered about having another job, has self belief (quite rightly) and at this moment in time we need him more than he probably needs us (despite him making all the right noises about the club and the job at hand). There are many things to have a gripe about with nay manager, but his actions (and those of a referee) have no relevance on his ability to do this job, nor should any fan hold them against him. If Bruce makes a hash of this job, where would we go next ? Whereas being honest most clubs in this division and a few in the Premier League would love to have him as their manager. Fans should wake up

Well according to the BBC Gossip pages Bruce is linked (this is the Steve Bruce thread ...right ?) "A "former Premier League manager and FA Cup finalist" is rumoured to be a contender to fill the vacancy at Australian side Melbourne City - with Alan Curbishley, Avram Grant, Steve Bruce, Kenny Dalglish, Dennis Wise, Gordon Strachan and Dave Jones among the names linked. (Adelaide Now)" Melbourne City Although when you read the actual article from Adelaide Now it's is exactly as you might expect total BS

Is this for real ? Bruce is getting stick now for things he did as an employee of another club that were to their benefit and our detriment ? It's fair game to question his tactics, team selections, signings etc etc, but be reasonable the past is past and I don't ever remember him giving anything other than 100% as a player or manager for any club he has been at. Anyway, according to the BBC gossip pages he might be off to Melbourne City, and if that's true we really would have problems (and reason to question his loyalty). Melbourne City

Hadn't heard that, I agree that Johnstone is probably a step up from Bunn (as is Gollini), where both Gollini and Johnstone will falter is that they need the experience of playing regularly. If Gollini is off then the loan of Johnstone makes more sense, but I have a feeling in years to come we will regret letting him leave.

Everyone makes mistakes

Oh, how low we have fallen. So Man Utds 3rd or 4th choice keeper is a step up now ? I don't see that Johnstone will be any improvement on Gollini, and would rather we progress the career of our own player rather than totally demoralise him.

I think he's done well for the games he has played, but the goal yesterday was a soft one to let in. For me he's not a Number 1 of the calibre we need, and it doesn't bode well that Bruce has dumped Gollini for this guy, and appears to be trying to bring in another young keeper. I would have preferred that we stuck with Gollini and gave him the experience he desperately needs, I certainly don't think he would have done any worse in the last two games than Bunn. Bunn is an Ok keeper, but he will not take us forward, Gollini could be our keeper for the foreseeable future. From what I have seen of him Gollini is the best shot stopper we've has since Bosnich, and his decision making has improved drastically even in the short time he has been here. keepers learn from playing games, and sometimes you have to have let them play through poor patches.

Made the right subs, although I'd have preferred he swapped Grealish for Adomah when he went off injured. Should have made the changes at least 10 minutes earlier, but give him credit he's getting results and his subs are having the right affect week after week. Also, it's nice to have a manager that sees the game the same as we do and reacts to it (been a long time since I can remember anyone doing that). Unsure of his reasons for not starting with McCormack, can only think he doesn't believe he is fit enough, but it can't have done his confidence much good being dropped after scoring the winner a few days before. My biggest criticism of the team is that we sit back too much, don't chase the ball down. For me that was the big difference between Leeds and us, they gave us no time on the ball, whereas we sat back and let them attack us. Looking at Bruce's teams from the past they have all worked hard for 90 minutes, so I am sure he is working on fitness and energy. From where we were to where we are I give Bruce 9/10, and i'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in the transfer window.

I'd definitely bring him back, but isn't he playing elsewhere because he wasn't up for the fight here ? Out of contract in the summer I think, so he'd be of more value on our bench than on Fiorentina's (perhaps for him too, maybe he'd get more game time here and then a abetter possible move in the summer...who knows).

I don't disagree, but it's a chicken and egg situation, if rather than picking Gabby he'd given Hepburn-Murphy the same game time maybe he'd be more inclined to sign the new contract ? As I understand it RHM is highly regarded at the club, but maybe he thinks he might as well play reserve team football at Liverpool or Chelsea as here, whereas first team football here is a much bigger draw.

But Bruce has said when RM signs a new contract he will be in the squad, which surely means Bruce thinks he is good enough ? We all know what job Gabby can do......a shit one !

A waste of a shirt. Let's hope Hepburn-Murphy signs a contract soon so we can see the future rather than this moron from yesteryear.

I don't even know myself now.

Yes, the same goes for Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo and Messi

With the attacking talent we have in our team our goal scoring is woeful. It's not Bruce's fault, but we have zero creativity in midfield, and as someone else said earlier there is also zero aggression. In the short term dropping Grealish into midfield solves this problem, but it does kind of stifle his attacking play by playing him further back. We need a Joey Barton type of player in the middle of the park, someone who can trike fear into opponents. For once though (having heard him interviewed yesterday on WM after the match), we do seem to have a manager who sees the same things that we do. Right now his hands are tied and he has to do the best he can with what he's got, but I do get the impression we will see a midfield destroyer come in, as well as a Keeper (for me that's not as urgent as right back, but there you go. I guess we'll be looking mostly at loans, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see someone like Gestede or McCormack leave if the right offer comes in as this would free up some cash for Bruce to do his own thing. First time in a long time, we have a manager that I trust.