TRO Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 2 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said: Bruce started the turnaround of the Villa juggernaut which I'm thankful for. He stopped the slide but I'm glad we made the change when we did. Is that such a hard thing for anyone to understand?.....seems like it is.....yes I too was glad we made the change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 1 minute ago, TRO said: Is that such a hard thing for anyone to understand?.....seems like it is.....yes I too was glad we made the change. Everyone understands that. The opinion of the people disagreeing with you, though, is that him 'stopping the rot' happened in his first half-season. He then got a chance to succeed in the second season and, to his credit, got us to a play-off final. Any bad decisions in that season (continuing to rely on expensive loans, lack of plan for the future etc) can be forgiven because he got us to the final. But then the following season is where he gets no credit whatsoever. Poor football, poor future planning with a continued reliance on loans (yes, some were good, but also we were being set up to fail by needing a squad overhaul whichever league we found ourselves in) and gross mis-management of our players (Elphick sent on loan, using Jedinak in defence and Tuanzebe on the right) etc. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 1 minute ago, Rob182 said: Everyone understands that. The opinion of the people disagreeing with you, though, is that him 'stopping the rot' happened in his first half-season. He then got a chance to succeed in the second season and, to his credit, got us to a play-off final. Any bad decisions in that season (continuing to rely on expensive loans, lack of plan for the future etc) can be forgiven because he got us to the final. But then the following season is where he gets no credit whatsoever. Poor football, poor future planning with a continued reliance on loans (yes, some were good, but also we were being set up to fail by needing a squad overhaul whichever league we found ourselves in) and gross mis-management of our players (Elphick sent on loan, using Jedinak in defence and Tuanzebe on the right) etc. I agree on that....and have said so in previous posts, that some folk have failed to pick up on. Stopped the rot 24 wins of boring spectacle and a miss on promotion by a gnats doo dah Then The car crash, 11 games. Yeah thats how I see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 47 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said: Bruce started the turnaround of the Villa juggernaut which I'm thankful for. He stopped the slide but I'm glad we made the change when we did. Yup. Worked out quite well in the end. Not much room for error though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Quote It started badly for Elphick under Bruce when the defender picked up an injury in the manager’s first game in charge — a 1-1 draw with Wolves. Getting back into the team was tough and James Chester soon took over as captain in his absence. “If you’re one of his foot soldiers who he trusts then it’s the best job in the world,” Elphick explains. “You feel valued. But if you’re not, it’s really, really tough to deal with.” In the summer of 2017, just a year after signing for Villa, Elphick was offered a way out. Villa had signed John Terry and Chris Samba after finishing 13th in the previous season and both Birmingham City and Sunderland were ready to pounce. Elphick says Bruce asked him to stick around and provide cover. His standards never dropped but when he found himself training with the youth teams in the build-up to games, he knew his days were numbered. “I thought to myself ‘how has this gone so wrong?’” he adds. A brief opening presented itself in Terry’s absence around the turn of 2018. The former England captain broke his foot and Elphick was called upon again, but only as the last resort. “We travel up to Middlesbrough and both JT and Samba are out,” he recalls. “Steve names the team on the Friday night but he leaves me out. He planned to play Mile (Jedinak) at centre-half for the first time. I thought it was all over. “Then I wake up on the Saturday morning to a knock at the door. It’s Bruce. He comes and sits in my room and says ‘I’m not going to beat around the bush; I need you’. “Glenn Whelan was ill so Mile had to move into midfield and I started in defence. Bruce said: ‘Just go out, give me your all and we’ll sort it out after’. “We win the game and keep a clean sheet. Then we beat Bristol City on New Year’s Day. I think ‘great’. “I totally understand he was going to leave me out when JT came back but I said to him give me a chance as the back up to Chester and JT but don’t be putting midfielders ahead of me.” All seemed well for Elphick. He was on the bench for the next two games before discussing the future further with Bruce later in January as the transfer window had opened. “I have the same conversation with him and leave the office with his last words: ‘You’re not going anywhere, you’re staying’ in my head,” Elphick continues. “I said: ‘Great, let’s stick together and get promoted’. “So then I go and have my lunch, get into the car and my phone starts going off with an unrecognised number flashing up. It’s Mick McCarthy (then Ipswich manager). He says: ‘I want to know where your head is at. Brucie has told me that he’s not having you and that I can take you on loan’. “I said: ‘Are you sure? I’ve just left his office!’ “That was my time under Steve, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going! “I’d go back and see him and ask him what all of it was about and he would say that he was just trying to do what was best by me and that he was leaving all the options available (as the transfer window was open and he wasn’t playing).” “I do also hold my hands up and say that I wasn’t at my best under Steve, too.” Injuries and at times, a loss of form, for a period at Villa forced Elphick into a rethink. He was fully on board with the project of winning promotion but had started to lose faith. “I had come from an aligned dressing room at Bournemouth with a clear structure,” he explains. “We had such a clear aim of what we were doing and a clear way of working. “(But at Villa) I always felt myself coming away from training thinking ‘what are we aiming for here, what are we going for?’ I struggled with that for a bit.” Elphick turned down a move to Ipswich with McCarthy because his wife was due to give birth within days. He instead went to Reading, before the transfer window closed at the end of the month (January). His aim was to return back to Villa the following season fitter than ever and fight for a starting berth following Terry and Samba’s retirement. Bruce had other plans for him, though, and would favour Jedinak instead. “That was a kick in the teeth,” he says explaining the 2018-19 season in full in this week’s edition of 1874, The Athletic’s Aston Villa podcast. “It was embarrassing for me that I was the only centre-half in the door and he’s playing a central midfielder ahead of me. “I knew by that stage there was no way I was going to play for him again.” 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 The most unsurprising article of all time if honest, Elphick himself admits his form wasnt great but Bruce treated a model pro like complete shit. At least not just the VillaTalk anti-Bruce brigade that believes this quote Quote “It was embarrassing for me that I was the only centre-half in the door and he’s playing a central midfielder ahead of me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Serves him right for not playing golf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Disgusting, yet we all know Bruce is a self serving arsehole. Elphick was crap, but I still remember sitting in the stadium against Sheff United watching Jedi once again make a complete tit of himself whilst Elphick jogged on the touchline and being absolute seething. Nothing short of a disgrace and in hindsight I wish we had stuck with RDM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) I hope with all this spare time Bruce can add to his literacy back catalogue. 'Virus! ' would be a good title. Edited May 14, 2020 by The Fun Factory 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 The podcast is really good, worth a listen. Bruce behaving exactly as you'd expect. Elphick gives him plenty of credit as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 16, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted May 16, 2020 Elphick was/is completely shit, but the way he was ignored when we had no other centrebacks is bizarre 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubbs Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 Elphick did have some good games for us, but as he said in the interview when you're not sure what the team is trying to do it's inevitable that mistakes would occur in matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 On 16/05/2020 at 10:43, Stevo985 said: Elphick was/is completely shit, but the way he was ignored when we had no other centrebacks is bizarre He was a part of a promotion winning side last season. I think you should be more grateful. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 17, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted May 17, 2020 1 hour ago, villalad21 said: He was a part of a promotion winning side last season. I think you should be more grateful. Is this a joke? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 'Awful Manager'. Outperforming Benitez with a worse squad and less resources, the same Benitez so many people wanted to replace Bruce with whilst here. It's a funny ol' game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 12 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said: 'Awful Manager'. Outperforming Benitez with a worse squad and less resources, the same Benitez so many people wanted to replace Bruce with whilst here. It's a funny ol' game. he is an awful manager, his brand of football scrapes results but who in their right mind would ever say they enjoy it? he's soul destroying and Rafa is overrated i find it surprising how many Newcastle fans want Rafa back should the take over happen, he's an example of a manager who is declining with age but his reputation from things he did 15 - 20 years ago means he still well thought of, managers get away with it in a way that players dont 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 54 minutes ago, villa4europe said: And Rafa is overrated i find it surprising how many Newcastle fans want Rafa back should the take over happen, he's an example of a manager who is declining with age but his reputation from things he did 15 - 20 years ago means he still well thought of, managers get away with it in a way that players dont Mourinho and Rafa have followed the same path really. Came around at similar period, play similar styles and both have let the game pass them by and not evolved. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam-AVFC Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 He is an awful manager. The only people that don't realise it are Birmingham fans and a lot of Villa fans who seem to have lost perspective after years of shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 He's not awful hes just not an exciting manager but hes done well at every club hes been at Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 4 minutes ago, PaulC said: He's not awful hes just not an exciting manager but hes done well at every club hes been at That might be taking it a bit far You know what you get from him and he does neither more nor less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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