A'Villan

Interesting decision he made earlier today. He could have played in the two to his left, chose to hold it up and take a long distance shot. Forced a save and would not be saying this had he scored, but he probably should've played in one of his teammates.

Attitude and determination were peaking today. That will come again in the final, Fulham, beware.

They would be feeling positive and confident, after their run of form. That write up is underestimating us in my view. Sure, Grealish is our best player, but if they think he is all that makes us competitive, I'll assume they are in for a rude shock.

I'll take your word for it. I think that would be naive of them and a detriment to their game plan. Any good coach knows the strengths and weaknesses of their opponent. A fit and firing Kodjia could be the difference.

Had a real energy about him when he came on today. We could use that kind of edge against Fulham. Someone who can take the game and own it.

The expression of our fears, doubts, worries and anxieties surrounding promotion and our football have been levelled at Bruce. As you might expect. I would like to say thank you to Steve Bruce for his efforts at this club and for keeping the promotion door open for an entire season. Ultimately, whether you take the time to acknowledge it or not, he's been an asset to this club, this season. Our club might just taste promotion success under his guidance.

He's a class above. Yet another shot easily good enough to be rewarded with a goal. How about those passes? Adama might be pacey and exciting, but Jack was more imposing and influential in this fixture.

Watched the entire game without any sound. In a quiet room at 5am by yourself there really aren't too many distractions, other than perhaps your own emotions. My thoughts are that we played relatively well. Nullified their options well and put pressure on the ball constantly. Had the better chances. Bring on Fulham.

I'm only really concerned when Adama gets on the ball.

Kodjia looks up for it.

Oh Grealish! They are always so close!

Decent bit of attack there. Short lived but it's good to see.

Grealish has played him in on a few occasions with perfect weight of pass, which is becoming his trademark. Adomah's doing okay. Shotton should be on a yellow for bringing Adomah down, that move had potential.

Agreed. Based on this I think it was a relatively successful first half. We had a period of being all over them. Few more chances would've been nice.

How does Shotton get away without a yellow for his foul but Hutton gets one for that?!

I don't know if it will have fatigue consequences in the 2nd half, but it seems like our intensity is higher than Middlesbrough's. Love it.

It was just an observation at the time. Well said.

Bree is looking out of place in a Villa side who are all over our opposition

Ironically, Bruce has led us to a position where by we might attract the kind of manager we want to replace him with.

You are aware Chelsea wanted him to stay on as a player, this season? He'll be wily where he lacks stamina imo. Good for another year. Snodgrass is 30, consistent in the premiership but never spectacular, unless we are to invest heavily in every position, we will need to retain some of our squad from this season. West Ham and Snodgrass are done and as far as I'm aware they have foregone a considerable portion of his worth by leaving the situation untenable. Both have excellent attitudes and a lot of experience. The type I would like to see around the club, for culture as much if not more than ability.

I'd take Rodgers in a heartbeat.

To quote an Aussie, my sentiments towards the rest of our campaign. "For anyone on the downside of advantage relying purely on courage, it's possible." We have to face our challenges head on and have faith in our strengths, to fear any opponent nullifies our own game by limiting our belief in our own abilities. We are less likely to win automatic promotion or the playoffs with a philosophy rendered by fears of our opposition.

In an on the fence way, this is similar to my thoughts on Bruce. There are reasons for both confidence and doubt. I like what @villabromsgrove has stated above, and agree for the most part. I don't think we are the best coached team going around, or to put it another way, we are a team of superstars rather than a superstar team in this division. You simply cannot deny the quality of playing staff at Bruce's disposal, he has the best of the best for this division. I mean we have a bench of players who have been elite in the championship for years. Defence is the only section where that is disputable. We even have players who have dominated the division who can't get on the bench, albeit for disciplinary reasons, we have the option of playing him, we simply don't need to. So, why am I on the fence, instead of wanting Bruce out? It has been my stance without much fluctuation since the start of this season. Bruce would have enough nous to get us through to a playoff position and perhaps, if promoted, survival in the Premier League. There is also the fact that due to our decline, I'm not sure the reality of how far we have fallen hits home to some of Bruce's critics, we are simply not in a position where by we attract someone guaranteed to provide a more adept approach than Bruce. There are pros and cons with all managers. Look at the criticism Mourinho gets for his treatment of others and tactical approach, or Guardiola of recent for capitulating against Liverpool and having a questionable approach against Klopp's sides. Who the bloody hell else do you want them to appoint? Wenger? Oh that's right Arsenal are a shambles! So to get back on point, I think some are taking the good work done by Bruce for granted. He has turned the ship around where a champions league winning manager couldn't. The players that a different manager might do better with, might not be here if it weren't for Bruce (I think we would of attracted similar quality in any case). I would love for us to appoint the next well rounded genius football coach but I fail to see who would be doing such a better job and why, despite Bruce's obvious flaws and if we're not promoted, shortcomings.

Apologies for not making more effort to engage a discussion or to put forward a coherent and educating post. This post will be brief and I encourage anyone of interest to do their own research. What I post is official and factual, with the exception of my opinion on 9/11 and whether or not Fred Hampton was in fact a genius by IQ standards. Again, I recommend you do your own research. MK-ULTRA: A CIA Program started in April 1953 which employed mind control experiments and tactics on unwilling civilians in order to enhance their interrogation powers and god knows what else. At times illegal, the program included spiking the drinks of unknowing civilians with LSD and observing them in CIA run houses. In one case a civilian was administered LSD for 174 days straight. As one CIA agent put it, "people who could not fight back were targeted". Drug addicts, sex workers, prisoners and mental patients. Talk about unethical, a reoccuring theme in the three topics I have mentioned. The Northwood Documents: Was a proposal for the U.S government to commit terrorist acts on it's own people and then blame it on Cuba in order to gain support for a war with Cuba. The C.I.A would be responsible for carrying out the terrorist attacks. And people think it beyond the U.S.A to be involved in 9/11. COINTELPRO: From wikipedia, "COINTELPRO (an acronym for COunter INTELligence PROgram) was a series of covert, and at times illegal,[1][2] projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations." Beginning in 1969, leaders of the Black Panther Party were targeted by the COINTELPRO and "neutralized" by being murdered, assassinated, imprisoned, publicly humiliated or falsely charged with crimes. Fred Hampton is one case in point. A genius who was assassinated at age 21 by the FBI over fears about his growing influence. From memory it took nearly 20 years for 'justice' to be served in regards to his assassination. Hampton was an educator, organiser and fed the homeless. He spoke about a better quality of life for all. I would encourage anyone to research Fred Hampton above anything else mentioned in this post, as he is a positive light and the rest is what is wrong with the world.

If this was directed at my post please use google and do some research on what I mentioned. You will have your own conclusions.