DaveAV1

As Sunderland manager he bought 30 players in two and a half years! Stability yeah that's what he brings.....

The two obvious decisions are should he stay or should he go. The stay camp say he needs time and we don't need any more disruption. They reinforce this point by adding he needs a full preseason. The go camp think he's had enough time and he needs to go now. Whilst im still not totally decided myself, I feel that with every passing game and no change to the football we see, I have at least one foot in the go camp. There is just no progress being made and to not try anything new today for me says we seem to be on the road to nowhere. If Bruce knows it's not good enough then why doesn't he do something to try to change it? There is a risk changing managers, but it's an even bigger risk changing managers mid season. Then the new guy won't have had the advantage of the mythical magic of a full preseason.

It's a nice choice to make isn't it? I'm not sure who my choice would be. Sid Cowans was wonderful to watch, fantastic energy and his passing sublime. David Platt said his ambition when at Villa was to make a run that Sid didn't spot, he never managed it. I'd throw Sir Brian into the mix too. The shear excitement watching him run with the ball and knowing that just about anything could happen. Macca was......., I don't have the descriptive powers. A very happy and healthy Birthday to you Macca

Does anyone think he will nurture any players of any age?

Although the Guardian article is from 2011, the influx of more progressive and technically minded managers into the Championship since that was written, makes it all the more relevant and worrying. I'd tweet a link to the The Doc if I hadn't refused to move with the times......

I've had a whinge in the premature thread about this. Bruce hasn't selected a single academy player for the match day squad, not even on the bench. This is a dead rubber for us, surely an opportunity missed to have a look at future prospects. We're on the road to nowhere with this mentality.

You don't think the club believe RHM is good enough? They made a big effort to get him signed up for a league 2 player.

If those players are all fit then it's criminal not to try at least one or two in a match like this. You can't claim RHM isn't ready for at least a run out. We're on the road to nowhere with this mentality.

I agree on Hutton and I don't see Bree as an academy player anyway. I know there are injuries, but surely he could have found one young player, even if it's just for the experience of being on the bench?

Nothing to play for and not a single kid in the match day squad. Extremely disappointing.

Guilty as charged!!

Cheers from the GH camp. Howls of derision from the TRO camp. Don't shoot the messenger. https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2011/nov/30/steve-bruce-sunderland-sacked

They look like the best players because they function as a team and their manager gets the best out of them. If finance has anything to do with it, we should already have most of the best players.

I agree the transfer window has changed things, generally in favour of the big spending clubs as usual. Chelsea have over 30 players out on loan letting other clubs develop them and take the risk, then keep the good ones. But that's a subject for another time. Using the example you gave of Frank Carradus and Des Bremner, I would agree with no disrespect to Frank, who was a fine player, that Des Bremner was an up grade. However I don't believe that either of those players were expensive or high profile. They were good players but most of us hadn't heard of before they arrived. They were bought to fit into a system that suited their style and they improved as players because they worked hard and knew what was expected of them. As opposed to a number of our January signings that were expensive, came with big reputations and with little thought of how we would utilise them and how they'd compliment the system. If indeed there is a system.

Well that's a bloody good question, which I can't answer. However that's more or less what the club said or implied and most people nod towards Southampton as a good example of how it's possible. I believe that the club appointed Bruce as a quick fix with the intention of finding the Aston Villa way once we'd solved the immediate problem of not being in the Prem. The Doc said as much in a tweet soon after Bruce's appointment, which said something along the lines, that he'd been impressed with him and he might even keep him beyond promotion. A back handed compliment if ever there was one!

Perhaps I should have said, "IF those who make the decisions etc". Listen I'm not saying sack him, and have said he will be our manager in August but I am concerned that he may not take us forward next season. Only time will tell and I hope that his experience will see us through a good preseason and all our worries are put to bed.

I agree, the appointment of Steve Round was supposed to enable us to develop an "Aston Villa way" and provide continuity whoever the manager is. Please tell me what we've watched for the last 30 odd games isn't the Aston Villa way.

I hope you're right Mark. There's a lot of faith being put in this summer's preseason. Steve Bruce has a huge turn round to make. At the moment he's being cut some slack as he's seen as sorting out someone else's mess and in a relatively short period of time. Pretty soon if improvements aren't made then the blame will be placed on his shoulders. It's a big summer for Steve and for AVFC, No pressure Brucie lad!

Well if that is obvious to fans, it's concerning that those who actually make the signings, whoever they might be, didn't notice themselves.

TRO is at about a quarter to patience, I'm about five to and GH is a week next Thursday!

Whilst I'm not about to disagree with GT or TB, it was a different game in those days with regards to how clubs functioned. The manager was in charge of almost everything, where as now we have directors of football, CEOs and the like running the club and shaping the culture and direction they want their clubs to go in. At least they should be!

The players who have had the most impact this season, in my opinion of course, are Kodjia, Jedi, Baker, Chester and Hutton, with an honourable mention for Taylor. I was, like many, very excited by the January signings, but Taylor who was probably the least exciting, is the only one who has shown any sort of consistency. This concerns me greatly because Hourihane, Lansbury and Hogan were probably the best players at their clubs and had all been having great seasons. I know people will say they need time and there is some truth in that, but they haven't just struggled they've been rubbish. The main reason for this I believe is that we don't play in a way that suits their style of play and so every ga,e they loose a bit more confidence and a bit more form. They all looked pretty decent for the first game or two but they've all gone backwards since then. I'm concerned that we will never get the best out of them because we will never play a style that suits them. Steve Bruce keeps complaining about performances but continues to set us up negatively what ever formation he picks. The definition of madness is repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Equally worrying with another transfer window on the near horizon, does Steve Bruce have a plan regarding the type of players we need to suit the style he intends to play?

And a grape I guess

But can you walk the rice paper?

Sadly the later, the side effect being the former!