striker

5 hours ago, Eastie said:

We will not be relegated or even close to it - I still feel we will finish nearer the top 10 than bottom 6 

Whether Villa are relegated or not wasn't really my point. It's the condoning of and poor form Villa are in at the moment which may lead to that eventuality. It's basically saying to the manager carry on with the awful results and we will still keep you in a job no matter what happens by the end of the season. That's why I find so incredible that a board member would come out and say that.

Whats that also saying to the players? No matter the results the manager will be kept on and so will we because the manager signed us? It's sending completely the wrong message.

When Bruce became manager what was his original remit? Promotion this season but if you fail to do that then mid table obscurity in the Championship or worse is fine? I don't think so.

How is that going to change the defeatist mentality at the club when obscurity in the Championship has become acceptable after spending millions on players?

Maybe those employed by Xia don't want to admit to their boss that they may have gotten the appointment wrong?

Bruce must be having a real chuckle to himself at the moment. Nice retirement home.

So Bruce is still going to be manager even if Villa are relegated?

I wonder how many other clubs would have made a statement like that? Just incredible.

1 hour ago, Eastie said:

Sacked RDM and should never have appointed him - the people since put in place though and selection process for Bruce I think xia will be most reluctant to change unless things go really tits up in the remainder of the season - he has been vocal in his support of Bruce recently and stressed the importance of patience .

 Martin o Neil's comments today were very supportive of Bruce and I think he will be given every chance to turn it around - certainly not at the trigger point yet but we cannot keep losing indefinately

I really do hope he turns it around and Villa get a couple of wins in the next few games but if it's another loss against Derby with no improvement in performance then I cannot see how he keeps his job.

A team not scoring after bringing in players to do exactly that while continually conceding is not going to improve unless the manager is going to change tactically.

16 hours ago, Eastie said:

Really good article by evening mails mat kendriCk here -

Reacquaint yourselves with what Round said about the astounding level of due diligence that went into appointing Bruce:

"The number one target on my list was Steve Bruce," he said.

"When the manager search came back it was a 40-page document and the number one recommendation was Steve Bruce.

"It was an excellent fact to back up our instinct and advise the chairman – this is our one to six from that 10.

"In the end, we went with a recommendation to the owner. The owner made the decision and went with Steve."

It would take something drastic - and by that I mean relegation - for them to say 'ah, sod it, get Dean Smith or Gary Rowett in'.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/steve-bruce-auditioning-keep-aston-12641326

Wouldn't lend too much weight to that last comment. Xia sacked RDM.

Would Bruce not better to promote one of the centre backs from the U21s than do this?

5 minutes ago, peterms said:

To be fair, the injury happened in the opposition penalty area, so it would have been quite a journey for his teammates to get to him.

Bruce would have shot them for going into the opposition's box.

He's also too predictable playing out wide cutting on the inside and rarely trying to go on the outside of the defender. Every time he got the ball last night the Newcastle defence knew what he was going to do.

For me doesn't hold the ball up well enough either.

Bruce describing the turnover in players as an excuse is really starting to grate with me. If he thought that was destabilising the club before he arrived why do the same again when he was getting better results with the previous squad?

He can't have it both ways and it smacks of desperation.

Xia's silence is deafening at the moment.

12 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Johnstone, Hutton, Taylor and Hogan played OK

the rest can go **** themselves

Thought Hogan was poor even considering the lack of service. His movement was practically non existent.

Currently 4 points off relegation. Awful second half from the Villa.

Poor start to second half. Giving the ball away too much with no threat going forward other than the sidestep inside from Kodjia which Newcastle defenders have read all night.

Now two ffs. What another awful goal.

Horrendous defending at exactly the wrong time just before half time.

No need to go chasing the game yet though. Seen enough from Villa in the first half with a bit more composure in the final third that Villa could still get something from the game.

Been very impressed with Jedinak so far. Villa look much better with him in the side which means I've been talking bollocks.

Villa just need a bit more composure playing the final ball and they could steal a win here.

Looking forward to Landsbury/Shelvey rematch. 

Pressure off on the players as most are expecting Newcastle to hammer Villa. With that in mind and still maintaining that player for player I really don't think there's the chasm between the teams that the league position suggests I think there could be a surprise victory on the cards.

It all depends though on how Bruce sets the team up and that's still the most worrying aspect for me. The manager.

I can just imagine Rafa's face if he sees Richards name on Villa's team sheet.

2 hours ago, Mjvilla said:

Surely, putting Lansbury in front of the back four is allowing him to drop deep to pick the ball up from the back 4 and pick a pass? A lot of midfielders do it. It's exactly how some of the best passers recently have played. What you said doesn't really make sense to me! 

My point was that Lansbury likes to try 30 yard passes. Doing that regularly to hit the forwards from deep cuts out passing through midfield.

14 hours ago, Eastie said:

 

my anger towards Bruce has subsided somewhat but he does need results soon .

Aludded to needing better results during the Newcastle press conference. 

20 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

I take issue with this.

Not because it's not happening, we do hoof it too much.

But at the insinuation that Bruce is instructing the team to bypass the midfield and hoof it to the forwards.

his fault here is not getting the team to play the way he wants them to. I highly doubt he is instructing his players to play hoof ball. it's just a product of a lack of movement and options.

Putting Lansbury in front of the back four imo is giving license to bypassing the midfield.

8 hours ago, John said:

I very much doubt that Bunn would do any better. 

Probably right mate. Absolute madness to replace an inexperienced keeper with another one. I wonder is there any decent keepers available on a free? Someone said here that Kirkland was available. Yes I know the record of injuries he has but bringing him in until the end of the season on a pay as you play deal wouldn't do any harm?

54 minutes ago, TRO said:

But didn't our current manager, start like that?

But for every Clement there is a Big Sam.

do you sack Ranieri too......its just too easy to keep sacking managers.

He has a problem, he knows it, the club know it, we know it......he gets paid to sort out problems that's why we appointed an experienced manager.....its easy to just sit back and wallow in the Glory of a winning team, life isn't like that.

I do not believe there is not enough nous in and around Villa to know what is wrong, but knowing it and fixing it is 2 different things......one can be instant, the other takes time.

How long, I have no idea.

we cannot keep existing on manager bounce.

 

 

With all due respect and I may be wrong in this so apologies if I am. I don't think there has been much of a new manager bounce at the Villa in recent times. If that were the case then surely Villa would still be in the Premiership or doing much better in the Championship.

Those pushing forward Clement as just one example of changing managers to get better performances are right to do so because it is the perfect answer to those who say bringing another manager in would just create more change and more instability. Monk has also changed Leeds fortunes pretty quickly. McClaren at Derby is doing the same. Rowett at Birmingham did a fantastic job there on a shoe string budget.

So to say that there's one Big Sam for every Clement is missing the point entirely. The point is that changing manager again can work without creating further instability if you get the right man in.

I hope for Villa's sake Bruce replaces the keeper for this one. Shelvey will shoot from every angle and Johnston will be put under tremendous pressure from the start of the game.

From what I've seen recently at the Villa, caretaker bosses have actually turned out worse than the manager's they've replaced.

Not a good idea in my book and I wouldn't want Calderwood anyway.

1 minute ago, pacbuddies said:

Hopefully defeat at Newcastle on Monday will see the end of Bruce the dinosaur.

I felt and posted that Bruce would be chopped after losing the next two games before Barnsley tonight. I'm sticking to that.