DaveAV1

For me it's not a case of liking or not liking a manager. As a bloke I like Steve Bruce. I want him to succeed because that will mean Villa succeed, I just don't think he will. This argument of results over style is a valid one, but the two are not mutually exclusive. It seems to be that there is a growing opinion that we have to play ugly because that is successful, and attractive football is nice but ineffective. That is just not true, in most cases the opposite is true. The top two, which is surely our goal next season, both played attractive football. Which of the play off teams play negative hoofball? I'm sure people will argue that Steve Bruce knows this and will play a more expansive game next season, once he's had the preseason to sort things out and add more players. I will be delighted if that's how things pan out. However I believe football is constantly evolving and Steve isn't able to evolve quickly enough with it. I hope I'm wrong.

I read it

He takes 4 puts to get off the tee then hits a long iron

I knew you'd get on board in the end

Well if Harry needs a dog walker I'd say he's nailed on.

Well Brucie is new to the game, give him time.

I didn't know we played golf together.

We should just call it "The Manager" thread, it would save a fortune on paperwork

It's easy to say any criticism is just banging the negativity drum, and I fully understand how that critical opinions can come across that way. However Round's broad remit is to shape the Aston Villa way and it's difficult to see what he has achieved so far. Of course it's very early days to assess what he has achieved, especially as his job whilst being high profile, isn't carried out in the full glare of public attention. We all have to wait to see what the future holds, but ultimately nobody gets a free pass.

I agree, a good traditional kit. I'm not so sure the sponsor would agree on the size of their logo though!

Us being the clear exception!

They've certainly come to realise something. The toughness of the competition has never been in doubt, perhaps it's our preparedness to over come it that is in doubt.

I'm perplexed as to why the the acceptable target seems, on here anyway, to have moved from top two to a play off place. Towards the end of last season, even Bruce's most ardent supporters mostly added the caveat, top two is the only acceptable result next season. Now it seems to be top six. Soon it will be mid table, before giving him the keys to the city for digging us out of the mire of the last few seasons and keeping us up with 2 games to go.

The main difference between the the two is that Steve Bruce is a very likeable bloke and Neil Warnock isn't. Judging purely on their public personas of course.

My mate said we should have gone for Warnock when he went to Cardiff. I'm sure he was saying it tongue in cheek, however he has mentioned it again recently with a certain air of, "if only you lot were as knowledgeable as me" about him. Tosser .

Yeah but look who Gary Neville's manager was, I wouldn't be blaming him either! I agree though that neither players or managers can shirk their responsibilities. Managers tend to take the bulk of the blame justifiably or not. That's largely due to the fact that the club hasn't just spent tens of millions of pounds on them and they would very much like to recoup most of that outlay from another mug who is desperate for a striker/midfielder/defender to dig them out of the brown stuff.

Yes that would definitely make sense.

The problem with using Bruce's promotion from the Championship record is that he has spent more time down here than most. I don't know the exact number of seasons, but it's quite a few. He has achieved automatic promotion twice, which surely is our aim given our stature and financial muscle. Eddie Howe has only been promoted once, Tony Pulis once, even Rafa Benitez only once, Fergie didn't manage it at all! To finish in the top two, the rule of thumb is generally two points per game more or less. If we don't set out our stall to dominate games in midfield and have a goal threat from more than just one striker on form, then that target isn't likely to be reached. Last season teams came to Villa Park and showed us respect, particularly in the first half. Once they realised there was no attacking intent to be scared of they came out at us more. We were often on the back foot in the second half. They will have learnt from last season and come with more confidence when they face us. Does anyone think we will have learnt and approach the games differently? If we don't we can expect mid table again and an exceptionally poor return on our investment, both from the Doc's point of view and ours.

Only Newcastle would be anywhere near ours I would have thought. It would be interesting to see if the 4 clubs in the play off places paid out the same total in wages all together as we did alone.

Yes Kozak, I thought everyone called him Kojak . I didn't realise the Liaison Officer was still there at the time. Things could have changed since then I suppose.

In the Championship?

That's probably why we turned him down before he went to Arsenal. Although I heard a rumour that Deadly told him his story about inventing the bicycle kick and Bergkamp didn't want to live forever in his shadow.

And these factors have nothing to do with the manager?

Bergkamp?

Steve Bruce boring? How very dare you!