Michael118

I'd like one of Bielsa, Hiddink, Flores, Heckingbottom, Pulis, Guidolin, Laudrup or Koeman.

Who signed those players though? And let go of players who in my opinion had a lot more quality and potential to bring them in?

I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with Monk. If Bruce goes, they'll want a modern manager and Monk seems like a manager Wyness, Round & Xia would be interested in - average, conservative and uninspiring.

I was never in favour of the N'Zogbia signing but I thought he was excellent under Sherwood. Always thought Grealish's good form during that period had a lot to do with N'Zogbia and us playing with 2 number 10's which took a lot of emphasis away from Grealish and allowed him to sneak under the radar a little bit. I thought they complimented each other fairly well also. Richards was a horrendous signing and for me will be remembered because it more or less spelled the end for Ciaran Clark who I always thought should have been a better player than what he generally showed for us.

Maybe it's negativity then and not resilience. If it was true resilience things shouldn't go backwards when you try and go forwards.

Is this Xia taking the soft option of adding to Bruce's staff instead of going all out and replacing him? Now seems like a reasonable time to make a change with targets not being met, plenty of points to play for, the transfer window coming up and some of the managers who could be available to us right now. Always thought waiting too long to let go of Sherwood & Garde was a big mistake. Hopefully this isn't another one.

He's been out since July with a groin injury. The Barcelona game was basically his 2nd game back. Was leading La Liga for average assists per game at one stage last season. He'd be our best player by a country mile if we could get him back.

For those questioning the 2 ppg and automatic promotion target set by Xia... http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/holte-end-hero-speaks-tony-13973634

Bielsa available as well after parting ways with Lille. We would be stupid not to enquire about him. Not many better candidates around to give us the best chance of getting out of this league and then making an impact in the Premier League as well once we got there.

We should try and get Quique Sanchez Flores. I thought he was seriously unlucky to be sacked by Watford and was decent last season at Espanyol but is apparently frustrated with the club's 'lack of clarity on their vision''. We could ask him to bring Odion Ighalo with him as well. I think he'd be an excellent choice and is a manager who I think has what it takes to turn us around and get us promoted.

Never rated Bruce and didn't want him from the beginning but I honestly think if we had Warnock or Rowett instead, or most other managers in the Chamionship with the exception of a few, we'd be no better off. We need a fairly exceptional manager to turn us around which Bruce never has been and if he's replaced I just hope it's not for another sub standard candidate which would be just another waste of time and energy.

Sorry I just don't rate him very highly. Unless he gets huge investment I don't see him doing all that well at Newcastle. I think they have some fairly decent and underrated players as well including Joselu, Gayle, Clark, Ritchie & Shelvey.

Benitez is overrated. I wouldn't trust him anymore than Lambert to get the best out of the players at his disposal.

Olluoa is average. He would fit right in but surely we can do better...

I'm not that bothered that we are crap to watch to be honest. I watch to see Villa win and to see players with potential fulfill it especially ones which go under the radar. I thought we had a lot of quality in the team which was relegated which we never came close to getting the best out of. I'm getting less enjoyment at the moment because I don't see the same potential in the current players or the manager. We lost plenty of games under Lambert but from a squad point of view I thought most of the pieces of the puzzle were in place. The squad didn't need to be 'overhauled'. If we had a manager like Allardyce from the beginning of 2015/16 instead of Sherwood we wouldn't have been in any danger of relegation and things would have turned out much differently.

Actually I'd argue they did show it in patches but just weren't able to be at their best consistently.

Yep - all players who were far, far better than they ever showed while with us.

For me it's not just the signings he's made which have been poor overall but also the players he's let go. Amavi, Bacuna, Westwood, Cissokho, Kozak, Baker all could and should have been top players at this level. We've replaced a whole heap of misused, mismanaged, untapped potential with ageing and way past their best ex Premier League players, players with good statistical records, players with a doggedness about them but are lacking in actual quality or players Bruce trusts because he signed them previously. It's all massively lacking in invention and foresight. It appears as as though he's instilled 'reslience' but the way I see it is he's plugged holes in areas which didn't need to be plugged if a different approach was taken and as a result we're negative and not easy to watch but scraping wins laboriously. Even though we are winning a lot of my enjoyment has been taken out because apart from a few of the young players (O'Hare, Davis, McKirdy) I think the potential in the squad is far, far less than it was when Bruce took over and since we were relegated which is difficult to accept considering the amount of money that has been spent.

They're easier to come by because we're supposed to be the big fish in a small pond in the Championship. Sunderland and Hull haven't had the same kind of investment and are less attractive to players than what we are. If you're comparing managers across leagues and across seasons expectation has to be taken into account if the aim is to try and do it objectively.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-boss-steve-bruce-13746883

Pretty sure a few weeks ago people were calling him our most successful manager in history or something along those lines based on his win/loss record.

What don't you understand about it?

Lambert 13/14 vs Bruce 16/17 & 17/18 Lambert 13/14 Expectation: Around 12th / 42 pts - 1.1 ppg Result: 15th / 38 pts - 1.0 ppg Below expectations by .1 ppg 9% below expectation Bruce 16/17 Expectation: top 6 / 80 pts - 1.73 ppg Result: 13th / 62 pts - 1.34 ppg Below expectation by .39 ppg 22% below expectation Bruce 17/18 Expectation - automatic promotion - 2 ppg Current position - 5th - 1.76 ppg Below expectation by .24ppg 12% below expectation

For any accuracy comparing Bruce's win/loss record against previous managers it should be done versus expectations. Most people's expectations for this seasons is that we would be in the top 2 so he's currently falling below expectations. Last season's finish of 13th was also below most people's expectations. It would give a far better representation of Bruce's level of success compared to other managers than comparing win/loss ratios from different seasons in different divisions with different levels of investment.

I forgot about Houlier. I didn't rate him highly at all and thought he was the first of many poor appointments but not sure If I'd put Bruce ahead of him. Basically, apart from Lambert who I thought was reasonable they all haven't been good enough.