striker

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.

Exactly and without changing the playing staff much which seems to be another excuse for not changing the manager.

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.

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

Replace Hutton and put Amavi in instead of Taylor if Bruce is going to play that formation then that's Villa's best team but is Bruce going to do it? If he wants to start picking up points and save his job then he has to.

Yet it is the manager who signs and chooses the players so if they are not consistently doing what he wants them to then ultimately he must take responsibility for that.

There's a Striker here alright.

Would like to see Phelan at the Villa. Good pass and move coach but Bruce would have to drop the negative tactics first which hopefully he's now going to do.

I don't think Bruce is listening.

I'm thinking you are referring to now but when joining the club as manager playoffs were the very least most fans were expecting from Bruce. I honestly feel losing the next two games will see Bruce sacked despite what Xia is tweeting.

Can't see it if this run of results continues. Bruce is also on a rolling contract so little to think about in severance pay.

Less I would guess.

Sitting deep and trying to hit teams on the break requires a solid defence because you're continually allowing teams more possession. Villa are still leaking goals playing this way so it's up to Bruce to change and go for it.

Looking at how Bjarnson plays I'm in no doubt he could make the sitting midfielder his own position in the run in allowing Bruce to play his two attacking mids further forward. More energy and more skilful that Jedinak. Just needs 1 or two more games to adjust to the Championship.

Will state it again. If Bruce can get his tactics sorted and the team go on a winning run watch the teams in 5th and 6th start to choke allowing Villa to close the gap. It will take more offensive tactics though and I still hope Bruce will go for it with a much better midfield. Maybe with Jedinak back in the team Bruce will allow his new midfielders to push further forward but I still don't rate Jedinak.

Suffers from the same affliction as Ayew yet Kodjia is viewed more favourably due to his goal scoring. To me Ayew was much more skilful with a better first touch but didn't score enough. Kodjia needs to improve on his first touch and hold up play because generally I find him a frustrating player to watch with the ball continually bouncing off him to the opposition. It's this first touch in particular that if it doesn't improve will hamper him being a successful forward in the Premiership when Villa get there.

Your first point concerning Kodjia is fair enough but I'm not so sure it would have made much difference, losing again when Kodjia returned. Villa were already struggling to put any kind of performance together with Kodjia in the side. Top ten outside the playoffs must be seen as abject failure if you are going to apply your previous point concerning Kodjia's importance to the team. I don't think any Villa fan would have settled for that at the start of the season or when Bruce first arrived.

It should be noted that results under Bruce took a nose dive using the same players where he originally got the new manager bounce. Considering the drop in level from the Premiership most expected those better results to continue and not tail off. With his new signings those results have continued on a downward trajectory even though admittedly it is early days yet but Bruce has already made fundamental mistakes not expected of such an experienced manager and it has cost the club dearly in Villa's quest for promotion this season. Despite Xia's tweet and lets face it the owner was highly unlikely to publicly criticise the manager when in the process of buying players I feel that Bruce is already under pressure to turn it around. I sincerely hope that he does just that and he should with arguably the best squad in the Championship (minus the goalkeeping). He is also well liked by the fan base but liking someone as a person doesn't secure you position as manager if the results aren't there.

Good post and one which I totally agree with.

I fully agree that he should be given until the end of the season with his signings. I can't see a new manager making up 13 points unless the teams occupying the playoff places have a catastrophic loss of form with Villa improving by the same margin. However my point is that there must be at least some disappointment within the board how results and performances have taken a nosedive since the initial new manager bounce under Bruce as he has failed to reach that initial expectation to at least be competing for a playoff spot. Some fans I would expect were hoping for more than that although that has proven unrealistic.

I've seen some say or allude to that Bruce is the short term option to gain promotion. I would hazard a guess that Xia also thought along those lines when he first employed Bruce envisaging with his new manager's prior record of promotions that Villa would at least be in a position to challenge for promotion this season. Being 13 points off sixth at this stage, if you pardon the pun, isn't what the Dr ordered despite Xia's recent tweet.

Normally they can also turn defence into attack by breaking up play and finding a team mate. Jedinak is woeful at that. In the games I've seen him play for Villa rarely have I seen him win tackles because he's blowing out his arse trying to catch the player first. He does head the ball a lot though, normally to the oppo. Awful footballer.

Exactly and we're already defensive enough without him.

Would like to see Thor become Villa's DM until the end of the season rather than see Jedinak back.