GeordieVillan

Strangely my favourite bit was when he said something along the lines of “I’ve made mistakes as a manager, and I will make more mistakes in future, and the reason for that is that I take decisions, and you can’t take decisions without making some mistakes”. We need this. A manager that isn’t afraid of making mistakes, that will make decisions and try to attack games, and not play it safe. And to back it up he actually has a consistent style of play, which is what separates him from Lambert and Sherwood in recent years. I hope we as fans give him time.

He’s doing ok, not brilliant, but ok. At the risk of being given loads of grief - based on the performance of McGinn today, and the fact Adomah and Green havnt looked great so far, I would be tempted to play Grealish on the left, if it means we can still get Hourihane on the team. The way Kodjia is looking, we are going to need a lot of goals from midfield, and Hourihane will get us at least 10 if he plays regularly. I have a feeling Jack might get a bit more space playing left as well, if McGinn continues as he did today. That would then give us a choice of Jedi/Whelan/Thor as the holding midfielder, and Green/Adomah/Elmo on the right. Which would probably mean Green and Adomah on the bench! Anyway, it will never happen as I don’t think Bruce would ever even consider it.

A win for us today will put the pressure back on Cardiff for sure. We have to bounce back. If Cardiff then fail to win tomorrow, we are back to where we were prior to our defeat against QPR. As many have said, there will be plenty of twists and turns, and points will be dropped by all teams where we don’t expect.

Disagree. Psychologically Fulham dropping points can only help us.

Hope QPR carry on playing as they are. A draw would be a very decent result for us.

This is the first time I’ve sat and watched Fulham (now winning 2-0) properly. They are clinical, but they aren’t anything amazing, they are wide open at the back and QPR could easily have scored a couple of goals themselves in this game. If this is how they always play, their winning run won’t last, and I can see them dropping points sooner rather than later in the run in. Whether we can put a run together ourselves to take advantage is different matter. (now 2-1 by the way)

Ah well.

So many posts on the last few pages desperately hoping that Leeds win tonight and then we win on Saturday. Sadly it seems we all forgot just how shit Leeds are. Still, it’s somehow only 1-0 right now, maybe we should all hope for a smash and grab in the second half!

Wanted to comment on his performance today - had to go to page 4 to find the thread - unbelievable! Hutton has been great since his run at left back started, but I have to say that without Adomah playing wide left and providing the width on that side, I felt that Taylor made a big difference when he came on today. For all Hutton’s qualities, I think having two right footers playing on the left hand side means we have missed the ability for someone to put a cross in early with the their left foot, something Elmo does very well on the other side when he gets the chance. Until Adomah returns, I would seriously consider playing Taylor at left back to give us a bit more balance and attacking threat.

Big big game this one now.. 3 points and we are within 5 points of 2nd place, which I think would be pretty decent I certainly would have took that at the start of December!

I was able to go to the game today, but sat with the Boro fans. Fair play to them, they were very vocal, much more than they ever have been when I’ve observed them from the away end of my previous visits. The villa fans were in great voice as usual. A few observations - Elphick was great in terms of organising the back 4, you actually hear him shouting at Elmo and telling him what to do. In a very poor first half, Hutton was our attacking spark from left back. He offers us something different as someone who actually runs forward with the ball and tries to commit defenders. People might immediately say that Adomah, Grealish and Snodgrass do this, but there is something quite exciting when Hutton cuts inside from left back and darts into central midfield. Hogan was a passenger, we might as well have played without a striker. Struggling to control the ball and rarely posing a threat. Hepburn-Murphy looked a better option when he came on. Grealish changed the game when he came on. I’m not his biggest fan, but his ability to hold the ball and bring Adomah and Snodgrass into the game made a massive difference, that’s something which Onamah just wasn’t able to do. It was a very poor game, but you have to say a great result. A win against Bristol City and I would say it hasn’t been a disastrous festive period.

As things stand, our destiny (for automatic promotion) is almost in our own hands. We just need Cardiff to slip up once, and then it’s down to us. Obviously it assumes we win our games against Cardiff and Sheff Utd, but otherwise we would just have to match the points tally of everyone around us, no need to “better them” or “play catch-up”. I think if a couple of months ago someone told me we would be in this position, I never would have believed it. That being said, this next set of games is going to be crucial. But to be honest, unless we get into 2nd place 10 points clear of the playoffs, I’m pretty sure every “set of games” is going to be crucial. We just need to keep doing what we are doing - being solid, getting results, and bouncing back from defeats quickly.

I would say the last 20 minutes of the first half was the best I’ve seen us play this season. Direct but with a purpose, putting them under pressure, and actually creating chances and getting players in the box.

Saturday was the most deflated I've felt in a long time after a Villa game. The reason for this is that I was actually starting to get some belief and hope, something which I havn't had in 4-5 years. BUT - we are still in it - we need to put a run of wins together now and stay in contention.

Being overrun in midfield. Difficult one for Bruce - taking off Hogan and bringing on a midfielder now would be the right move, but it will destroy Hogan's confidence.

Hogan gets a chance alongside Davis, which alot of people have been asking for! If he can score a goal today and get some confidence, it will really give us some options up front going into the busy period of fixtures...

Just looking at the fixtures - this really is a big weekend. Preston, Ipswich, QPR and Forest are currently in positions 10-13, and they play eachother, so points will be dropped. Sheff Wed are in 14th and they are playing us, and hopefully losing to us. This might be the week where you see a gap emerge between Norwich/Boro and everyone below, with those above being the teams in contention of the playoffs...

We should be offering a contract that is linked to his performance and his development, with decent basic wage as a starter. If he doesn't want to accept that, I guess we just have to live with it - we can't get risk getting our fingers burned again with a long a contract and big wages for a player that goes off the boil.

Agreed....happy with anything other than a Cardiff win...

Cardiff currently trailing at Bristol City...if that stays the same and we can win later and Sheff Utd don't manage to win...then we will be right in the mix by 5pm, only 2 points off second place. Regardless, if Cardiff lose and we win, we will at least be one point closer to automatic promotion... We just have to keep doing our bit and winning our games!

I actually think that we are now seeing that the system we play doesn't suit either Hogan or even Kodjia, especially when they are not alongside a target man i.e. Davis. The difference is that Kodjia, by his very nature, can receive the ball into feet and try to take players on and do something on his own, sometimes frustratingly though. Alot of Kodjia's goals last season were very much that, him doing something out of nothing on his own. For that reason , Kodjia will probably still play a big role this season when fit. Hogan doesn't seem have this in his locker. Hogan is a decent player that has the attributes to be a very good Championship player at least, but our current style of play combined with his obvious lack of confidence at the moment means that he is only going to play a bit part role this year, barring alot of injuries to our other forwards. If Hogan being a passenger is a by-product of us being promoted, then its certainly a price I'm willing to pay.

Looking at everyone else - we need to win the next 3 games at least to show that we mean business. Dropping points tonight would be a disaster. Even a draw isn’t good enough. I actually can’t believe how tight the league is. Most teams will feel they have chance of making the playoffs if you consider Reading are in 20th place and they are only 8 points off 6th Place.

Big game on Wednesday against Preston now - before the Birmingham game I would have took 4 points from these 2 games, so that means we now have to get a win here. Its very congested in the top half of the table, and we need to carry on our momentum for the next 2 months as thats when the pack will split. Given what we have seen in the last couple of years, I think we start to slip, we might struggle to make up ground again. Bruce has to find a place for Davis in the team - he has already become the crucial player to our style of play. I think the second half on Sunday showed that when we are playing tough games, it may be effective to play both Whelan and Jedinak behind Hourihane, and with Kodjia and Adomah either side of Davis.

The next round of fixtures is a chance to make up more ground...Leeds play Sheff Utd....assuming we win.... I would prefer a Leeds win or a draw as that brings us closer to Sheff Utd. A Sheff Utd win would mean we can overtake Leeds. I think it’s better if the teams chasing us beat the teams above us, as it just helps squeeze the pack together, and we just need to keep doing what we doing!

How can you say that? To say our chances of automatic promotion are long gone is just ridiculous. Its October and we are 5 points off second place. Is it impossible that we might continue as we are for a little while and then suddenly "click" and close this gap? You might think its unlikely because the manager seems to be inept, but its not impossible. If we get through this season with a team that "isn't right", or isn't playing attractive free flowing football, but we end up getting promoted, Bruce will have done his job. The issue will then be assessing whether Bruce is the suitable person to manage us in the Premier League, and I would imagine the general consensus would be that he is not. Lets be pragmatic, its our first defeat after 8 unbeaten - thats a very decent run. If we can get 6 points from the next 3 games, we will still be very much in the mix. This league is all about staying in touch with the top for as long as possible. Yes we would ideally like to be one of the top 2 from right now until the end of the season, but we started badly and are playing catch up.