TheStagMan

I'm not saying it is right but when that is most of the play I can understand why they started booing.

I am proud to be a Villa fan, however I am not proud of the sh*t that I am seeing on the pitch under the guise of "management" and "leadership" from Steve Bruce. If I want to criticise what I am seeing, I will. Smug comments from people like you will not stop that. I will support our team through thick and thin, if they put in a decent performance but lose I will still be proud of them, but I cannot and will not be proud of a lacklustre manager who serves up mostly (I put that word in so that people don't say "but but Bristol") abject poor performances with a team that should be coasting this league, and then produces excuse laden interview after interview. Start producing decent performances, get us in the AUTOMATIC promotion places (not d*cking around 5-6th place) and i will start to support him. UNTIL THEN he will continue to receive the criticism he deserves.

When they deserve it, they will get it. Currently they do not.

Come on TRO - you are better than that dig. You know why the people who want Bruce out want him out (you have hopped in an out of that camp many times). It is nothing to do with disliking him, or wanting him out for the sake of wanting him out. It is that we are not meeting our targets (as confirmed by the doc) and we dont think that he will get us promoted. No-one who wants Bruce out will be disappointed if we get promoted. It is ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

Bruce *edit* @vreitti - Great minds and all that!

Apparently there is a way round it....

Well, I suppose if that's what it takes to get him here.....

£3m.....? Behave. Didn't he sign a new contract recently? Wonder if they would want McCormack?

Come on Stoke!!!!! :-)

Yea, because it will take that long for us to get over the shock.

Thank You. Spot on, perfect post.

It wasn't my wording, I was sticking up for a fellow fan who was trying to make a point and getting stomped on for his choice of wording rather than the point he was making. Whilst i agree with most of what you say there, I would also point out the speed of some people to react and defend against what they think people have said about Bruce/the team is also ridiculous at times.

Perhaps you would like to go back and point out where I said i didn't agree that it was the wrong word to use?

I get exactly the point of your post. You object to the use of a particular word and you are clearly ignoring the point the poster was trying to make in your eagerness to criticise the use of a particular word to mean something that the poster did not intend. I get what you are saying. You are objecting to a particular word being used. Accepted. FLUKE is the wrong word, the performance was excellent and a deserved win. Can I make it any clearer that the point you are trying to make (in order to argue against something that was not actually meant by the poster) is accepted. Now, perhaps you would like to comment on the original intent of the post that was the concern that that type of performance seen in the Bristol game is unusual, against the norm, an outlying result in a season where such results are not commonplace, and certainly both the result and the performance were unexpected, and therefore despite the delight and happiness about said result, there is a concern that we are unlikely to repeat said result, as the game against Peterborough (which would have been a great opportunity to solidify the confidence and positive vibe) has demonstrated.

You said: "We did compete" That typically means that we played well, and did not deserve to lose. It is also the terminology used to describe a "lesser" team playing against a higher league team, when they expect to lose - which is the wrong way round. To say that you felt we competed must mean that you felt the performance was in some way acceptable. You could have then decided to show some examples of how we were not completely outplayed. Instead you decided to throw sarcastic comments (lets accept your position that they were not insults), what reaction did you expect? As for the comments about some devine right.... Well...... Yes, we SHOULD expect to be able to beat a team from the league below us. We should not expect to get tonked 3-1 (at home). This kind of acceptance of mediocrity is why we are in the position we are in. If it was a one off performance, then most would agree that it doesn't matter - however the concern is that it is so in tune with everything we have seen in the last 12 months, that it is not an outlying performance. To use the terminology everyone seems to be getting so heated about, this game was not a fluke...... Losing to a team below us should NEVER be acceptable, even if it has become expected. People seem to miss the fact that individual results are not the thing people are complaining about, it is the perceived lack of progress, we have a good result and think - "yes, maybe we are moving forward", then this kind of s**t happens, almost immediately. And by the way, yes, a team aiming for promotion and outspending every other team should EXPECT to beat pretty much everyone they play.

Why get hung up on semantics of the word used? You knew exactly what he meant and you clearly agree with that analysis. Yes, fluke can be taken to mean we didn't deserve the 5-0, which is not true as we were excellent, but it was definitely an outlying result, an anomaly, unusual and not in keeping with our results to date and that's how most people would have read it.

Thank you for finding that smiley for me. It sums up my reaction to your comments perfectly. Still waiting for your explanation of how we "competed" in that game? Perhaps you could try answering the question rather than insulting people? No, it wasn't 7-0 to Peterborough, partly down to Steer making a string of excellent saves (perhaps you missed that?). When your goalkeeper is MOTM you have not competed. I'm sorry - if you find this kind of result acceptable or think that we competed in this match you need to have a good long look at yourself. You think this was a reasonable performance? "We just lost" - oh, (Against Peterborough United) OK then, that's OK. **** me, me some people? is that the best argument you have?? I suppose you think it will be an unreasonable reaction if we get to the playoffs and then don't go up? cos, you know, we got there and competed.

Really? (where is that laughing smiley?) The result says otherwise, the radio commentary says otherwise, the reports say otherwise. People who were at the match say otherwise, so - please tell - how EXACTLY did we compete in this game? Remember - we played against a League one team who had more shots at goal, more shots on target and ultimately won 3-1. The defence of Bruce is **** ludicrous at times.

Personally I haven't called it a fluke (I know others have), but I do think it is the exception and I would be amazed if that sort of performance and convincing wins continue, so much as I enjoyed it i guess I do see the Bristol game as a fluke. I will stop seeing it as such when it happens again.

West Ham, 1980. Although in 2008 Championship Cardiff made the finals. Its unlikely but not impossible. Look at the likelihood of Leicester winning the prem! That said, it is better for us that we don't have the added games particularly as Steve Bruce is making a hash of promotion. Those extra games could be the difference between scraping promotion by our fingernails and falling short. So overall I am not too fussed about falling over the first hurdle - BUT What I and many other Villa fans would like to see is us COMPETE in these games, not capitulate to a league 1 side, and be completely outplayed. THAT is unacceptable. What a way to remove all the positivity from a stunning 5-0 win.

This. 100 times, this

Embarrassing.

HA HA HA HA HA PATHETIC

Can't be. True fans would NEVER want Villa to lose, regardless of the reasoning. That's what I have been told, anyway.

A few years ago, Blackpool made 10 changes to the team playing in a cup match.....charged with not taking the game seriously. We have just done the same thing.... wonder if we will get a fine for this. We deserve one!