TheStagMan

Nice. Plus alcohol to take away the pain of being a Villa fan. You got this.

Nice. Bit of peppercorn sauce with it?

We will. And you know what, I hope you are right and I am wrong. Sadly I don't think I will be though.

The problem is that the two decent performances were the abberation, so no one should get their hopes up based on them. I will continue to criticise as long as performances are poor, and I will acknowledge (and maybe even praise) when they are good. For me, Steve Bruce has done the job he should have done when the Cardiff and Reading performances are the abberation. Our last game was more at the Cardiff/Reading end of the spectrum than the Norwich end. Bear in mind our two good performances were against the team that everyone tonks, and a team a division below us - not saying they weren't a good wins, but am saying that is why I want to see more evidence than just those two games showing that we are fixed. This weekend should give us some more indication.

Rubbish. If the did that then most people would happily accept that he has got it, turned a corner and we are on the up. Unfortunately what is more likely to happen is that we scrape wins and draws and this argument continues. Unfortunately we could be 15 points adrift having lost six games on the trot and there will still be people saying it's not his fault and he needs more time.

Yes, it won't work when the opposition team immediately fall about laughing.

WHAT?????????? There are numerous posts about this. I have written at least twice what I would like to see from him, what I would find acceptable. I'm reading your posts TRO and fair play for sticking to your guns but my word - how you have such faith in Bruce is beyond belief. It is almost like you are either not reading people's posts and think people have just got it in for Bruce and therefore ignore their opinions or you are not understanding how desperate our situation has become. If you think Bruce can turn this around I think you are going to be very disappointed by the next few months.

I would prefer to be in league with someone who knew what he was doing and was good at it, but each to their own.

Hmmmm, Elphick and Turkey, I'm sure there is a joke in there somewhere......

Seems fair.

Absolutely not. What would that achieve? If we are nowhere near promotion then why persevere with someone who is clearly not up to the job? As I keep being told, managers need time to get the team playing how they want so if we end up writing off this season I want to see someone else come in with a plan and start getting the ream/squad used to that plan and adapting to it. Why waste half a season that could be used by the new man, rather than him having to wait until the summer? Steve Bruce has to have us challenging at the top of the table by the end of September, or he has to go, no ifs, buts or maybes.

There is a whole world of difference between being motivated by not wanting to lose and being unable to sleep at night because of it.

Behave, there is absolutely no comparison between that and the guff that Bruce is coming out with. If that is the best counter argument you have then you should stop trying my friend.

**** me. Is Wyness Mental? Seriously. He respects a man who admits he is so shit scared of losing he cannot sleep at night. THAT IS NOT A POSITIVE!!!!!!!!! Find me any other manager anywhere in football that would say that. Anywhere? Thankfully that article does include the dreaded full support of the board so it shouldn't be long now.

We stopped playing defensively and attacked. We played with a player capable of holding the ball up, which allowed other players to get in on the act and push forward. We played less defensively. You are right, something clicked. However - we were playing a Norwich team that are demonstrably out of form, having been tonked by both Sunderland and Milwall before and since (although they did OK against QPR), and Colchester are a division below us. But they were good performances, and instead of taking that momentum and pushing on, our manager went three at the back and invited pressure. Once again we looked lost. We have a lot of attacking players, but we are playing them in a defensive setup. Will something change over the next few games? I doubt it. Let me turn this back on something you said above - you are not sure anything is going to magically change over the next 5 games - so why give him more time, surely the sensible reason for giving someone more time, is because you can see things coming together, you can see a plan and you can see how things will turn round. I'm sorry, but as much as I want to see that, it just isn't there to see. I want to see a formation that utilizes our players talents to the best of their abilities. I want to see a 4-3-3 with either Davis or Hogan spearheading the attack, and the likes of Hourihan running in behind. I would play this against stronger teams where we need a bit more strength in midfield. I would like to see a 4-4-2 when Kodjia is back, with either Hogan or Davis next to him against weaker teams where we absolutely take the game to them. I do not want to EVER see 3 at the back for Villa again. I do not want to EVER see Gabby or Hutton in a Villa shirt again. I do not want to EVER see Micah Richards on a football pitch again (at least this one is likely). I do not want to hear bullshit excuses coming out of Steve Bruce's mouth. I do not want to EVER hear our manager blaming the fans for their expectations being too high. Which they are perfectly entitled to do Frankly no, and it is something that puzzles me. When we signed him, as I have said before I was on-board with it, I thought he would be a solid choice to get us promoted, for whatever reason he just isn't cutting it here. Maybe it is too big a job for him, maybe football has moved on, maybe he had better coaches before, I don't know. What I do know is that he is not saying or doing anything that makes me confident he will continue that trend here (did we get the correct Steve Bruce?) - and regardless of what he has done before, he needs to go.

I refer you to my previous post asking if I have woken up in a parallel universe this morning.

Agreed, how many right backs and right sided players do we have now? How light are we on the left? How many midfielders vs how many (decent) center backs? We don't have a balanced squad, nor a stable first team (or tactics, or formation) By now, we absolutely should. Any manager worth his salt would have got these things in place by now. Bruce hasn't. I absolutely agree that some of the players we got were unnecessary. Maybe they were bought in to add to the excuse of more changes and more players needing time to settle.

I think you are confusing "comfortable" and "familiar" with "not giving a shit" and "being utterly crap" Seriously, are you using this as an argument against having a settled team? I am wondering if I have woken up in some parallel universe this morning.

They would probably say something like "yes, they will blend more quickly if you play them in a position they are familiar with playing in, in a team that is settled so that they know who their teammates are and how they play, if they have a set style of play to adapt to and clear instructions from the manager in a formation which plays to their strengths. You know what would be stupid would be to change the team and formation every game and play those players in positions they are not familiar with with different team mates each time, that would put you on a hiding to nothing and will never work, only an idiot would do that." Seriously - I cannot believe that people are still spouting stuff like give him time and players need to blend. . Players need time, yes they do, some longer than others, but ours seem to need at least a season en-masse. That is down to the manager NOT providing stability. Oh my word. What is going to magically change over the next 5 games? seriously - can anyone see Bruce suddenly seeing the light and changing 20+ years of management style to suddenly click with this team. I was hoping we had turned a corner with the two good results, but then he went 3 at the back and ended up playing Chester at RB, showing that he had learned nothing. It makes me want to pull my hair out when I hear people saying we need stability, so we should stick with Bruce. He is not providing stability - he is changing the team and formation every sodding game (when did we last play two-three games unchanged?). That is not stability and is one of the reasons we are as shit as we are. It us an utter disgrace that after 40+ games and nearly a year (or three months I cant remember which) of being here he does not have a first team of players, or a set formation.

I know he pissed Bruce off, but making him moonwalk all the way to Sunderland seems harsh.

When I saw "promotion hopefuls" in the title I knew it wasn't us!

We're saved!

Batten down the hatches. Right 3 at the back for the rest of the season then lads. What happened to managers that said things like "go out there and win" The more I hear from this guy, the more I want him just to f*** off.

So, TRO. You have asked people to specify who they would replace Bruce with. Let me ask you a question then in the same vein WHEN is Bruce going to turn this around and start providing this long promised consistency and results. WHEN are we going to see effective football firing us up the league? When is he going to get us promoted? If you cannot give us a date for that, you cannot be asking people who they would replace Bruce with.

Which, everyone, himself included KNEW was going to happen - yet he decided the best approach was to rely on Gabby, even though there was a January transfer window available to him. Jesus wept! So yes, I am going to include those games in my assessment of him. I guess I will have to deal with it, as unfortunately he does not seem to have been sacked yet. Doesn't mean that I have to like it, or that I can't comment on his MANY faults and the fact he is doing a shit job.