Steve Bruce

[mykeyb]

Doesn't have a clue how to set up a team, and get the best out of the players he bought in Jan, but now wants another 3 or 4 quality signings.................There is a reason for that. It's the only thing he knows, keep throwing mud at a wall and eventually enough will stick.

Have a good look at his time at Sunderland, the similarities are very, very worrying.

[Eastie]

Garry monk is out of contract at Leeds after next week - whether he'd be the answer who knows - I'd be inclined maybe to give Bruce the start of the season to prove himself right but if xia did act now I'd totally see his reasons and think Bruce needs to ask himself serious questions .

[mykeyb]

I have posted this a few months ago.  Alarm bells ringing anyone!!!!!

[Eastie]

Just now, mykeyb said:

I have posted this a few months ago.  Alarm bells ringing anyone!!!!!

Interesting read mate - very interesting indeed . 

[DaveAV1]

The main reason I sat on the fence regarding SB staying or going, was that I felt appointing a new manager, no matter who it is, is always a risk. However I'm now of the opinion that the greater risk is in keeping him. The club must surely be covering all bases and looking at alternatives. Now is the time when there will be the most managers available and the time to explore plenty of options. Half a dozen games into the season the likelihood is that there will be considerably less managers available and would probably mean having to persuade a manager to jump ship after he's done his preseason and committed himself to his existing club. And to be honest I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with the character of a man who would walk away from all the promises he's made to his employers and to his squad.

Letting him start next season seriously reduces our options. And let's face it lads and lasses, in out heart of hearts, few of us believe anything is going to significantly change next season with Steve Bruce. 

[kurtsimonw]

I'm fine with him. He's won a bunch of games with some pretty poor players and usually lost games when missing key pieces of late. 

The man that matters clearly rates Bruce, and thank God for that. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Bruce has got me feeling outish again ffs.

I saw comments from Redknapp saying he spoke to Bruce, and he is not happy, players are playing for their futures etc.

My fear is that we will see the same rerun of getting rid of good players again because we have a manager who doesn't know how to use them.

What a shitty conundrum.

The club has a big decision to make, stability and loyalty aside they need to have a serious look at the situation.

What do they want, to be seen as a "loyal, family" club and run the risk of getting stuck down here?

Or installing long term ethos.

Dunno.

Or this could all just be emotions of another yet shite performance and cooler heads will prevail.

Might realise we are just missing ingredients.

 

Edited April 29, 2017 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[andym]

Steve Bruce after losing to Norwich on 13th December

"I can accept getting beat, what I can't accept is players not putting their boots on, not turning up.

"We did not do enough with the ball or without it and we got exactly what we deserved from the game - nothing. I can't remember a chance, I can't remember a cross going into their box, and the number of times we gave the ball away was totally unacceptable. You have got to play at a certain level if you want to play for Aston Villa and they didn't come anywhere near to reaching that."

Steve Bruce tonight

“A big club like ours, to have four wins away from home is nowhere near good enough,

“Too many times I’ve seen us play the way we did today where we haven’t done enough in every department.

“We just don’t do enough, we don’t compete, we don’t take part in the game enough."

 

Four months on and hes still saying the same things. How about working to fix them?

 

 

[Eastie]

12 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Bruce has got me feeling outish again ffs.

I saw comments from Redknapp saying he spoke to Bruce, and he is not happy, players are playing for their futures etc.

My fear is that we will see the same rerun of getting rid of good players again because we have a manager who doesn't know how to use them.

What a shitty conundrum.

The club has a big decision to make, stability and loyalty aside they need to have a serious look at the situation.

What do they want, to be seen as a "loyal, family" club and run the risk of getting stuck down here?

Or installing long term ethos.

Dunno.

Or this could all just be emotions of another yet shite performance and cooler heads will prevail.

Might realise we are just missing ingredients.

 

Similar here too mate , my head says give him the start of the season but my heart says he's not going to sort things - I was right behind him after seeing his transfer dealings in January but they have played like total strangers and I just don't see the improvement now -  am not screaming for his head but I'm no longer coming out in support of him - I'm open minded as to what happens from here and would back xia whatever he feels right but I'm sure Bruce will be made aware the recent results and performances will cost him his job should he continue to be unable to improve.

[Eastie]

36 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

I have posted this a few months ago.  Alarm bells ringing anyone!!!!!

The main stand out for me in this article is that he doesn't take coaching and calderwood confirmed this also when he said the incentive here was he would be taking the coaching - since calderwood arrived we have got worse in my opinion and Bruce could do worse than look at Mike phelan who coached the players at hull and man united and seems a lot more attack minded than calderwood and Bruce .

Bruce had never worked with calderwood before and something isn't right with the coaching set up there .

Edited April 29, 2017 by Eastie

[Demitri_C]

1 hour ago, pacbuddies said:

Why are people saying give him 5 games next season? So if he screws up, which he most likely will, a new manager comes in with no pre season and none of his own players and he is expected to turn us around. Sack Bruce now and take some time out to scour the world and get a new manager in with a pre season and chance to buy his own players.

Because there is no reason to sack him now. He knows next season we the fans, the owner and CEO will not accept another season like this.

5 games into season would show he hasn't managed to transform the squad when with a pre season

[GrassyNoel]

I was in favour of pre-season and further additions...

...but on the other hand we could end up in the same poisition as this season where we effectively give all other teams a massive head start before acting.

I'm so confused right now. 

[terrytini]

Lansbury doesn't need coaching to regularly cross the halfway line and make penetrating runs beyond the front man, he's done it all his career.

He needs permission.

Repeat for Hourihane.

Single biggest problem.

We don't play enough intelligent footballers at the same time - particularly but not only Away - and those we do play are AS CLEAR AS DAY instructed that their first and overriding priority is defensive.

And this has been the case since he arrived.

IMO so concerned about our defensive brittleness for three years and under RDM he has simply gone way too far the other way

January showed it. Three at the back - two different stabs - shows it. Lansbury and Hourihane show it. Always having a sitting midfielder shows it. Subs show it. Stats show it. Eyes show it. Fans see it.

Is he so intimidated by the job he is simply afraid to try some adventurism ?

Or so certain we needed to shore up he thinks it's worth it ?

Or just useless ?

I can't accept the latter so it must be one of the other two.

As a minimum I trust/ hope Wyness and Tony are asking him  these questions. Shame the press don't.

[pacbuddies]

5 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Because there is no reason to sack him now. He knows next season we the fans, the owner and CEO will not accept another season like this.

5 games into season would show he hasn't managed to transform the squad when with a pre season

5 games into next season is 5 games too late. Xia has to wake up and realise that his 2 managerial appointments to date have been absolute failures (remind you of a former owner?). How many times over the last few seasons have we changed manager mid season? Bruce has proven that he is incapable of being any better (look at his record at Sunderland). The time to sack him is now not when he has screwed up next season for us as well.

[GrassyNoel]

2 minutes ago, pacbuddies said:

5 games into next season is 5 games too late. Xia has to wake up and realise that his 2 managerial appointments to date have been absolute failures (remind you of a former owner?). How many times over the last few seasons have we changed manager mid season? Bruce has proven that he is incapable of being any better (look at his record at Sunderland). The time to sack him is now not when he has screwed up next season for us as well.

This is how I feel tonight. To be honest, after 5 games, even if we were on 15 points and no goals against, if the football was as bad as it has been I'd probably still be unhappy - it'd feel like the wheels could come off at any point. I want us to swagger out of this league because it's beneath us. Newcastle have given me that feeling this season. And yes, arrogant as it may sound, I do think it's beneath us. 

[turvontour]

I'm really struggling to see how we're going to make the transformation needed to get us up around the automatics next season under Bruce.

A transformation in energy, urgency, quality, consistency etc etc.

Simply, we need another 30-35 goals from somewhere.

[Junxs]

What annoys me, anyone who has watched Villa over the last few seasons knows that one of our biggest problems is using Hutton as the creative player.

He's solid defensively but terrible going forward, again today every chance we would put the ball out wide right to him. He would then either give it away, fail to control it or just get tackled. Why does Bruce give Hutton the licence to go forward so much, why not get him to sit inside a tad and let one of the midfielders go forward rather than getting them all to sit back watching and covering for Hutton.. You could rewind time 4 years and we'd have the same issue.

It's very clear that all the midfielders have been instructed not to venture too far forward. Which is pathetic considering theres nothing left to play for and that we should be dominating teams with the squad we have regardless. We are Aston Villa in the 2nd tier, our tactics shouldn't be defend and try to nick games like we are the under dogs in every match.

 

[BigAl]

Changing another manager after 6 months isn't the answer ,performances have been poor and results mixed but  he needs to be given pre season and another window to judge him he has sorted the defence and we needed to start somewhere and we are a work in progress  .I realise we have spent a lot of money  and we have to improve we won't go up the way we have being but we have to give him a chance to get it right .

[thabucks]

2 hours ago, dounavilla said:

The problem is if we were to dispose of Bruce, who to get as a replacement

If he goes then it will be Moyes given the fact Round has appointed mostly people he has worked with before. Wyness factor also. 

Here is a list of out of work managers. 

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/trainer/verfuegbaretrainer/statistik

Blanc, De Boer or Mancini for me  

Joking aside the ship has been steadied now is the time to build and push on. Bruce isn't the answer. 

Edited April 29, 2017 by thabucks

[srsmithusa]

I tried to be patient with him.  I really did.  I was calling for his removal in February but a string of good results bought him time from me.  I have tried being patient, hoping that while his way of changing the culture was very different from mine, it might be working.  It's not.  Let him finish the season.  Then give somebody else the pre-season and a transfer window to really fix the culture that is defeating us.  I don't think the club will change managers between now and pre-season, but I think we should.