Gary Thomas

Steve Bruce with Stephen Clemence tonight watching the blues game. Really liked to see that. The night before a big game he chooses not to put his feet up, but drives over to Burton to study our next opponents. Love it. This guy is really growing on me.

Played shite so far from what i have seen - all Burton.

Look you got to enjoy it @Woodytom and soak it up. We won away, we won away, we won away, we won away, we won away! UTV.

Just to get you all in the mood...........

Seems to be gaining a bit of traction in Twitter. Any good folks?

And you win away Shame Fulham won't bring many so it will drag the overall attendance down. Think this could be the biggest 'villa' crowd this year?

Still think SHALALALLALALALALALA OH Tony Sha would be amazing. Watch that Youtube clip, sing SHALALALLALALALALALA OH Tony Sha a few times with increasing loudness! Infectious.

Looks like it will be a good crowd

Don't know about others but I am absolutely buzzing about tomorrow - can't come quick enough. Might even dig out my old scarf to wave around. UTV Don't blow it Villa - we need to build on Tues.

Well that isn't very positive is it! Oh what the hell, we can still do it.

https://twitter.com/lee1982avfc?lang=en-gb

People say Gabby has a negative impact, but i think our obsession with him is part of the problem. I agree with @TrentVilla. Bruce is just managing a difficult situation by saying the slate has been wiped clean - Gets the press off his back and perhaps helps overcome a bit of disharmony in the camp. We are all in this together kind of thing. The problem is, Gabby is now all over twitter and Villa fans are suddenly making negative comments about him, instead of focusing on our win and our up and coming game. i think we should Stop! Gabby is irrelevant right now. He is a million miles away from playing and don't see him getting close any time soon. Lets worry about Gabby whenever the prospect of him playing becomes a reality - if it ever does.

Well Jedinak didn't look especially out of shape on Tuesday and he got stronger as the game went on.

Time to bump this thread. Feeling much more optimistic after Tues - and seing that 6pt gap - and we have a golden chance to win two on the bounce. Big crowd beckons. Come on Villa!!!

Are they or is that your perception? Jedinak looked pretty fit on Tuesday.

Seriously, I trust Bruce. If he can use a player on our books to help us then I have no problem with it. The other thing it does is a send a message to other players that everyone has a chance to play and it might even create a bit more competition for places which can only be a good thing.

Yep, reckon Bruce's popularity poll just took a dip

https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2016/10/21/fitness-update-fulham-home I am kind of OK with this. Not that I think he deserves a second chance. But fact is we are paying him so make him work for his money. IF he gets selected on merit and can do a job for us so be it. I think he has a long long long way to go to get there though - too many better players.

Ye agree. Be interesting to see if Adomah passes that fitness test as well as that could change things a bit.

Funny, never liked listening to him talk at other clubs, now his voice is like music to my soul. Seems to know their team (players) very well and wary of the counter attack.

Simple but effective.Would sound amazing !!!!!!! SHALALALLALALALALALA OH Tony Sha (Xia) or SHALALALLALALALALALA.......A-V-F-C Edit - was actually dreaming about this last night, weird eh.

Don't know much about this really, but did notice Tuesday the coaches had them doing more - what looked to me - like focused drills, jumping, turning and chasing loose balls - that sort of thing. Probably doesn't mean much but the impression I got was there was all sorts of things happening with different players and it had more intensity even in the warm up.

Yep. Time to get behind them and help them climb the table. Think Bruce will get us winning and VP will get more and more positive. That's what I hope anyway.

See Holloway is backing us to win Sat (link) - that's put the knackers on that then! "Bruce guided Aston Villa to their first away win since August 2015 on Tuesday at Reading and I think the positive vibes from that game should help the atmosphere at Villa Park. Those Villa players need their fans at the moment as they are struggling with their confidence. “I remember at Blackpool, the crowd stuck with us whatever the score and it played a huge part in our success. “Fulham will be a tough nut to crack, but if Villa get the first goal, I think they’ll make it back-to-back wins.”

Quite a nice balanced article from one of their fans (Russell Kempson) http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/extraordinary-villa-fans-deserve-nothing-12053400 'Extraordinary' Villa fans deserve nothing more 'than a slap on the wrists' for Mad Stad pitch invasion Royals supporter Russell Kempson says the FA should consider Villa fans' good behaviour before charging clubs for failing to control supporters. Should Aston Villa – or Reading FC for that matter – be charged by the FA for the unruly crowd scenes at Madejski Stadium towards the end of the Championship encounter on Tuesday night? I don’t think so. Villa had just scored a last-minute penalty through Jordan Ayew and some of the visiting fans behind the goal surged forward in celebration. Stewards failed to cope with the rush, advertising hoardings got bowled over and a few fans – little more than a handful, if that - made it on to the pitch and jigged in delight. But let’s add the context. It was, as mentioned, a tad unruly. Yet there was no ugly goading of the dejected Reading players, as might have been expected, and order was restored swiftly. Villa went on to complete a 2-1 victory and the claret-and-blue hordes hailed their new hero, new manager Steve Bruce. Quite an ovation for a former Birmingham City player and manager! Bruce defended the spontaneous actions of the Villa fans. “They’ve maybe shown a bit of exuberance,” he said, “but it was nice-natured stuff rather than anything ridiculous.” Absolutely. And should our learned friends at the FA need further convincing, extra context should be added. It was Villa’s first away win in 14 months, after a horrendous Premier League campaign and a stuttering start to their Championship season. Were I among the extraordinary turnout of 4,030 Villa followers at the Mad Stad, I’d have gone pretty bonkers, too. Their support had been excellent throughout, much louder than the 16,000 home fans, and it must have felt as if Bruce’s braves were playing towards the famous Holte End at Villa Park in the second half. Two more points of note … The Villa throng perfectly observed the pre-match minute’s silence – a mark of respect to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and, by extension, to Reading's Thai owners. I can think of many other clubs’ fans who cannot keep shtum for 60 seconds and would have shouted all manner of obscenities. And in the 28th minute, the Villa throng joined in the applause for Jamie Golding, the Royals season-ticket holder who lost his battle with bowel cancer, at the tragically young age of 28, earlier this month. Another warm and generous gesture from those from the West Midlands. Should the FA decide to charge Villa and/or Reading – for, I presume, failing to control the fans – they should mull over all of the above. Anything more than a slap on the wrists and a gentle warning would be outrageous. Bruce was spot on. On this occasion, on an emotive evening and in a passionate sport, it was just “a bit of exuberance”.