Steve Bruce

[Dave J]

8 hours ago, omariqy said:

Tbh for me it was more the manner of the defeat. The gulf in class, style, tactics etc was hard to take. 

Absolutely bang on !

[VillanousOne]

I think this holding defensive midfielder piffle is a mindset we need to get out of, with players like Onomah, Grealish, Green and O’Hare we have players who are capable with the ball at their feet. I would argue that Connor and even Henry can be utilised better further forward. The issue is our tactics are now either hoof it to Keinan or get it down the wings, which sometimes a quick break works 1 in 5, but most of the time it just means throwing away possession. Hogan clearly needs forward balls to run onto, hoofing it to him is pointless.

but Bruce has no faith in the players he has brought in and not sure he will risk starting any of the above in place of Whelan or Jed.

[Grasshopper]

2 minutes ago, VillanousOne said:

I think this holding defensive midfielder piffle is a mindset we need to get out of, with players like Onomah, Grealish, Green and O’Hare we have players who are capable with the ball at their feet. I would argue that Connor and even Henry can be utilised better further forward. The issue is our tactics are now either hoof it to Keinan or get it down the wings, which sometimes a quick break works 1 in 5, but most of the time it just means throwing away possession. Hogan clearly needs forward balls to run onto, hoofing it to him is pointless.

but Bruce has no faith in the players he has brought in and not sure he will risk starting any of the above in place of Whelan or Jed.

This is major reason why he has to go.

a sitting DM without a range of passes or the ability to carry the ball forward 5/10yrds and find a forward moving players is just a „sweeper“ in front of a back 4.

So we are always a man short in the „possesion zone“ of MF, and if we do get the ball forward and it sticks we are easily out numbered by even a 4-3-3 opposition let alone a 4-4-2/4-5-3-1.

Bruce feels comfortable with our players static grouped behind the ball instead of getting them to move the ball forward, players moving forward too (or at least 2 in front of the ball).

When advanced players press and the second bank of players push up close with our squad we should be able to handle the odd counter, but no, whilst we labour slowly around the pitch with a non-paced DM and our others ordered to sit back and wait, we have the blueprint of good players or a schooled opposition running rings around us till everybody‘s tired and our 46th-70th minute (when Bruce makes very few subs or like for like) will always be where the better teams strike. We need to realise that 6 teams better than us means not even playoffs.

 but hey, what could a fan who‘s never managed a team tell a manager who has 4promotions.

[peterms]

18 minutes ago, VillanousOne said:

I think this holding defensive midfielder piffle is a mindset we need to get out of

I don't have a problem with it, in principle.  For example against Wolves, having Whelan in front of the back four and, say, Hourihane and Onomah in front of him would look more balanced, would relieve them of some defensive work, would give someone to win the ball and play the simple short pass to them to build an attack.

One df and one player like Hourihane, against a decent team with a strong midfield, is a different proposition.

And ths idea of playing Whelan and Jedinak together suggests we think we are reenacting the battle of Stalingrad.

[srsmithusa]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

I cannot look you in the eye and say you are wrong and I am not going to say that.

but i see things, i am hard pressed to say that is the fault of the manager.

He is responsible for many things in relation to the playing side of the footall club.......but he can't play for them.....I hope you appreciate that.

as an example

Ron saunders and Roy McLaren did not instigate the ability in Andy Gray to be a dynamic centre forward,who did not get the notion to be passive or laid back or go with the flow.....He wanted to win a game of tiddly winks.

That was not down to the manager, it was down to him.

Of course, for a professional footballer they have a job they are getting paid to do and have clear responsibility.  But I teach in a school.  If my students don't learn, that's ultimately their responsibility.   But if I recruit them, teach them, and don't fail them.  I bear some responsibility.  Especially if it were nearly all of them.  instead, i work hard to motivate them.  for those that will not be motivated, I fail those that deserve it.  pretty soon, everyone is trying harder.   if not.  I get fired.  That all seems very reasonable to me.

[mykeyb]

22 hours ago, tomav84 said:

such a roll of the dice though. Could you imagine the backlash if we hired another remi garde and it didnt work out? At least a lot of the folks saying bruce out currently probably agreed it was the logical choice in the first place. I'm sure for every wagner or nuno there are plenty of gambles that didnt work out. equally it might just be that those clubs just suit them. ranieri classic example...sometimes it just clicks

i suspect that there is a manager out there that can do a better job than bruce, but i'm bruce in until that's proven!

How do we/they prove it....how long is he allowed to go underachieving for?

Edited October 18, 2017 by mykeyb
grammar

[srsmithusa]

This is off the topic. But I think if remi had the time, the backing, the windows, and the opposition Bruce has had, we would be top 3 at least, right now.  With a very reasonable chance at top 2.  

[MrDuck]

3 hours ago, srsmithusa said:

This is off the topic. But I think if remi had the time, the backing, the windows, and the opposition Bruce has had, we would be top 3 at least, right now.  With a very reasonable chance at top 2.  

Based on what, the fact that he was dreadful in the time he did have? Garde made Sherwood look like Fergie.

[villan_007]

2 hours ago, MrDuck said:

Based on what, the fact that he was dreadful in the time he did have? Garde made Sherwood look like Fergie.

Based on his ability to build things and integrate youth.

Looking back now we probably should have really tried to build from scratch instead of throwing millions at proven players but with no really plan or style.

Garde was served a premium turd sarnie. I would have liked to see what he could do in situation like this.

Instead it looks like we're sitting on the edge of our seats hoping Brucie can drag us up.

[Villarocker]

Didn't want to read back through loads of pages but, did anyone else pick up on the fact that he actually said "we go again" in his post match comments in the Wolves game? I hoped never to hear or see that again from a Villa manager. 

[Raver50032]

47 minutes ago, villarocker said:

Didn't want to read back through loads of pages but, did anyone else pick up on the fact that he actually said "we go again" in his post match comments in the Wolves game? I hoped never to hear or see that again from a Villa manager. 

Yes, I think he actually said it twice in a few seconds... I gasped and very nearly said the 'F' word in front of my dad...

[Vive_La_Villa]

8 hours ago, srsmithusa said:

This is off the topic. But I think if remi had the time, the backing, the windows, and the opposition Bruce has had, we would be top 3 at least, right now.  With a very reasonable chance at top 2.  

That's something we'll never know. Based on the players he was chasing in the January he got shafted. His signings would have been very different that's for sure. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 hour ago, villarocker said:

Didn't want to read back through loads of pages but, did anyone else pick up on the fact that he actually said "we go again" in his post match comments in the Wolves game? I hoped never to hear or see that again from a Villa manager. 

I noticed that. He will be calling us fickle next! 

[tomav84]

8 hours ago, srsmithusa said:

This is off the topic. But I think if remi had the time, the backing, the windows, and the opposition Bruce has had, we would be top 3 at least, right now.  With a very reasonable chance at top 2.  

sorry...no. he was hopeless and the fact he's still out of work says it all

[Demitri_C]

12 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I doubt many fans would be upset if they sacked him tomorrow. I actually wonder if there are any? 

I.would be as id expect david moyes which would be x10 worse!

[bannedfromHandV]

9 hours ago, srsmithusa said:

This is off the topic. But I think if remi had the time, the backing, the windows, and the opposition Bruce has had, we would be top 3 at least, right now.  With a very reasonable chance at top 2.  

On what basis do you make that comment?

I appreciate it's just an opinion but what during his tenure here suggested to you that he would have done better than those since him?

[BG_Villa_Fan]

15 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

On what basis do you make that comment?

I appreciate it's just an opinion but what during his tenure here suggested to you that he would have done better than those since him?

Perhaps based on his time at Lyon. It's the same argument as Bruce and his 4 promotions with other teams vs his underachievement at Villa. 

[Tommo_b]

Not sure where to put this, but obviously Bruce has had some decent strikers at his disposal since he has been here, but other then Kodjia they have all flopped (jury still out on Davis), we really haven’t had any luck with strikers in the last 20 years have we, Yorke, Angel, Benteke and now Kodjia are the only semi prolific Ones we have that I can recall?

[Stevo985]

16 minutes ago, BG_Villa_Fan said:

Perhaps based on his time at Lyon. It's the same argument as Bruce and his 4 promotions with other teams vs his underachievement at Villa. 

I guess it's the same kind of argument, in that it's based on past achievements. But it's nowhere near the same in terms of the wealth of that experience.

[sheepyvillian]

13 hours ago, Grasshopper said:

This is major reason why he has to go.

a sitting DM without a range of passes or the ability to carry the ball forward 5/10yrds and find a forward moving players is just a „sweeper“ in front of a back 4.

So we are always a man short in the „possesion zone“ of MF, and if we do get the ball forward and it sticks we are easily out numbered by even a 4-3-3 opposition let alone a 4-4-2/4-5-3-1.

Bruce feels comfortable with our players static grouped behind the ball instead of getting them to move the ball forward, players moving forward too (or at least 2 in front of the ball).

When advanced players press and the second bank of players push up close with our squad we should be able to handle the odd counter, but no, whilst we labour slowly around the pitch with a non-paced DM and our others ordered to sit back and wait, we have the blueprint of good players or a schooled opposition running rings around us till everybody‘s tired and our 46th-70th minute (when Bruce makes very few subs or like for like) will always be where the better teams strike. We need to realise that 6 teams better than us means not even playoffs.

 but hey, what could a fan who‘s never managed a team tell a manager who has 4promotions.

Absolutely, this .