Steve Bruce

[Guest av1]

Just now, sidcow said:

I called that as well. No idea why he suddenly thinks Onamah is a secondary striker. 

I know. Also no idea why he keeps bringing Hogan on as a lone striker. Its clear as day the kid needs a partner. The poor kid isn't a lone striker, i think the current set up is making the kid look crap, and i really don't think that is the case. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

I think we would have conceded last season. This was a very ugly victory and was crucial we got 3 points. We will have these during the seasonI think we should cut Bruce some slack over this game. 

[foreveryoung]

Bruce has not convinced me either but the wins are a positive, though I very much doubt he will play an attacking squad against Wolves which will disappoint alot of us, as I do think the team on form is more than capable of getting a goal or 2 against them.

[TrentVilla]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

It doesn't have to be....we won't face teams like this every week.....phil parkinson did a job on us aided and abetted by a shocking referree.

it should be in our plans to be able to deal better than this with teams like this.....but its part our programme to be better......its called development.

Win, 3 points.....great job, but need to be more convincing.

The point is, and I find it impossible to think an intelligent poster like you can't see this, is that it is exactly the lack of development that many including I and the poster your responded too take direct issue with. There isn't any real noticeable development in our play.

 

[TrentVilla]

41 minutes ago, TRO said:

But better teams give you more space....it wasn't good from us, but they were just spoilers.....in situations like that ,you need a good ref.....sadly we never had one.

Better teams may give you more space, they may also give you less of the ball. They will almost certainly be more capable of hurting you with the ball than Bolton or indeed the likes of Burton, Barnsley or Forest have been.

Yes the ref was poor but so was our play, lets not pretend otherwise.

[TrentVilla]

15 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Bruce has not convinced me either but the wins are a positive, though I very much doubt he will play an attacking squad against Wolves which will disappoint alot of us, as I do think the team on form is more than capable of getting a goal or 2 against them.

I don't think he should. Wolves away is exactly the sort of game we should be tight, organised and try and nick the game. I've no issue with Bruce setting us up to play like that in particular games, I take issue when he does it in what I consider to be the wrong games, Bristol away for instance.

A point at Wolves would be an excellent result, lose and the gap to the top two is pretty big again. I think not losing has to be the aim and if we can grab anything more with the few chances we get then great.

[carewjust4u]

1 minute ago, TrentVilla said:

Better teams may give you more space, they may also give you less of the ball. They will almost certainly be more capable of hurting you with the ball than Bolton or indeed the likes of Burton, Barnsley or Forest have been.

Yes the ref was poor but so was our play, lets not pretend otherwise.

I think you're looking at it the wrong way, our possession with the ball of late has been more direct..there has definitely been improvement in that department since kodja and Davis started playing together.

 

You will see players like adomah and Snodgrass exploit the space against "better teams", we've always struggled against teams that sit back and never created any openings, there has been noticeable improvement.

[romavillan]

2 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

I don't think he should. Wolves away is exactly the sort of game we should be tight, organised and try and nick the game. I've no issue with Bruce setting us up to play like that in particular games, I take issue when he does it in what I consider to be the wrong games, Bristol away for instance.

A point at Wolves would be an excellent result, lose and the gap to the top two is pretty big again. I think not losing has to be the aim and if we can grab anything more with the few chances we get then great.

Yep, there's nothing wrong with counter attacking when playing football will mean you get beat. The problem I've had with Bruce is we've only rarely looked able to play football against anyone, poor sides included. How long has the Wolves manager had in charge there? With what budget? They appear to have managed the football playing side of things, after 50 games and an expensive squad which he has spent a lot of money on, can't say the same about Bruce.

[TrentVilla]

2 minutes ago, carewjust4u said:

I think you're looking at it the wrong way, our possession with the ball of late has been more direct..there has definitely been improvement in that department since kodja and Davis started playing together.

You will see players like adomah and Snodgrass exploit the space against "better teams", we've always struggled against teams that sit back and never created any openings, there has been noticeable improvement.

I don't think I am, I just don't think we agree or will agree.

We've always been direct under Bruce and had very little possession, we aren't any more direct now than we have been before. If anything has changed it is that we've better players with the addition of Snodgrass, the return of Kodjia the discovery of Davies and Bruce coming to his senses with Adomah.

Against "better sides" I think we will struggle to keep possession of the ball, our direct play being a factor in that and we will struggle to relieve pressure or create chances.

Having better players will enhance our chances of getting a positive result playing that way but it won't address the fundamental problem with how we play under Bruce.

I just don't accept you conclusion that there is a noticeable improvement, though obviously there has been in the results. You are obviously entitled to your opinion, I simply don't share it.

[foreveryoung]

11 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

I don't think he should. Wolves away is exactly the sort of game we should be tight, organised and try and nick the game. I've no issue with Bruce setting us up to play like that in particular games, I take issue when he does it in what I consider to be the wrong games, Bristol away for instance.

A point at Wolves would be an excellent result, lose and the gap to the top two is pretty big again. I think not losing has to be the aim and if we can grab anything more with the few chances we get then great.

I realise Wolves are on form at the moment, but I don't think we can really afford to treat them like they are Chelsea or man City, We need promotion, which means we should be going out to win every game. Although I realise Bruce will not think like that either.

I agree with the last post, by the way. We are winning because we have better players, not great tactics.

Edited September 30, 2017 by foreveryoung

[TrentVilla]

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

I realise Wolves are on form at the moment, but I don't think we can really afford to treat them like they are Chelsea or man City, We need promotion, which means we should be going out to win every game. Although I realise Bruce will not think like that either.

I don't think there is anything wrong with being cautious going away to one of the two best (to date) sides in the league, if we lose we are 7 points behind them. That is a big big gap.

I think its just sensible and pragmatic to approach the game with the primary objective of not getting beat and trying to grab something more.

You don't need to go out to win every game to gain promotion.

[Vive_La_Villa]

I think Bruce will be in his element with the way he sets us up against Wolves. He is all about not getting beat and hitting on the break. 

Edited September 30, 2017 by Vive_La_Villa

[Sam3773]

I am over the moon with our recent run of results. 

I think they're a result of individual moments of greatness from Adomah, Hourihane or Snodgrass, coupled with Bruce deciding we can play 4-4-2 finally (). 

My worry is that we're winning in spite of Bruce and not because of him. These aren't world class teams we've dismantled in the last four, far from it. 

For me, Wolves will be his biggest test. Let's face it, any manager worth his weight in gold could have got a result against the last 4. We shall see. I'd love it to continue, I'm not sure it will. Maybe I'm just too used to expecting the worst. 

[peterms]

1 hour ago, carewjust4u said:

I think you need to take a moment and analyse the game properly. Bolton' s game plan was to deny us any space or openings, and we created a few key chancee, enough to win the game.

 

If you thought we'd start carving open a team with 11 men behind the ball in afraid you're expectations need a reality check, not that long ago we couldn't create anything against teams like that. That is progress.

 

Bigger will try push higher up and we will exploit the spaces left, that I am confident of.

Thanks for the advice, but I think it may be you that needs the reality check.

Bolton are the poorest team in this division.  They are even the poorest team in their own club's history.  Since they were a founder member of the Football League, that's going some.

Before playing us, they had played and lost seven games without scoring.

They have set a new record for crapness, even within the limited horizons of the town of Bolton.

We have scraped a win against them.  By a penalty which mighr not have been given.  In the final minutes,  defending deperately, we cleared a shot off the line and blocked another.

We might even have lost this.

This does not generate confidence.

[brommy]

4 minutes ago, peterms said:

Thanks for the advice, but I think it may be you that needs the reality check.

Bolton are the poorest team in this division.  They are even the poorest team in their own club's history.  Since they were a founder member of the Football League, that's going some.

Before playing us, they had played and lost seven games without scoring.

They have set a new record for crapness, even within the limited horizons of the town of Bolton.

We have scraped a win against them.  By a penalty which mighr not have been given.  In the final minutes,  defending deperately, we cleared a shot off the line and blocked another.

We might even have lost this.

This does not generate confidence.

Were you at the game?

[wilko154]

18 minutes ago, peterms said:

Thanks for the advice, but I think it may be you that needs the reality check.

Bolton are the poorest team in this division.  They are even the poorest team in their own club's history.  Since they were a founder member of the Football League, that's going some.

Before playing us, they had played and lost seven games without scoring.

They have set a new record for crapness, even within the limited horizons of the town of Bolton.

We have scraped a win against them.  By a penalty which mighr not have been given.  In the final minutes,  defending deperately, we cleared a shot off the line and blocked another.

We might even have lost this.

This does not generate confidence.

You clearly weren't at the game today.

You say 'Before playing us, they had played and lost seven games without scoring'... well know they have played and lost eight games without scoring.

They were a well set up team who came to Villa Park with a game plan, unfortunately their game plan was aided by the referee's inability to issue yellow cards early on in the game. We had more possession but found it hard at times to break down Bolton with 10 men behind the ball, but we still came away with 3 points in spite of this.

I'm pretty certain a 4th win in a row and 8 unbeaten games is generating a fair amount of confidence at the moment.

Just because we are Aston Villa doesn't give us the divine right to beat teams at the bottom of the table by 4 or 5 goals.

[carewjust4u]

31 minutes ago, brommy said:

Were you at the game?

My thoughts exactly, people seem to see what they want to.

If we best wolves, will people admit there has been noticeable improvement? 

[Tommo_b]

1 minute ago, carewjust4u said:

My thoughts exactly, people seem to see what they want to.

If we best wolves, will people admit there has been noticeable improvement? 

No they will have something to beat the manager with of that I have no doubt.

[Villarocker]

I think that Bruce could really get a lot of doubters on-side if he sends an attack-minded team to Wolves and wins the game. Im not sure that he will though and, if that backfires, he will undoubtedly come in for some criticism.

We've had a great September Brucie, please keep it going!

[srsmithusa]

He started a good side.  10

he had them on the front foot first half 10

he pulled them back more cautiously second half.   2

he swapped hogan for kodjia.  10

he simultaneously swapped onomatopoeia for Davis making us more defensive and hogan without support to attack.   2. Plus minus 7 because it nullified the 10 from the first sub

total.  6

Edited September 30, 2017 by srsmithusa
just noticed the autocorrect on Josh, think I'll just leave it.