Steve Bruce

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

2 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Have you seen wolves spending this year??

have you seen boros?

hogan has been Bruce's only "mega buy" the rest are not high transfer fees, that was di matteo 

I notice people have the tendency of just ignoring the January we signed half a team, pretty much consisting of the Championships best performers.

Or even when we have signed players for free, covertly avoid the fact that it's people like JOHN **** Terry, not just any random "Free signing" whos wages and stature alone are a transfer fee.

Others are Premier League players, perhaps on lower fees, but ALSO on big wages.

As well as the fact that even though you may call a couple of them RDM buys, they include players like KODJIA.

You would think we had a horrible team and Bruce needed to buy a plethora just to fix us. Worst case, we had/have saleable assets and do BUSINESS of dealing: selling/buying just as any other club.

We already had one of the strongest , if not strongest squads in the League.

I also notice if that is acknowledged, people go to "No, but what was the NET spend".

If Man City sold Sterling, and Silva for a combined fee of 150 million, and signed Messi for 149 million their net spend would only be 1 million, and they could moan that Pep hasn't spent any money.

Just like with anything, I hate extremism with PRO Bruce side of the isle, and ANTI Bruce side of the isle.

Some of these claims and excuses are just pure nonsense.

Edited December 2, 2017 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[briny_ear]

Thought his subs tonight were spot on.

[Dave J]

7 hours ago, markavfc40 said:

What? whilst he has decent resources he has something like a 10 mill profit on transfers and I'd be supremely confident he has significantly reduced the wage bill since he arrived. Also be under no illusions there are others in this league who have spent big and have big wage bills certainly the likes of Wolves, Boro and even Sha.

He is doing very well for me given the mess he inherited. We have gone from being a club stinking of a losers mentality to one which now doesn't let its head drop in the face of adversity. We now have a backbone where as when he arrived we had about as much back bone as a jelly fish.

Long way to go this season but the manager has certainly put some very strong foundations in place in terms of ability but just as importantly character and attitude.

I am not talking specifically about what he has spent - I am saying from the day he walked into the club added to what he has spent I don’t think any other villa manager outside of the top flight has had the same level of resource at their disposal 

[DCJonah]

5 hours ago, briny_ear said:

You really should agree with all of it since it is spot on. 

Well there's a shock..

[Lerner's Driver]

19 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Well there's a shock..

In the spirit of acknowledging and yes celebrating the inevitable circularity of this lovely conversation...

Well, there's a shock.

[briny_ear]

13 minutes ago, Lerner's Driver said:

In the spirit of acknowledging and yes celebrating the inevitable circularity of this lovely conversation...

Well, there's a shock.

I’m not shocked even a little bit.

[briny_ear]

2 hours ago, Dave J said:

I am not talking specifically about what he has spent - I am saying from the day he walked into the club added to what he has spent I don’t think any other villa manager outside of the top flight has had the same level of resource at their disposal 

The financing of football and the pattern of ownership of clubs is so different now compared with the last time we were outside the top flight that this comparison is surely spurious?

[DCJonah]

10 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

The financing of football and the pattern of ownership of clubs is so different now compared with the last time we were outside the top flight that this comparison is surely spurious?

I think that's the point some were trying to make when those win % stats were shared. 

It's a pointless comparison.

Edited December 2, 2017 by DCJonah

[Villarocker]

I have to say, despite the fact I have yet to be convinced I would like him as manager in the Premier League, Bruce has certainly changed things around. That team showed fight and spirit last night and we never looked in danger of being steam-rollered like we used to. I actually enjoyed some of the football we played too and it wasn't the hoofball that many suggest we play. 

Bruce is winning me over and if the players keep playing like they did second half, coupled with a couple of fresh faces in January and getting a few injured players back, I think we will be right up there in the mix until the very end of the season. The top two have to have a blip at some point and we need to make sure we are in a position to take advantage and, right now, Bruce has my faith in him to get us there. 

[Demitri_C]

6 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I notice people have the tendency of just ignoring the January we signed half a team, pretty much consisting of the Championships best performers.

Or even when we have signed players for free, covertly avoid the fact that it's people like JOHN **** Terry, not just any random "Free signing" whos wages and stature alone are a transfer fee.

Others are Premier League players, perhaps on lower fees, but ALSO on big wages.

As well as the fact that even though you may call a couple of them RDM buys, they include players like KODJIA.

You would think we had a horrible team and Bruce needed to buy a plethora just to fix us. Worst case, we had/have saleable assets and do BUSINESS of dealing: selling/buying just as any other club.

We already had one of the strongest , if not strongest squads in the League.

I also notice if that is acknowledged, people go to "No, but what was the NET spend".

If Man City sold Sterling, and Silva for a combined fee of 150 million, and signed Messi for 149 million their net spend would only be 1 million, and they could moan that Pep hasn't spent any money.

Just like with anything, I hate extremism with PRO Bruce side of the isle, and ANTI Bruce side of the isle.

Some of these claims and excuses are just pure nonsense.

For me that don't wash because how many of rdms players played yesterday? Chester and adomah. The rest were either here or Bruce's signings. Bruce's spending although wages are higher/on par. But for me Bruce has utilised the money better on top of putting a resilient team together.

we would have lost that last season

[sexbelowsound]

Missed the first 30 minutes of the game but based on the comments in the match thread and the subsequent fifteen i'm assuming we were garbage.

In the second we played much better but I still think we struggle when we can't get the ball to stick with Davis and play off him. Bruce's changes made a big difference and I don't agree with some of the opinions that Lansbury looked completely off the pace. Grealish still has that amazing ability to dribble with the ball and draw fouls and in tandem they helped turn the tide further. We were well due a point.

If at the end of the Christmas period we are in the playoff positions I will be happy provided the gap to second hasn't grown. We have Terry to come back soon and hopefully a few more with maybe a striker to come in January.

I feel positive about our chances.

Well done Brucey.

[Guest av1]

I honestly thought we would have 8 blokes behind the ball last night. I was really happy that we actually tried to win the game. 

[markavfc40]

4 hours ago, Dave J said:

I am not talking specifically about what he has spent - I am saying from the day he walked into the club added to what he has spent I don’t think any other villa manager outside of the top flight has had the same level of resource at their disposal 

The only period I remember prior to this one of us being outside the top flight was under GT in 1987. He inherited a mess. A club that had been on the wane for years. A club that went down with a whimper although nothing like the shameful way we dropped in 2016. He came in and had to change the mentality of the place and wheel and deal and tried to bring strong characters into the club to help change the mentality of those he inherited.

I think Bruce has done something similar. He has used the likes of Terry and Whelan to bring the best out in others not in terms of ability but in bringing a mental toughness that rubs off on others.

I also don't think you can ignore the net spend. He has done extremely well in terms of transfers. Not just the Terrys and Whelans, which was undoubtedly aided by the fact we are one of less than a handful of clubs that has the means at this level to pay the wages of those kinds of players, but deals like swapping Ayew for Taylor and a few mill our way was unexpected, and questioned at the time, but was very good for us. Getting Hourihane, Lansbury, Bree for less than we sold Gestede for. Bringing in Samba as cover. Getting Snodgrass, Johnstone, Onomah on loan, Elmo for 1 mill.

I think you are mixing up Bruce with his predecessor as he is the one who has had the most resources at this level. He spent an absolute fortune and whilst some of those players he purchased have undoubtedly proved to be assets it was interesting to note that last night only 2 players of the 14 that featured were signed by RDM and 9 were signed by Bruce.

Edited December 2, 2017 by markavfc40

[VillaJ100]

I think Leeds just come out at their absolute ceiling level in the first half and we looked very flat. In the second we improved after the changes and Leeds didn't look that special, misplaced and overhit passes, crap control etc. They only had one shot on target as well. 

[Demitri_C]

5 minutes ago, markavfc40 said:

The only period I remember prior to this one of us being outside the top flight was under GT in 1987. He inherited a mess. A club that had been on the wane for years. A club that went down with a whimper although nothing like the shameful way we dropped in 2016. He came in and had to change the mentality of the place and wheel and deal and tried to bring strong characters into the club to help change the mentality of those he inherited.

I think Bruce has done something similar. He has used the likes of Terry and Whelan to bring the best out in others not in terms of ability but in bringing a mental toughness that rubs off on others.

I also don't think you can ignore the net spend. He has done extremely well in terms of transfers. Not just the Terrys and Whelans, which was undoubtedly aided by the fact we are one of less than a handful of clubs that has the means at this level to pay the wages of those kinds of players, but deals like swapping Ayew for Taylor and a few mill our way was unexpected, and questioned at the time, but was very good for us. Getting Hourihane, Lansbury, Bree for less than we sold Gestede for. Bringing in Samba as cover. Getting Snodgrass, Johnstone, Onomah on loan, Elmo for 1 mill.

I think you are mixing up Bruce with his predecessor as he is the one who has had the most resources at this level. He spent an absolute fortune and whilst some of those players he purchased have undoubtedly proved to be assets it was interesting to note that last night only 2 players of the 13 that featured were signed by RDM and 8 were signed by Bruce.

Exactly what I said earlier Chester and adomah

[bannedfromHandV]

8 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I notice people have the tendency of just ignoring the January we signed half a team, pretty much consisting of the Championships best performers.

Or even when we have signed players for free, covertly avoid the fact that it's people like JOHN **** Terry, not just any random "Free signing" whos wages and stature alone are a transfer fee.

Others are Premier League players, perhaps on lower fees, but ALSO on big wages.

As well as the fact that even though you may call a couple of them RDM buys, they include players like KODJIA.

You would think we had a horrible team and Bruce needed to buy a plethora just to fix us. Worst case, we had/have saleable assets and do BUSINESS of dealing: selling/buying just as any other club.

We already had one of the strongest , if not strongest squads in the League.

I also notice if that is acknowledged, people go to "No, but what was the NET spend".

If Man City sold Sterling, and Silva for a combined fee of 150 million, and signed Messi for 149 million their net spend would only be 1 million, and they could moan that Pep hasn't spent any money.

Just like with anything, I hate extremism with PRO Bruce side of the isle, and ANTI Bruce side of the isle.

Some of these claims and excuses are just pure nonsense.

We did

He did

Where have you been for the past 5 years bud? 

[VILLAMARV]

13 hours ago, Dave J said:

I don’t think a villa manager outside of the top flight has had the resources made available to him that SB has ?

That statement is probably true.

RDM certainly had even more resources made available to him though, so I'm not entirely sure what the stick is this time.

Considering this is our first time down here since SKY changed the game financially though, as others have said, makes it a pretty pointless comparison imo.

[Vive_La_Villa]

2 hours ago, villarocker said:

I have to say, despite the fact I have yet to be convinced I would like him as manager in the Premier League, Bruce has certainly changed things around. That team showed fight and spirit last night and we never looked in danger of being steam-rollered like we used to. I actually enjoyed some of the football we played too and it wasn't the hoofball that many suggest we play. 

Bruce is winning me over and if the players keep playing like they did second half, coupled with a couple of fresh faces in January and getting a few injured players back, I think we will be right up there in the mix until the very end of the season. The top two have to have a blip at some point and we need to make sure we are in a position to take advantage and, right now, Bruce has my faith in him to get us there. 

I'd be shocked if there is a fan out there that wants him to be our manager beyond this season. 

[sexbelowsound]

1 minute ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I'd be shocked if there is a fan out there that wants him to be our manager beyond this season. 

If he gets us up I wouldn't change him just for the sake of it. What would be the point in that?

[Dr_Pangloss]

It was a poor performance IMO, at our best we were 'nullifying' them, which isn't good enough. We should be thankful for a moment of absolute brilliance from Lansbury, the one time one of our players really took things but the scruff of the neck and demonstrated a bit of quality.