Steve Bruce

[Spoony]

As I said in the post-match thread, we are now consistent, we have only lost 1 in 12, we are up to 5th in the table and we keep climbing. There is no reason to be unhappy with him. The team is gelling, the plan is coming together and it is working. He’s going to take us up I reckon and I believe that could even be in 2nd place.

I hope everyone can stop assuming that / waiting for this bubble to burst and just enjoy the ride.

[Demitri_C]

8 hours ago, TrentVilla said:

Well he hasn’t really before today though has he.

Well he gets criticised for a hell of a lot though doesnt he? Glad to see another thing can get marked off so he isnt constantly beaten with a stick with.

Two of those defeats were against reading who are not a top side and the other was a very bad perfoemance vs cardiff. If we played like that against cardiff we would blow them apart.

 

[Demitri_C]

7 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

Conceded 10 goals in last 4 and 3 of back line out injured? Good side atm?!?

Never happy are you? Turning a positive into a negative. 

Some fans are never happy

[TrentVilla]

6 hours ago, TRO said:

I would prefer to give a bit of credit to those teams....and a bit of credit to ourselves for the come back from the poor start.

I’m sure you would.

[AvfcRigo82]

For me, irrespective if he wins us promotion this season I would still like to see him replaced once we are back in the Premier Lge.

I just do not feel confident under this guy even if we lost 1 in the last 29!

I'm not fickle. I just don't like him.

[Lerner's Driver]

6 hours ago, terrytini said:

Well I think he kind of has actually, but who cares ?

Well, ultimately yes, who cares, but actually, it does reveal an interesting talking point because don't we all stumble on breakthroughs in life sometimes? 

To imagine success is only achieved via perfectly executed cunning master plans, is the stuff of fantasy land message board forums... not that I'm accusing you of that Terry, your posts are nearly always thoughtful and balanced.

In fact, you could argue that it takes a good leader to recognise and utilise opportunity when it presents itself because an orthodox extremist would reject it based purely on his or her limited understanding of the world up to that point.

It's funny, when I first heard we were after Bruce, I tried to recall my perception of him as the manager of other teams and apart from his time at Blues, I remembered a midweek game where Hull had been on a long shit run and the camera turned to his anxious face, as in the first half they were losing again. He looked certain to be sacked.

I can't recall the specific 'lucky' element which then precipitated Hull going on to win in the second half, but they did and my abiding memory from that night was that the secret of his success seemed to be that he just keeps going and he keeps believing that something will come up. In other words, if you continue applying yourself, you earn the right to express yourself.

It's not a very sophisticated approach, not when you can also coach ball boys to serve your team preferably at throw ins, or flexibly rotate your team's playing style several times during the same match, but durability and adaptability are probably the two basic qualities all managers need to achieve any kind of success.

I think he is naturally cautious and probably too much so at times, but on the whole, he does learn and his teams do seem to grow with him in most of the roles he takes on. It won't always be pretty and it may be annoyingly slow, but I suspect Bruce will always be a wait and see type manager, never truly inspiring absolute confidence, but more often than not achieving some level of success in the end.

That's the only reason I've felt it better to take it one game at a time with him, as opposed to proclaiming my absolute certainty that he is a shit manager. 

He clearly isn't. 

[Villarocker]

Maybe I'm hard to please but, for men last night was a chance to hammer a team that has the same aspirations as us. I thought that we could have done some serious damage to the goal differences but it wasn't to be. 

Sorry but, I'm still not convinced we are playing well enough to trouble the teams at the top of this league. Hopefully, time will prove me wrong. 

[villan-scott]

1 minute ago, villarocker said:

Maybe I'm hard to please but, for men last night was a chance to hammer a team that has the same aspirations as us. I thought that we could have done some serious damage to the goal differences but it wasn't to be. 

Sorry but, I'm still not convinced we are playing well enough to trouble the teams at the top of this league. Hopefully, time will prove me wrong. 

Wolves, Sheffield United and Cardiff are all losing games. They’re not the unbeatable teams people are making them out to be. 

We just need to keep doing our business and it’ll take care of itself. Let’s not forget the 4 teams above us have all got to come to Villa Park yet. 

[Eastie]

9 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Not a fan of Bruce but the results keep coming and that's all we ask for. I think what people seem to be overlooking this season is we have scored 21 goals and Kodja has only scored 1 of them. Very very encouraging.  

I think we can finish second.

I think we can finish 1st - far from convinced wolves have the staying power - not sayIng we will finSh 1st but It’s certainly achiEvable

[Eastie]

6 hours ago, AJ said:

Thanks a lot Bruce, for making me look like an idiot in the pre match thread!

Well done!

Same here  are but delighted it went so well .

i would have brought Taylor back but to be faiR Hutton has really done well at left back - better than he was at right back

omomah also was lucky to keep his place but all went well last night and credit to Bruce and his staff - keep it going Now !

[StewieGriffin]

6 points at this stage at the top end of the league (or at any stage up until about Easter) is nothing really - 2 games. We play that amount every week by and large.

We had a bad 10 days at the start. Wolves, Cardiff and Sheffield United have had losses but not a bad spell yet. They will. We just need to be there when they do.

Edited November 2, 2017 by StewieGriffin

[Eastie]

9 hours ago, PatrickCousens said:

I saw he was copping a load of stick for the line up in the pre match thread. People need to lay off him, he's doing a good job and his team selections have been working well for weeks.

Well done again tonight.

If only Davis had started v blues

[Eastie]

Just now, StewieGriffin said:

6 points at this stage at the top end of the league (or at any stage up until about Easter) is nothing really - 2 games. We play that amount every week by and large.

We had a bad 10 days at the start. Wolves, Cardiff and Sheffield United have had losses but not a bad spell yet. They will.

They will also have injuries and suspensions and neither have strength in depth like we do 

[TrentVilla]

1 hour ago, Demitri_C said:

Well he gets criticised for a hell of a lot though doesnt he? Glad to see another thing can get marked off so he isnt constantly beaten with a stick with.

Two of those defeats were against reading who are not a top side and the other was a very bad perfoemance vs cardiff. If we played like that against cardiff we would blow them apart.

 

Yes and a lot of it has been justified.

I don’t though see how that is relevant to the point you were making and I disputed. You were trying to say this win proves the criticism about our performances away against top sides was unjustified.

Well one result in isolation doesn’t remove that criticism or somehow make the previous criticism invalid.

Last night was a huge improvement, it is how those of us who have been critical have wanted to see us approach games. You can’t tell me we didn’t approach last night differently.

Your last line about “if we had played like that” that is pretty much the point people being critical are making! So you seem to be unaware you are in agreement while trying to make the criticism seem unreasonable.

 

[Vive_La_Villa]

25 minutes ago, Eastie said:

I think we can finish 1st - far from convinced wolves have the staying power - not sayIng we will finSh 1st but It’s certainly achiEvable

I know I keep mentioning it but unless we learn to hold the ball better we will be lucky to finish even 2nd. It is encouraging being so close to the top whilst there still being room for improvement.

While our back 2 are fit it's looking good. Injury to either of them then we could be f**ked. Wonder if we are able to try and address this in January. 

[Eastie]

2 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I know I keep mentioning it but unless we learn to hold the ball better we will be lucky to finish even 2nd. It is encouraging being so close to the top whilst there still being room for improvement.

While our back 2 are fit it's looking good. Injury to either of them then we could be f**ked. Wonder if we are able to try and address this in January. 

We can get better , I don’t think those above us will get better - a long winter ahead now and all to play for.

11 points from the last 6 away games is very good - keep winning at home and we will be up there come December .

Edited November 2, 2017 by Eastie

[Villarocker]

20 minutes ago, Eastie said:

They will also have injuries and suspensions and neither have strength in depth like we do 

You say that but, would you like to see a run of games where both Chester and Terry are out injured and/or suspended? That's what Preston are facing tight now with their defence and it has resulted in their dip in form.

Who would Bruce put in as our central pairing if Terry and Chester were out? Samba and De Laet? Samba and Hutton? Samba and Jedinak? It's ok to say that other teams don't have strength in depth like us but, at the back, we don't have much depth either. 

Edited November 2, 2017 by villarocker

[Eastie]

4 minutes ago, villarocker said:

You say that but, would you like to see a run of games where both Chester and Terry are out injured and/or suspended? That's what Preston are facing tight now with their defence and it has resulted in their dip in form.

Who would Bruce put in as our central pairing if Terry and Chester were out? Samba and De Laet? Samba and Hutton? Samba and Jedinak? It's ok to say that other teams don't have strength in depth like us but, at the back, we don't have much depth either. 

Chances are that it’s unlikely we lose both terry and Chester together but if we do then we will have to deal with it if and when it happens - no point worrying about what hasn’t happened yet .

we are on a good run -relax and enjoy the ride

Edited November 2, 2017 by Eastie

[Vive_La_Villa]

7 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

Yes and a lot of it has been justified.

I don’t though see how that is relevant to the point you were making and I disputed. You were trying to say this win proves the criticism about our performances away against top sides was unjustified.

Well one result in isolation doesn’t remove that criticism or somehow make the previous criticism invalid.

Last night was a huge improvement, it is how those of us who have been critical have wanted to see us approach games. You can’t tell me we didn’t approach last night differently.

Your last line about “if we had played like that” that is pretty much the point people being critical are making! So you seem to be unaware you are in agreement while trying to make the criticism seem unreasonable.

 

I don't think we approached the game that differently. We just defended and played much better. Had Preston manage to get that penalty or score from one the pressure in second half then Bruce would have got slated for shutting up shop or the team sitting back. 

This isn't a a defence of Bruce im just saying that a lot of views will always depend on the result regardless of performance. My concern with Bruce has always been the inability for players to hold the ball. That can only be down to the coaching. I don't think this will ever improve with him and his staff in charge. If we still win games im happy with that.

But against better teams like Cardiff and Wolves if you give he ball back so easily time after time you will get punished. 

[terrytini]

Interesting Post @Lerner's Driver - the classic case IMO was Robson at the ‘86 World  Cup.....supposedly superb Manager who made a complete hash of the first two games - I think - until injury forced him to change system and approach and suddenly we were playing football.

I found your analysis of the ‘chance’ concept and how it applies to Bruce interesting.