tomav84

such a roll of the dice though. Could you imagine the backlash if we hired another remi garde and it didnt work out? At least a lot of the folks saying bruce out currently probably agreed it was the logical choice in the first place. I'm sure for every wagner or nuno there are plenty of gambles that didnt work out. equally it might just be that those clubs just suit them. ranieri classic example...sometimes it just clicks i suspect that there is a manager out there that can do a better job than bruce, but i'm bruce in until that's proven!

Not here specifically, but i see where they're coming from cause it was the case with the likes of veretout and gil

then the defeats previously are more down to the players than him? sorry, you can't have it both ways

think palace had better stats in de boer's last game. there's only 1 stat that matters for me every time

the funny thing is, i am yet to meet in person a villa fan that wants him gone! me and all my pals just cant see anyone better that we could realistically get and who we genuinely think would improve us.

so obviously moyes, that's worth a tenner for sure

as palace have proven, one result doesnt change the manager's future either way. someone leaked the hodgson story to the press that's why you rarely hear of it, but i would be amazed if the board havent at least started a shortlist. de boer would have been sacked eventually (maybe not the next day) but in a week or 2 even if they beat burnley 5-0 sunday in keeping with the current theme of the thread, 3 points every time, and 3 more saturday, and the one after that etc etc etc...no matter who is in charge, or who is on the pitch.

not a chance, and howe's only attempt at managing a club other than bournemouth did not end well. i live in the area and the guy has a job for life even if they go down (the exception being if they suddenly looked like going down to league one maybe)

This playing style is something that I'm cynical about. Who has decided on what the style should be and is it a style proven to be effective? Also, will the same style of play beat every team in the league? No, it won't...you have to adjust based on the opposition. Perhaps I'm confusing style with tactics but i interpret 'style' to be something along the lines of the Barca style under a couple of different managers (not sure how they play now cause it's been a while since i watched a game) but they had the players to execute this style. The opposition knew exactly what they were going to do, they were just powerless to stop it cause the lads executing this were just too damn good. For example, the defence would be surrounded by a mob of opposition attackers they would be like 'not to worry' - pass, pass, pass and danger was quickly turned to attack. As long as we have the likes of Hutton in the team (who i like btw, before I'm mistaken for scapegoating the bloke) then aside from screaming 'Villa Engine' at them from the sidelines at the top of your voice i really cant see anything changing and the ball will continue to be hoofed up field as hard as they can. And what if we did sack Bruce, and a good managerial candidate is turned away cause he doesn't agree with this style? And Moyes is appointed just because he does? Who makes the decision to change the style? Its coming across as team management from the boardroom to me...perhaps i've misinterpreted it. I like the concept - but for me it's an idea better suited to teams like Stoke, Southampton, or Everton - established premiership teams with no real danger of going down who need a plan to take them to the next level.

I doubt...he was crap at burnley and the fans were glad to see the back of him. he'll do well at bournemouth and bournemouth only in my opinon

i remember those 3 games a few years ago when we beat newcastle 4-0, derby 6-0 then blues 5-1...not that long ago ;-)

This post is not meant as a dig to anyone, but just out of interest...what would it take for those firmly with two feet in the 'Bruce out' camp to switch to 'Bruce in'? Whilst i accept that one performance shouldn't drastically change an opinion, for better or worse, lets say that we go to Bristol and turn them over comprehensively, and follow it up with some impressive performances and results, how many would it take for opinions to change? I'm sure I've seen posts saying they would still want him out if he took us up as he isn't the right man to keep us there, which to me sounds odd...i think if you have been promoted, you deserve the right to play/manage in your new division (see Bournemouth, who had much the same team out when they played us in their first game). FWIW, I was leaning towards 'out' after the Cardiff game but back on the fence now after Norwich...

you also didnt mention mckormack. we have spent more on players than several premiership teams and are in the bottom 3 of the championship after scraping a mid table finish last season. the return on investment so far has been shocking

i disagree with parts of this...the best form of defence, is defence. its not just the 3 conceded he should focus on, but the 3 or 4 others that cardiff could and should have got. i counted minimum 3 clear cut chances that 1/2 a foot either side of johnstone would have gone in. 6-0 would not have flattered them. yes going forward we were non existent and failed to play to hogan and gabby strengths (which oddly at times we did vs hull) but need to address the shambles of a defence that we saw saturday.

would we be even discussing dean smith if he wasn't a villa fan? they've had a poor start and wasn't overly convinced about them last season moyes no, just no... trouble seems to follow pearson around little has been out of the game too long terry inexperienced if we cant get the chap from fulham, i say we stick with bruce

it's a romantic notion, but he's been out of the game too long

agree on giving the benefit of the doubt, in the air he looked good. but i fear he will have quick attackers/midfielders being told to run at him. i can see last night being the first of a few pens/goals he'll concede this season. kinda hoping we don't sell elphick now

Anyone have any update on the germany games? are they still going ahead?

quick, close the thread!

oh there will be loads of grasshoppers if that's the case...think the technical term is a swarm?

i naively thought that we would actually take the full 8000 available for this one...still fantastic support once again.

Indeed - i think the perception of us bruce backers is that our support is indefinite. we want him to start next season as manager and see how he gets on

yep mine too

i dont...i thought the pair of them were crap, and had roles to play in the worst ever season in villa history where all the wrong records were broken at times last season there were numerous calls to bring on veretout, only for us to remember why he never plays.

We would all want both, but given the choice it's win every time. Was I entertained on Saturday? No, but did i go home happy, yes! Had i been entertained but we had lost/drawn i would have been as miserable as i have been post game for much of the season, irrespective of how we played...it's no consolation to me. I'm sure SB feels the same way, after all, managers are judged on results...ask RDM - we were unlucky in many of those draws but he got the chop