TheStagMan

Well this is utter rubbish. We do not want the manger out after one game. It is the basis of no improvement shown after 36 games last season - the same weaknesses and faults carrying straight on into this season despite two transfer windows and a pre season.

Agreed, but unfortunately he is not replicating that here.

FWIW I do agree with this. I do think we have missed the boat in sacking him. But I am not going to pretend everything is rosy, and I am fully expecting there to be a point where we have no choice. I do disagree with the bold bit though. Yesterday was the exact opposite.

My apologies, he has only had 40+ games (including Cup and pre season). Not nearly enough time....

Nice selective posting.......So where in there have I said that the management at Villa Park are Experts, and where have I said they were wrong? Notice how the topic got onto the media....

He has had most of last season, and will likely get a good chunk of this one. He has not shown the improvement that is needed. OK, lets wait 10 games. Lets say we are then mid-table. What then? Stability is good. Consistency is good. Unless you are stable by being consistently crap. Sticking with something hoping it *might* come good is madness, particularly when it has shown no signs of doing so.

Because if we want to be promoted, we need to look like a team that will win games, not one that nicks a goal and holds on. I want to see a decent performance, not lucky wins. If we had won, but all the same frailties were there to be exploited, do you not agree that it would be cause for concern? We need to play the whole game like we did for the first 30 mins, and not go to pieces, or look to control the game, retain possession and keep pressure off ourselves, look like a team that could stifle the opposition and see out the game, rather than backs to the wall defending for almost a whole half, one that plays on the front foot and attacks - even after going ahead. This is what we need to do to get promoted. If we do not do this, I will continue to point it out.

What? where did I say that? Stop making stuff up. I said that we have management (never used the word experts) at Villa park to identify and employ a new manager. The implication of that statement being that I trust them to do so (rather than me having to produce a list of potential managers for them). I would therefore hope that they have considered that Bruce is possibly not going to make the grade and have therefore a shortlist of alternatives. From Dr X's tweets, it sounds like they do. I never changed the subject to the media. YOU asked a very specific question about "experts" in the media backing Bruce, which I answered with my opinion. My opinion being that I will take what they are saying with a pinch of salt and instead look at what I know about my own club and have seen with my own eyes. I will follow that up with a question - have you ever heard any pundits saying that a manager is terrible and should be sacked? It is very rare that they will. Especially if that manager is "one of the boys". As for your last point/dig. I hardly think allowing a manager to have almost a full season (most of last and the start of this) and two transfer windows before being upset about the lack of progress is "wanting to keep hiring and firing" candidates. As I have said previously if there was a glimmer of light then I would be happy. There is not, There has not been a single game where we have played well for the full 90 minutes during his tenure. Yesterday shows that despite the mystical pre-season that will sort out all our problems nothing has changed. I think you will also find that the percentage of Villa fans who are uneasy/concerned about Bruce's ability to get ups promoted is not that small. And will continue to grow unless performances (not just results) change. How long will you wait before accepting it is not working? 10 more games, end of the season, another couple of seasons?

We have a manager who has been backed and given time and players requested. He has proven over 40+ games that he cannot adapt or impose a playing style. Problems that have existed since day 1 are still prevalent and we still cannot put on a decent display for a whole match. We should persevere with him because he might come good? Mind blowing logic!

Oh yes, the old boys network of Bruce's mates. The pundits and experts who thought both RDH and Tim Sherwood were good manager who were unfairly treated. Behave! I prefer to believe what I see with my own eyes. A very expensively assembled team with definite quality playing like a bunch of amateurs. Its not the result. It is the way the result came about. If the experts believe that someone who fails to make changes when the game has turned, who thinks that defending a 1-0 lead is the way to get promotion, who thinks that Samba is a good idea as a striker or that Bacuna is a good idea as a footballer is the man to get Villa promoted, well, they are not really experts then are they?

I don't know, but then it is not my job to know. That's why we have a management team in place at the club. I'm sorry that I don't have an in depth knowledge of every possible manager but I do know that the one we have is not good enough.

Rubbish. If we had won and looked like we deserved it - put Hull to the sword (which given our relevant positions and aims, we should have done) then Bruce would be getting praise for turning it around and would have silenced the doubters, maybe even converted a few. He didn't. It was the same old same old from last season. He has had the mythical pre-season (which apparently was all that was needed) and has bought in more of his own players early. Nothing seems to have changed. Sadly. Do you genuinely think we hate Bruce for Hatings sake? No, we want the best for our club, and on current showing that is not Bruce. Tell me something. How will you feel if we finish this season, say 10th? What then?

Except it's not though is it? IF we get a decent manager this time then we can build something, if we get a manager that has a footballing philosophy and shows a playing style and starts to show positive movement then he will get a lot of time and support. Bruce has had 40+ games to sort it out (counting cups and friendlies) with massive backing and facilities and has not done so, nor has he shown signs of doing so. Just because we bought (another) dud this time doesn't mean we should stick to it.

No, it's a bad day for me when I watch my team rolling over and drawing when we should have won. It's a bad day for me when we play Samba as a striker, it's a bad day for me when Bacuna is on the pitch, it's a bad day for me when our second half performance is turgid. It's a bad day for me when we demonstrate that our frailties have not been improved, it's a bad day for me when we are under the cosh and everyone can see a goal is coming yet our manager does nothing until it is too late. It's a bad day for me when Villa are in the Championship. I take no pleasure in criticising Bruce because it means that Villa are not doing well. He has been given time, he has demonstrated nothing to show improvement or even a plan. Hopefully he will turn it round, but if he doesn't I reserve the right to criticise him. Especially on days like yesterday when he earns that criticism.

Bruce out!

Well, hopefully to a manager who isnt crap! Its surprising that people cant see that the current one is.

Which is amazing really, because apparently you need AT LEAST 36 games of the previous season, and two transfer windows and a full pre-season with your own players before you can even begin to think about producing mediocre football over 90 minutes, and even then it is too early to expect anything decent. I don't understand how that guy at Hull has managed it. He must be cheating somehow. But don't worry, Bruce is da man. His four previous promotions says everything will be OK.

Amen to that brother!

Booooo. Gabby. Bruce out!

Woah, hold on there JV....... All of the fanbois use the old chestnut "he is a striker that has been constantly played out of position" as an excuse for his abysmal goal return in a Villa shirt - but now everyone knows he is a forward? As for him fixing/making up for stuff, all he has done is got himself fit again - the minimum you would expect from a professional footballer who can do so whilst having facilities at his disposal that most would only dream of. One goal against the scum and everyone creams their pants with "Gabby's back", "its the Gabby of old" 1 goal last season. 1 goal. in 13 games. In the Championship. Yet people are pinning their hopes on him. He needs to score 10+ goals this season, and chip in with a good number of assists. If he does, I will accept the turnaround. THEN and only then will I consider him to have even started to make up for the last four seasons of shite he has served up. For what it is worth, my goalposts with regard to Gabby have never moved. They have always been about him performing well and contributing something. Unfortunately for him, he is having just as much trouble scoring through these metaphorical goalposts as he does with the real ones on the pitch. I actually hope he does do well this season. I really do, because that would mean that Villa are flying, and ultimately that is what matters. However this is Gabby. I wont hold my breath.

which is why last year only Reading were interested in loaning him from us.......

Agreed, WHATEVER happens this season he should not get a new contract. Hopefully at the end of this season we will have been promoted and will be a premier league team - Gabby is not good enough at that level. What I would like to see is a decent return from him this coming season as payback for what he owes us, meaning that he can finish his Villa career on a high and piss off into the sunset.

Bah. Stream just broke. Bruce Out!

It's as Jareth said.... Extrapolation..... It's a very unscientific calculation of how many goals they would have scored for us if they had played 296 matches and continued scoring at the same rate as they did over their actual time with us.

Unlike Gabby nowadays