Kuwabatake Sanjuro

Who would have thought last September that we would have no strikers left available by February with the numbers we had.

Not that I'm happy about it but I got attacked for mentioning the possibility of it a month ago. I wrongly thought that getting Hourihane and Lansbury in might help avoid getting sucked in though. I wouldn't worry too much about the result tonight, it changes little but it will be important to have a replacement for Bruce lined up withtin the next 2 weeks. Hogan being out is obviously a big blow too but if we do manage to scrape a couple of wins somewhere at least some youngsters might get a chance to be blooded.

Time for action.

73rd minute

Bruce rarely makes any changes before the 73rd minute.

Was unlucky at Leeds too but he did well there.

Ah well they put up a good performance and worked hard for 40mins. Not a hope of getting an equalizer though.

Yeah faith healers are the future of football. It is nearly 20 years since he was a good manager and he is a weirdo. No thanks to Hoddle.

I'd like to be somewhat positive but between the confidence Newcastle have, their extra quality in attack, their organisation without the ball, their fired up fans and electric atmosphere I can really see a hammering on the cards. One positive from this it would help quicken the sacking of Bruce. Another positive is that I'm usually wrong about football so we might have a chance.

Apologies if posted before but is very relevant. https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2011/nov/30/steve-bruce-sunderland-sacked Over 5 years later and he hasn't improved. Mike Phelan was the main reason Hull got promoted last season in my view.

If the club do manage a couple of wins and pull away from the relegation zone then there is no reason why he shouldn't be given a chance. The likes of Elphick are never going to amount to much so he should be put in ahead of him in the pecking order anyway. Would he be better suited to partnering Chester or Baker? Chester might be a more balanced set up but Baker would make up for the lack of robustness.

Surely at some stage Steve Clarke would have called him aside and told him that 4-1-1-4 isn't the best formation for holding onto leads. Gollini might have cut out the mistakes a bit more too.

I reckon it will be more like the Spurs cup game with the lads putting up a brave fight to keep the score down with the game finishing 2-0.

Pulis was class when on co-commentary last year doing a Spain match. Within 5 minutes he was moaning about them not making the most of set pieces. If ITV had Mark Chapman instead of Chiles presenting then it would be the best thing on UK television. Lee Dixon takes himself far too seriously though.

As a right midfielder I'd be thinking of him achieving the level of someone like David Bentley but if he doesn't have the talent to achieve that I'm not too sure what will happen with him. One thing is for certain is that he is not developing at all under Bruce.

I've never heard anyone say anything positive about either.

Blackburn proving that they are capable of performing to a high level today, if they beat Burton away on Friday it would be huge for them.

Reninds me of I wouldn't be a fan of Pearce but that was some serious commentating.

I read somewhere that Zeman will only retire when he dies, worth a go I reckon. Would be some culture shock for the fans and players I suppose. Would tick most boxes: Would make watching Villa entertaining. Would set out to play football in a certain way and stick to it. Would improve players no end e.g. Verratti, Insigne, etc Would get players ultra fit. Has to be attainable, he regularly takes on teams in lower divisions and I'm guessing would like to prove himself in England. The defending can't get any more shambolic thus negating the one weakness in his sides.

I wonder is it worth trying him out on the right wing. He has failed to impose himself as a number 10, on the left wing he slows play up too much by cutting in unnecessarily and turning back too much. Put him out on the right, instruct him to put a shift in and tell whenever he creates a yard of space in the opponents 3rd to put a quality ball in. Encourage him to play through balls for Hogan and Kodjia when further out. Adomah could be used as impact sub if chasing the game. On another note I reckon Jack is not happy with Bruce in charge. So far in his career his performances have been poor when he was unhappy with manager. Petulant I now but he has played well under Shaun Derry and Sherwood when he had a close relationship with both. He could come good with the next one. Green is still a better prospect at the moment though.

Against Newcastle and Derby, the only change will be our goal difference will be a lot worse.

Bringing Richards back is Bruce's way of looking for a way out and be sacked. It is the only logical explanation. His lack of effort in running back for Tadic's goal last April was the worst I seen from any player last season and that is some achievement. At least Lescott tried to run.

Big win for Burton against Norwich, they are only 2 points behind now. Wigan only picked up a point at home to Preston which in itself is not a bad result for them but they are still 6 points down. QPR hammered Birmingham City to move a point ahead of Villa while Cardiff hammered Rotherham to pretty much guarantee safety for them. The only positive result was Sheffield Wednesday beating Forest but their performance was meant to be decent.

Worth noting that the winners against Fulham and Burton and equalizer against Leeds all occurred when he was taken off. He isn't the messiah but he does help out defensively. He has been a terrible signing given the wages he is on.

I'd say he would want to come. He couldn't do any worse than Bruce has but I reckon there would be a limit to his ability level. I could be wrong and he could be as good as Sean Dyche but I doubt it.