TheStagMan

Well, here are the facts as we know them: Our CEO has been suspended. We are not sure why. It is probably because of something he did, or possibly something he didn't do. It may be a combination of both. We owe HMRC some money. We are not sure why - it may be something to do with tax. We don't know how much but £4.2m has been bandied around. The club has said that they expect to pay a substantial amount off in the next 24/48 hours. We don't know if that means that the amount is substantial or if we are only paying off a substantial proportion of it. Some people are taking it as the latter. They may be correct, or not. Our owner is in China and hasn't said anything yet. People are actively losing their shit. This is probably an appropriate reaction, but it may not be, we don't know. I hope that clarifies everything. **EDIT** Additional information. Stan Collymore swears a lot

Being an incompetent t**t

oooooooh, that looks interes..... .... oh, it;'s the Sun! pffffft!

f***ing marvelous (if true)

Yeah, expectation levels. Poor Steve - he got the job because he is supposed to be the expert in getting teams promoted, and even said himself "who would we get that is better" Of course expectation levels are f**king high!!!!! If they weren't we would have Neverheardof McNobody managing us and not be paying him £1.5m/year, rather than the supposed promotion specialist.

There's no chance. Spurs or whoever would buy him because they want him now. There is no way a club will pay 40m for a player and them send him out on loan to the Championship, especially one who is the Championships most fouled player!

I'd not heard that, has he really? You would think people would mention it more.

If we get £40m for him, then I will reluctantly accept that, after swearing a lot, slamming some doors and kicking next doors cat, twice. Any less than that and I will be f***ing livid, fly to China and beat Tony over the head with a Toblerone* (other triangular chocolates are available). If we keep him, then I will be very happy. * I wont really do this

Interesting. I remember another player with a drink problem, (actually a couple of them, but one in particular) who did alright for Villa ?

?

It has to, doesn't it. ? Its like the company I used to work for.... they tried to manage email and printer usage.... If you had more than a certain number of emails in your mailbox, you would get an email telling you that you had too much email. And every week they would print out a list of the top 10 people who printed the most... they would print out stuff to tell people not to print so much. Duh! And no, I didn't work for the FA ?

Sorry, not posted for a few days as have been travelling with work. I think everyone knows my position on Steve Bruce as manager of Aston Villa, and we are now where I feared we would be. That's done and can't be changed, we are where we are, so what do we do now? My take on it is as follows: Steve Bruce inherited a mess of a club. I thought he was a sensible appointment at the time, but after not seeing improvements in playing style during the first season under him, and early into the second (despite the mythical pre-season), I worried that he would not achieve promotion, and ultimately has not, but that is not to say that he has not done some good stuff in his time here, he has saved the sinking ship and improved us from where we were, and we have become a force to be reckoned with in the championship. We no longer expect to lose games and we have got the morale back. Bringing Terry in was a master stroke. However, Bruce's approach has always been tried and trusted senior players who bust a gut for the club. This is a relatively expensive short term approach and has failed. Now, we came close, and Steve must be applauded for that, and especially given what he has been through in his personal life, to keep going as he has shows real character. So, ultimately we gambled, both financially and with the overall season-by-season approach - we tried things the Steve Bruce way and it has not worked. The question is, do we think that if we tried again, it would work? I don't think it would, we will have less resources and will likely lose some of our better players (Terry and Snodders have already gone), I think we might make the play-offs again, but ultimately that is not good enough - as we have seen, one poor half of football and it is goodnight. If we rolled the dice again and gave Bruce another season, we could well end up this time next year in a much worse position than we are now, so I think a new approach is needed (as the board has said). I think that new approach will take a few seasons to get us out of the Championship, and I think a lot of the "negative" statements from the club are trying to set expectations that we should not expect to bounce back up next season. We need a total rebuild in playing style and personnel. Do i think Steve Bruce could mastermind such a change, I'm afraid not, and as such, I think we need new men at the helm. Steve Bruce was the quick-fix candidate, and on paper was exactly what we needed, however the quick fix didn't work, and a quick fix appears to no longer be an option. Bring in the long-term rebuild candidate... Who is that? I don't know, I hope that someone at the club does...... Whatever the board decide though, they need to decide quickly. If Bruce stays, so be it, but he needs to have a plan that shows something different, if he goes then they need to get the new man in within the next couple of weeks. The sooner we start planning for next season the better. what we can't do is wait. *EDIT* Just seen the posts above for the yes or no vote..... You can take all of that as a "NO"

FFP is great isn't it.... "you have spent too much money, and are therefore likely to be financially unsustainable", so we are going to fine you some more money......

YES! EXACTLY THAT it is how he has set up every team he has ever managed.

Oops, yes, my mistake, i did add that after I posted, and gave you a stupid get out of jail as you still didn't answer the original question....... ?

Yes, we would have to be coached. We would be given instructions as to how the manager wanted us to play. My word, do you think the manager just says "yeah, you are professional defenders, off you go, defend!" Its ****ing basic that the manager sets the team up and the players try and play to that system, whether that is the best system for them or not. When the manager sets you up into a system that is defensive, and inviting the opposition onto you all game, mistakes will happen. THAT is the point I have been trying to make all season. Why are we not fundamentally not good enough? that is the question. Are your trying to tell me that Man for Man, Cardiff and Fulhams players are better than ours? They aren't.

i think I will wait until the season starts..... ?

So, why did our manager not identify this (as you clearly did), and perhaps do something about it?

I agree, our defence switched off for that move, which if your whole strategy is to play to the defence is catastrophic. Hence the reason why I have been saying for ages that our one tactic approach of keep it tight and nick a goal is dangerous, and not sustainable, that is the risk our manager has chosen to take, hence I do blame him for it. We have proven that we DO have the players to go out and play - look at the Wolves performance. That movement between Sessgnon and Cairney was not a fluke, it is something they have worked on and trained for, they have been doing stuff like that all season. That's what decent coaching and possession football gives you. If Elmo is still injured - why on earth play him?

I didn't ask for your take on the match, no idea where you got that from.... I asked you to back up the statement where you said my explanation of why I was concerned with "Bruce ball" was "rewriting history" and full of "wild speculation". Perhaps you would like to give it a go? My comments were aimed at the content of your posts, not you as a person, I'm sure that in real life you are a lovely person, its just that some of your posts.... well.... they could be a little better thought through..... less of the sneering when we win games, and a bit less of the insulting people who are concerned about our future.

We clearly have a difference in our opinions of our players, and that's fine, I think that you are doing them an injustice and I do think we have one of the best squads in the league, you don't agree - and that is your prerogative and probably explains the difference in viewpoints of what the manager has achieved. Let me ask you some questions based on that though. Lets accept that our players are simply not good enough: Who signed those players? and for those that were already here, who decided to keep them and play them? Why is the energy not there? Why has that not been addressed? Why is the coaching not helping with the decision making? Why did we only start playing when it was too late? Who's job is it to make sure that this doesn't happen? I agree about a lack of movement, that was painfully obvious again today - but again, where does that come from? for me its all down to coaching and the playing style placed onto the team. I simply cannot subscribe to the notion that our players are thicker than most others, or not as good footballers, or less fit. I have not been a fan of Steve Bruce's brand of football - but I have nothing against the man personally, but he has failed to meet his objective. As you said yourself, promotion was all that mattered. I don't think another season will end any differently. You say the players are not good enough, well I certainly don't see us getting any better ones now. Steve Bruce has been through hell in his personal life, and he has soldiered on, he has my absolute respect for that, but I do think that his time here is up. I think he should be looking to take a year off from football to grieve properly and take stock of things.

So? Same time next year chaps?

Its actually amusing how pathetic comments like the one you were replying to are.

I'm not sure I can cope with continued s*it like this.

None of which are even remotely relevant to the point I was making. None of which apply to what my post said, but no, you just wanted to have one of your usual digs, and as usual you are showing that you have nothing to back it up. Crowing and triumphalish???? Grow up. NO ONE IS HAPPY. NO ONE IS TRIUMPHANT. I'M AS DISSAPOINTED AS **** HELL RIGHT NOW, I would put money on 99.99% of Villa fans feeling the same. No we are not pleased. As for your season long reign of failing to understand what people are on about, THIS! THIS is what we were concerned about. No one wanted Villa to fail. No one. We are now spending another season in the championship. So please, stop with this crap, it really is wearing very very thin.