DaveAV1

To be honest I don't think Baker's distribution has ever been very high in his list of attributes. Defensively he's pretty decent, but picking a pass is not the reason he's on the pitch regardless of what's going on in front of him.

I accept that teams that lack confidence do tend to go for the hoof. Movement isn't great either, but Hogan has been making great runs so we need to get it to the players who can find him, the principle one being Lansbury who is playing too deep because he didn't strengthen at DM. Either way hoofing is A problem and I suppose unless we're at BMH watching training we don't know who the fault lies with.

I don't entirely disagree with that TRO, but we could have bought DM and CM and perhaps done without Thor. I know this may not be popular but leaving Westwood at the club for a little longer would have at least left some familiarity in midfield. At Spurs I agree Johnstone looked pretty competent, but such an inexperienced GK is always a risk. Buying a new midfield and not involving them in the game has nothing to do with gelling and is now contributing to Hogan's ineffectiveness as he just doesn't get the ball. The poor bloke will probably crack open a bottle of bubbly when he gets a decent pass! Gestede was more suited to hoof ball. While im at it, why did he play Taylor when we needed wing backs and then bring Amavi back into a back 4. Surely despite Amavi's recent defensive woes he was more suited to the Ipswich game?

Ah sorry JV. I must read people's quotes properly before I put my oar in. I blame the stress!

What has surprised me most about Steve Bruce are his signings in the January window. Don't get me wrong, I like almost all of them. But I would have thought that a manager with his experience and style would have at first addressed things at the back. At GK he replaced inexperience with inexperience which was baffling to be polite. Then at central defence he did nothing. We've been relatively lucky with injuries in those positions, but if Baker and/or Chester are out for a while God help us. Finally we seem a much more solid team with a minder in front of the defence i.e. Jedinak. Surely he must have realised that a guy of his age wouldn't be able to play an entire half season and that he was only average anyway. but again he did nothing. He vastly improved the midfield but then decided to bypass them with hoof football. He then moans about us not doing the basics, which is exactly what he had failed to do. He has essentially done what our managers did in the previous two transfer windows and acted like a kid in a sweet shop.

Imagine facing a team with him and Hourihane pulling the strings in midfield with Hogan and Kodjia upfront. The thought scares the living daylights out of me. If only we had players like that..........

Isn't that just bringing a new man in but paying Bruce at the same time to do nothing? I do like the AVB idea, for all the same obvious immature reasons

I agree, if Bruce could show some sign of life then keeping him to the end of the season would be ok. He just seems like he's flailing around without any plan. Equally the club must have a plan when (if) they do replace him. The upper management can't just flail around either. If they have a plan and the right man is available now, then I'd pull the trigger.

I can see both sides of the argument, although I favour a change, if it comes with a well thought out plan. I am struggling though to understand what Bruce has done since he's been here to "deserve" a chance?

A bit like if you want to make a small fortune from owning a football club, start with a large fortune!

Liberte, Egalite, Stabilite! It's the famous French motto. The kind of thing they shout out just before important battles, like Agincourt, Waterloo and Trafalgar. Never did them any good either.

We'd be a bigger laughing stock if we were in 3 divisions in 3 years. The desire for stability I understand, but not at all costs. Appoint Mourinho and let 'em laugh!

He backed RDM with a lot of cash. I hadn't heard of any statement that he needed to be in the top 6 early on but surely the point was he hadn't managed to get us into the top 18. I don't think he's come out and widely slated players, although he had a dig at Gabby, which seems to have worked, attitude wise at least. Lerner quite definitely didn't appoint experienced people anywhere and so he's had to start building a proper structure from scratch and quickly. Perhaps it isn't rocket science, but the New York lawyer didn't manage to do it. As are many things we view from the outside, there's more to it than meets the eye. You can't be suggesting that Keith Wyness isn't experienced. Most people accepted that even if Bruce wasn't the dream appointment for them, he was a safe pair of hands. Certainly nobody predicted that we'd see this shocking collapse over the last couple of months. I'm not saying he hasn't made mistakes, but show me the man who never made a mistake and I'll show you a man that never did anything. I'm sure he would agree with you that the buck stops with him, but short of pulling his boots on he's done all he can up to this point. It's a very steep learning curve, I'm sure he'll learn quickly.

We can talk all day and night about JG's strengths and weaknesses, but ultimately the one thing that concerns me most, is that I've never seen the lad bust a gut. I want him to succeed, I've defended him in many an argument, but without hard work no player ever fulfills their potential. I watched the first half of Bournmouth v Man Citeh last night, and the thing that stood out for me was the way Bournmouth worked so hard and in every position. They played for each other and everyone put in maximum effort. Citeh had a little more quality but Bournmouth were excellent. I can't remember the last time I saw a Villa team work like that, let alone Jack Grealish.

Steve Bruce said when he was appointed, something along the lines, "I've been waiting for this chance for 20 years". That should have told us all we need to know. In 20 years the only big club that has appointed him is us, and even that was once we had been relegated to the Championship. Whoever we appoint next both the club and the manager have to have a structured plan. Not just enthusiasm, hope and a pile of money. I'm not knocking the Doc at all, he's a breath of fresh air, but we need to get things right and quickly. The new man should be told that there will be some money for a goalkeeper and a centre half, but that's it, work with what you've got. If there are other aspects of the squad he wants to change than he has to look to the youth team or generate cash from sales. You know like a proper manager does. Remember the Glacticos at Real Madrid a few years back. They bought every superstar they could get their hands on. On paper an incredible squad, but on the pitch they weren't a team and achieved, what was for them, very little. Comparisons, although at a completely different level, can be seen with with our squad right now.

I can't fault your opinion there mate.

I think you'll find Harry Redknapp is a complete turd.

We're not just any struggling Championship side, we're the mighty Aston Villa! Someday it will turn around and the man who does it can fulfill all his and our dreams. We just need someone who believes it and has the tools to do it.

Yeah him too!

And RMD!!

He might if they don't come up and we can sell him his very own Aston Villa project. I was keen on him before Bruce, but to be fair my knowledge of him has only been gleaned from t'interweb. What I have found to be the most disappointing and frustrating aspects of this season though, has been the complete lack of competence and basics we have shown on the pitch. Whilst desirable, modern and forward thinking football shouldn't be essential in this division. We're not trying to compete with the top of the Premier League. With the amount we've spent a decent steady manager who can motivate the players, should have us competing for a play off place not nervously looking over our shoulders. To be fair, that's what I thought we were getting with Bruce!

I'd say he was the most improved player, but he had set the benchmark a little low. I think he's a decent midfielder for a couple of million in an area where we were short. He does appear to lack any pace though.

"Belongingness", now there's a fine word. Give The Oxford English Dictionary a call! You've got to love The Doc

When Southampton sacked Nigel Adkins and brought in Pocettino, I was surprised and thought they were mad. They were above the relegation places, if not by much, and I thought that the disruption would kill them. I was also quite pleased that they'd made this "terrible" mistake as we were of course in the mix too. My point is, just sacking the manager with no game plan just to go through the same cycle is pointless. However if we have a proper plan, with someone in mind who can fulfill that plan, then the time is always right. Southampton were in the Prem and at the time doing as well as anyone had expected. We are in the Championship and doing considerably worse than anyone expected. If we have a plan and the right guy get it done!

Get him in then, and make Eastie head of coaching recruitment