DaveAV1

12 minutes ago, bobzy said:

Didn't Tony Xia also say we'd be one of the biggest clubs in world football within 5 years?  I mean, maybe we will be.... but the problem with "ridiculous expectations" partly comes from such expectations being set by the guy who owns the club.

If you want to reach the moon, shoot for the stars 

Eastie whatever happened to your 7 point from the last 3 games prediction? So negative . . . . . . 

Superb a proper fan and some way removed from the ridiculous false goal celebration I witnessed from Stanley Victor on the Holte End earlier this season. 

1 minute ago, PieFacE said:

When did we last win 4 in a row? 

Not sure but until today it was April 2010 since we last won 3 

17 minutes ago, thabucks said:

**** stability needs to go in the summer. His turgid football, lack of tactical acumen and failure to coach the basics is harming us more than getting rid will do.

The players he has at his disposal are better than the results & performances IF utilised correctly with a coherent plan. 

If Bruce is the answer then I'm going to start questioning Wyness & Rounds vision for the club cause thus far it ain't working. Nothing but sound bites so far. 

Possibly the right sentiment, probably the wrong timing 

1 hour ago, KHV said:

I have in laws that follow Leicester and I had seen deLaet in action live a few times before he was here. He was awful, they couldn't wait to get shot of him. It's all opinions but to me he looked much worse than Hutton has ever looked at right back. I was furious when we signed deLaet if you look back at his thread. We already had Hutton and Bacuna that could play where deLaet plays so his signings made no sense to me. We now have Bree also, I would put deLaet behind Bree, Hutton and Bacuna. If I'm honest I actually think Bruce will get rid of deLaet.

Fair enough KHV it does seem you did more due diligence than I gave credit for and your conclusions don't seem particularly favourable to Mr DeLaet. I hope he's either better than your first impressions or we find another mug to take him off us!

4 minutes ago, Eastie said:

Could we not just get sponsored by recon for £150m next season

I think theoretically the rules say something about a deal has to stand up business wise. They pulled Man City up when their owner sponsored the stadium for £400m. City had some sort of punishment which meant they had to have one less squad member for the Champions League matches. After that I don't think anything was public knowledge. I assume the money men and their lawyers had a good "chat" with the FA and UEFA and "a way" was found. I imagine we also have lawyers and money men who speak in similar riddles. 

12 minutes ago, USA_Villa said:

Every dog has it's day and by the sound of it Steve was very lucky as Derby played us off the park.

Let's get a few points straight:

1. When Bruce was appointed we were 19th in the league. We're now 17th. Hardly setting the division on fire.
2. Other than Wigan, we are the lowest scorers in the Division. That really doesn't look like changing does it?
3. When was the last time you watched the Villa and thought they played well. I can't remember

I will settle for 17th at the end of the season and then hope and pray we bring in another manager.

I missed the game yesterday due to work commitments, but from what mates have told me and stuff I've read it sounded like a great result but another poor performance. We need roughly a point a game to stay up and have two relatively winnable games coming up, which we really need to win or we'll be sucked into the relegation fight, with a squad that looks nothing like a squad up for a fight.

If we're looking for out of contract signings then L. Uck might be the best we can find.

1 hour ago, Eastie said:

I suspect you will never know the answer to that question as i cant see us losing the next 3 - in fact I think we will get 7 points from them .

7 points Eastie! Wow I admire your confidence, a commodity I am completely out of I'm afraid and that's very unusual for me. Everything crossed that you're right, I'm struggling to find any other reason but a change of luck to end this terrible run.

On 22/02/2017 at 17:56, Nigel said:

Wow there are some over reactions on here to this! 

How is bringing in experienced cover for an injury prone player deserving of such negativity?

Id be disappointed to see Elphic as part of a back 4 again...yet this is what we are going to see in a few weeks if another player is not bought in.

Id be worried if this were anything other than covering bets..but theres nothing to suggest there is.

Bruce has been here since October and has had an entire transfer window during which he was allowed the luxury of having a bigger budget than anyone else in this division. We have had no serious injuries in the CB position since the window closed, but he has decided that now is the time to look for cover in this position. Are you worried yet?

3 minutes ago, Dale said:

There's not even any speculation of his future going around the press. I don't get it...

It's because he's one of the good old boys, pally with all the old hacks. So they ask questions like, "How is Hogan's injury Steve", or "That was bad luck with the second goal Steve, why do you think the team are so unlucky". Instead of questioning his tactics, team selection and complete inability to read what's happening during a game. 

2 minutes ago, Harry said:

How can anyone now defend what is completely indefensible? I hate the idea of changing our manager but I have no idea what else we can do.

I rate Bruce as a manager but he just looks totally out of his depth and bereft of any ideas. The bit that really worries me is the total absence of any sort of Plan B coupled with his patent inability to instil any sort of confidence or backbone in the players.

I think it's unfair to say we haven't got a plan B, we're on at least plan G! 

Steve Bruce said that we wouldn't bring anyone in during the window that wouldn't strengthen us. I don't want to write out a long list of the new players and rate them against who they replaced, but I'm sure most people would agree that the team isn't stronger now than it was on December 31st. 

That doesn't mean that the players bought are bad players but that they haven't strengthened the team. The reason for this in my opinion, is that we don't set up to use the players we have to our best advantage. We swapped one weak goal keeper for another and did nothing to strengthen the centre of the defence but then set up defensively. We don't play a style that plays through the midfield despite buying a new midfield, some of whom are of questionable quality. And we sold a big bloke up front and decided to hoof it. 

At Sunderland Steve Bruce bought 30 players in 2 and a half years. The main argument for keeping him on is stability. What's stable about turning over 30 players in 2 and a half years?? Or for that matter changing the left back very game?

3 minutes ago, sne said:

Has he played as striker for us yet?

If not I'm sure Bruce will get him to do so next game.

He's in goal against Derby. 

22 minutes ago, bobzy said:

I think they probably struggle dragging Ronaldo away from the changing room mirror everyday too.  Incredibly talented but, **** me, there's a player who cares absolutely not at all about "the team".  Work ethic for himself, though?  Probably the best in the World.

I don't particularly like the fella, but he works hard for what ever his reasons are, despite being very talented. Something our lot could do a lot more of. 

I agree TRO confidence is a bit of a chicken or egg thing .

As far as sacking Steve Bruce is concerned, I'm only for it if we have a plan. We can't just sack him and then ask, what next? On balance the best thing for the club is he gets a few results and we lift the threat of relegation, then we can use the time to properly assess where we're going. My fear is he won't get the results amd we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Hopefully we have plans for both scenarios. 

22 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

He just does not strike me as a winger at all. It's hard to say what his position should be. I'd be tempted to give him a longer run as a proper number 10 and see what he can do. 

From what I've seen of him so far it seems that he prefers to play on the left with the view of cutting inside. This way he will not get closed down as quickly (picking up the ball on the left vs centrally) and can run with the ball more and then try to create. The problem is that he has been found out at this level somewhat when he does that, and doesn't appear to have the stones to step up and raise his game above the shite around him. 

I've always been a big advocate of him but am increasingly unsure about his upside and to be honest, starting to not really care, such is my malaise with this club right now. 

He's nowhere near quick enough to be a winger, in fact he slows down all of our attacking play by needing too many touches. As for cutting inside, that would be great if he had any sort of shot on him, apart from trying to curl it inside the far post. With his lack of work rate and powderpuff tackling it's hard to see where he could fit in a modern midfield. 

I'm afraid like you, I'm running out of excuses and the will to think up any new ones for him.

11 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

What kind of bonehead would agree to that sort of contract? Almost certainly not the case that we have to play him. More of a case of Bruce feeling that he has to stick with his boy since he shipped out the number 1 he inherited. 

I agree, what sort of bonehead would agree to that? Wait a minute........

1 hour ago, TRO said:

its not the coaches ......the majority now are good players.....its the gelling in to a team thats not worked yet.

It takes time and a few coming back from injury may just be the different types to help that process.

If it was just gelling TRO then surely we'd see some attempts to play a certain way and some sort of progress, even if it were slow progress. But we play different formations and chop and change players game by game. Perhaps there is a plan, but I'm afraid I can't see what it is. Talk of Richards coming back just adds to a sense of floundering desperation. It's a bit like justice, it can't just be done, it has to be seen to be done.

36 minutes ago, av1 said:

Couldn't agree more Dave. I've spent all morning trying to drill that into my 12yr old after his game today, but thats a different story. 

There are very, very few players that get to the top in this game without working hard, and those that do get away it because of world class talent, something Jack hasn't, and will never have. On the subject of world class players he would do well to look at guys like Ronaldo and Hazard. Early in their careers both were more bothered with silly stopovers than actually effecting a game. They changed their attitudes and work ethic and became world class. Jack will never be that, but a change in attitude could ensure he has a future at a decent level within the game. If he doesn't he'll end up back at the likes of Notts County. 

Generally those at the top have a great work ethic too. Apparently they have to drag Ronaldo off the training ground everyday and do you ever hear anything about Messi going out on the pop? I hope your lad enjoys his football at what ever level he reaches. Hopefully lifts the European Cup as Villa captain 

3 minutes ago, Morley_crosses_to_Withe said:

Hmm, that reminds me of a plan we had a while back of rampant spending with the hope we'd eventually be covered by Champions League revenue. 

Well yes it does sound familiar. There's nothing wrong with either plan, it's the way you go about fulfilling the plan that's crucial. I'd like to think that the Doc will continue his personal involvement and enthusiasm for considerably longer than it took his predecessor to get a tattoo on his ankle. 

Obviously the relegation issue needs putting to bed first, and that is some way off being dealt with in our current state. However if we do scrape together a few points, it will be interesting how the team performs under the greatly reduced pressure of mid table mediocrity. Whilst that isn't acceptable for a club like us with the recent levels of investment, a short period of time when we're not looking up or down may do the club as a whole the power of good.