Steve Bruce

[Villarocker]

12 hours ago, TRO said:

Well, most people do not influence me, one way or the other.

Who do you think should have been on the bench today then, instead of who.

we have just seen a window close and we have no wiggle room with FFP, so under the circumstances, i think the club has done well.

I think the team is short of players who are comfortable running with the ball....Hutton, Jack, Snoddy are exceptions, but we need more.

However, we have just won 6 on the spin against teams who equally want to beat us....for the first time since Graham Taylors days.

is it not a time to be positive about what we do, do well.....because, there must be something.

.....and i do think managers affect games, usually by what they do in the week.......but perhaps not as much as you do, particularly when the game is in motion.......I happen to think the players have more of a say when the whistle blows.

 

 

 

I agree with most of that TRO. The main part being time to enjoy the results now.

Earlier in the season I, as much as anyone, was critical of the style of play from us. I thought it wouldn't be good enough to get enough victories to get us out of this league but, up until now I have been proved wrong!

I do think, overall, our performances have improved and that seems to have happened since Agnew came in, whether coincidence or not, it doesn't matter. Bruce is manager and deserves a lot of credit for turning the results around and getting us to where we are now. 

I think we are now so close to getting there that we all need to forget about performance and just concentrate on the result because that is all that matters right now. We slagged performances off earlier in the season and questioned logic but it hasn't stopped us getting where we are. Time to move on from that and just focus on enjoying what is now turning out to being a very good season for the club. 

I really hope that I am in this thread at the end of the season apologising for criticising Bruce and thanking him for taking this club back to where it belongs 

Edited February 4, 2018 by villarocker

[AvfcRigo82]

He will always be thanked if he achieves promotion, that's a given.

I just do not feel he would be the manager to take us forward beyond that point and wouldn't want to see the hard work ruined by fighting avoiding relegation or thereabouts a year or so later.

[NurembergVillan]

10 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

It would be incredibly harsh if we Win this league yes, it looks like it will be going to the wire for 2nd though. At this level of management I take my hat off to him however the next level, I remain very very doubtful he would get away with his tactics and setups in the premier league in this day and age of the modern game.

[sne]

Happy days now!

From what I've seen (and read) we've pretty much transformed the way we play compared to last season and the start of this one. And as a result our results are much better.

I work weekends so I'm not able to see most games on Saturday's so can't really have a detailed opinion but from what I gather much of what I and many others have been critical about has now been addressed.

Pretty amazing the turnaround comparing this January/February period to the one last year.

We've gone from 2 point out of 27 last season to 18 out of 21 this season.

Really shows how appalling last year was, but mostly it shows how well we are doing this season.

Last season we scored 47 goals, this season we've already scored 46.

Unlike last season I feel pretty confident that we won't see a collapse and that we are where we are in the table on merit and where we should be because we are that good.

ATM it's all looking like we all were hoping it would. I had strong doubts but so far we are where we should be.

Well almost, just gotta pass Derby. I think we will.

[NurembergVillan]

22 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

He will always be thanked if he achieves promotion, that's a given.

I just do not feel he would be the manager to take us forward beyond that point and wouldn't want to see the hard work ruined by fighting avoiding relegation or thereabouts a year or so later.

Assuming we get promoted this season, what do you see as being realistic next season?

I think whoever is in charge, we'll do well to finish inside the top 12.

[DaveAV1]

6 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said:

Assuming we get promoted this season, what do you see as being realistic next season?

I think whoever is in charge, we'll do well to finish inside the top 12.

That’s a hard one to answer, regardless of who the team is. In the Premiership at the moment there are only 3 points difference between 11th and 19th. 16th to 19th are all on 24 points and bottom placed WBA aren’t exactly cast adrift on 20 points. There’s a huge difference between the top 6 and everyone else. Over a season a couple of points could be the difference in being top half and relegated. 

So ultimately aiming for top half, whilst sounding realistic, may almost leave you playing Russian roulette with relegation. Aiming for top 6 or making top 6 a top 7 is what is necessary to to be comfortable. Then we can have the discussion about how we failed to qualify for Europe  .

[praisedmambo]

40 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said:

It's such a beautiful goal. All the midfielders and attackers involved (presuming it was bjarnasson who did the first pass. That has to be champ goal of the month. 

[praisedmambo]

That pass by Snodgrass was lovely.

[NurembergVillan]

7 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

That’s a hard one to answer, regardless of who the team is. In the Premiership at the moment there are only 3 points difference between 11th and 19th. 16th to 19th are all on 24 points and bottom placed WBA aren’t exactly cast adrift on 20 points. There’s a huge difference between the top 6 and everyone else. Over a season a couple of points could be the difference in being top half and relegated. 

So ultimately aiming for top half, whilst sounding realistic, may almost leave you playing Russian roulette with relegation. Aiming for top 6 or making top 6 a top 7 is what is necessary to to be comfortable. Then we can have the discussion about how we failed to qualify for Europe  .

I agree with the first part.  My POV is that you're either Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs or Chelsea, or you're in a relegation battle.  It's the nature of that league these days.

Unless Dr X has got £500m burning a hole in his pocket - and even then whoever is manager has to spend it well, and get those players to gel into a team - we'll be doing very well to not be fighting relegation for the first couple of years.

Look at the money Everton have spent, the managers they have/had, the squad they've got, and they're absolutely miles off the pace for top 6.  Leicester are the only team outside the top 6 with a positive goal difference, and even that is only +3.

And this all contributes towards why I think it would be folly to sack Bruce if he gets us up.  There's a huge gulf between top 6 and everyone else.

[striker]

47 minutes ago, NurembergVillan said:

Assuming we get promoted this season, what do you see as being realistic next season?

I think whoever is in charge, we'll do well to finish inside the top 12.

I know you weren’t addressing this question to me but it is a very good question nonetheless.

Being realistic avoiding relegation in the first season back in the Premiership should be the target with maybe a top 10 finish in the second season. Then the financial clout should be there to try and break into the top six with sixth being the optimum target.

After that who knows but if Bruce does achieve promotion with Villa this season then he should be given the chance to keep Villa there.

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 hour ago, sne said:

From what I've seen (and read) we've pretty much transformed the way we play compared to last season and the start of this one. And as a result our results are much better.

The key difference is when we have the ball we are moving it a lot quicker and players like Grealish and Snodgrass are giving us that bit of spark and creativity to break down defences.  We also have no obvious weakness in any positions. 

We do still tend to let the opposition have the ball a lot and have heart in mouth moments whenever a cross is close to the keeper. 

But in the main the team looks very confident and solid. 

[Dr_Pangloss]

The first goal was some truly fantastic football. Our improved performances all hinge on the signing of Agnew, the signing of the season in many ways and it was Bruce who pushed for it. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

Regarding whether Bruce deserves a chance to manage us in the Premier League should be based on whether the club feel he is good enough to manage at that level.

If it was purely down to him deserving it because he got us there then wouldn't that mean the whole team deserves a chance to play there too? 

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 minute ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

The first goal was some truly fantastic football. Our improved performances all hinge on the signing of Agnew, the signing of the season in many ways and it was Bruce who pushed for it. 

The one touch passing and movement has massively improved. 

[Daweii]

7 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

The one touch passing and movement has massively improved. 

We're now playing a brand of football that the opposition struggle to deal with.

We can play that one touch passing, but we're also hoofball experts so combining both when the situation calls for it makes us very random and hard to predict.

We could spend 20 minutes doing one touch and when they think we're going to pass it out from the back we hoof it forward into space instead.

Variety is important, it's something the best teams possess as being predictable is any teams biggest weakness. 

[TRO]

6 hours ago, villarocker said:

I agree with most of that TRO. The main part being time to enjoy the results now.

Earlier in the season I, as much as anyone, was critical of the style of play from us. I thought it wouldn't be good enough to get enough victories to get us out of this league but, up until now I have been proved wrong!

I do think, overall, our performances have improved and that seems to have happened since Agnew came in, whether coincidence or not, it doesn't matter. Bruce is manager and deserves a lot of credit for turning the results around and getting us to where we are now. 

I think we are now so close to getting there that we all need to forget about performance and just concentrate on the result because that is all that matters right now. We slagged performances off earlier in the season and questioned logic but it hasn't stopped us getting where we are. Time to move on from that and just focus on enjoying what is now turning out to being a very good season for the club. 

I really hope that I am in this thread at the end of the season apologising for criticising Bruce and thanking him for taking this club back to where it belongs 

To be fair VR the criticisms in the main was about the style of play rather than the bloke himself....and you was right the goals "for" return would not have got us where we are even.

I think it has got better with many factors all contributing, hence is why I thought he needed time.

I too think we are getting there, but for me I have a number of concerns

• Losing too many and too frequently aerial ball particularly in midfield.
• some players being too easily knocked off the ball or come second in a one on one challenge.
• Losing too many second balls.

I know we are not the finished article, but I think at times we have to work hard for our wins.....I know that sounds paradoxical.....but we do seem to be our own worst enemies at times.

 

Edited February 4, 2018 by TRO

[Demitri_C]

On 02/02/2018 at 18:39, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I genuinely believe, this season at least, that the bottom 6-8 clubs in the PL are no better than the top 6-8 clubs in the Championship. I'd fancy us to stay up with the squad we have if the season were to start today. 

With investment and almost 2 years at the club, I'd back him to keep us up over some random manager with little to no experience of the league or our squad. It won't be the ideal time to take that risk. He's not the long term option no, but we need to stay realistic until we are established again. 

That is unless somebody like Benitez is available, then perhaps you bite. 

Been saying the same. I think we are actually on par with West Brom. I think we have some better individual players that wpuld get in their side and vice versa. I think we have a great chance of staying up should we get there then we can kick on

[DaveAV1]

5 hours ago, NurembergVillan said:

I agree with the first part.  My POV is that you're either Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs or Chelsea, or you're in a relegation battle.  It's the nature of that league these days.

Unless Dr X has got £500m burning a hole in his pocket - and even then whoever is manager has to spend it well, and get those players to gel into a team - we'll be doing very well to not be fighting relegation for the first couple of years.

Look at the money Everton have spent, the managers they have/had, the squad they've got, and they're absolutely miles off the pace for top 6.  Leicester are the only team outside the top 6 with a positive goal difference, and even that is only +3.

And this all contributes towards why I think it would be folly to sack Bruce if he gets us up.  There's a huge gulf between top 6 and everyone else.

I’m not sure about Bruce next season, but for me it’s all about who we get as his replacement. Even if we got Pepe I’d agree that the first couple of seasons will be tricky. Stick or bust is all about the available alternatives, I’m glad it’s not my decision!

[Demitri_C]

5 hours ago, NurembergVillan said:

Assuming we get promoted this season, what do you see as being realistic next season?

I think whoever is in charge, we'll do well to finish inside the top 12.

If we went up is take 16th or even 17th if offered next year. Staying up next year is vital last thing we want to do is become a yoyo club.

[TRO]

1 minute ago, Demitri_C said:

Been saying the same. I think we are actually on par with West Brom. I think we have some better individual players that wpuld get in their side and vice versa. I think we have a great chance of staying up should we get there then we can kick on

The problem is.....when you get mullered every week in one way or another it wears you down.

In a one off game, I agree with you.

but you only have to look at Newcastle, Brighton and Huddersfield and see how they played when they was winning every match last year......get a few bloody noses and the confidence evaporates, hence the old saying the league doesn't lie.....They are all struggling now.

Quality and Character is the key.....and its hard to come by.

We can only try and strengthen (in an incremental fashion) every window and see where it takes us.