Steve Bruce

[bannedfromHandV]

Just now, Vive_La_Villa said:

Correct my if I'm wrong but 5 more games and we've played everyone once so if we are still within reach of top 2 is it fair to say the good form isn't a fluke?

No, because we've played the bottom six and at the end of the season those points get deducted.

[vreitti]

Just now, Vive_La_Villa said:

Correct my if I'm wrong but 5 more games and we've played everyone once so if we are still within reach of top 2 is it fair to say the good form isn't a fluke?

True, then again I have never said our good form is a fluke. Bruce has done well so far, when it comes to the results. Will we be able to maintain this "good form" is what worries me, since most of our wins have come against bottom half teams.

[Vive_La_Villa]

6 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

No, because we've played the bottom six and at the end of the season those points get deducted.

Tbf If Hull had beaten Millwall last night they would have jumped above them and left Millwall in the bottom 6th. That would have made it an easier game for us in a few weeks

[bobzy]

2 minutes ago, vreitti said:

True, then again I have never said our good form is a fluke. Bruce has done well so far, when it comes to the results. Will we be able to maintain this "good form" is what worries me, since most of our wins have come against bottom half teams.

I imagine this is true for every team in the league?  Hence, those sides being in the bottom half.

[Vive_La_Villa]

3 minutes ago, vreitti said:

True, then again I have never said our good form is a fluke. Bruce has done well so far, when it comes to the results. Will we be able to maintain this "good form" is what worries me, since most of our wins have come against bottom half teams.

I see where you are coming from. The next 5 games are quite decisive to see if we are the real deal for promotion. 

[vreitti]

10 minutes ago, bobzy said:

We've played away from home against 3 of the top 4 teams (excluding us, of course) as well as being away against our biggest rivals. 

(FWIW, we've also just beaten QPR away - they have the 5th best home record in the league (again, excluding us)).

 

But yes, it's been a pretty piss easy fixture list.

Let's see where we stand after we've played Ipswich, Leeds, Derby and Sheffield U, okay? If we're still maintaining an average of +2p, perhaps I'll start believing too.

[bannedfromHandV]

3 minutes ago, bobzy said:

I imagine this is true for every team in the league?  Hence, those sides being in the bottom half.

I'm glad I'm not the only one........literally feel like blowing my own brains out sometimes on here.

[TrentVilla]

 

I think when you get 18 games into a season any advantages or disadvantages in the fixtures starts to become a little irrelevant personally.

Sequences of games can obviously be helpful in terms of the order of games etc but as you approach the half way point of a season it’s all pretty even.

I’d say teams are now about where they deserve to be.

[vreitti]

5 minutes ago, bobzy said:

I imagine this is true for every team in the league?  Hence, those sides being in the bottom half.

It's absolutely fine if you don't share my concern.

[TRO]

9 hours ago, Villan_of_oz said:

Sorry @TRO but don't think I'm having a go at you because I'm not. 

My complaint is not for expansive football my complaint is that with 25 minutes to go and a 2 goal lead we cannot safely take the sting out of the game. 

String a few passes together, knock it around for a bit let the opposition chase us. 

I see teams do it all the time and I'm baffled that we cannot. 

I realise I'm banging on but it is the one things Bruce seems to never address. 

All in my uneducated opinion of course. 

i don't think you are.

I was at the game.....i see what you see.

I saw a team fighting for its life, they displayed energy and were quick to the ball, it made life difficult for us....new manager to boot.

We played badly, not getting away from it.

we scrapped, looked tired, but won.

we need to accept that with a gratitude other clubs would welcome.

I am never going to be able to express my opinions on a game and make someone else happy, i don't feel obliged to either......quite frankly if fans are not happy, its something they have to deal with.

I would be much happier if we played the kind of football, that you, trent, Gh and sheepy are looking for, but we are not......and for my part i am happy to enjoy the results and look forward to a day when we can evolve to improving the performances more consistently.

in the meantime

UTV

ps there was a sunderland fan in our bar, who could not understand some of our faces....its in stark contrast of a few seasons ago, when those same faces would have been apt.

Edited November 22, 2017 by TRO

[vreitti]

4 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

 

I think when you get 18 games into a season any advantages or disadvantages in the fixtures starts to become a little irrelevant personally.

Sequences of games can obviously be helpful in terms of the order of games etc but as you approach the half way point of a season it’s all pretty even.

I’d say teams are now about where they deserve to be.

Agreed. Therefore it's a bit of a worry we still have to play the aforementioned promotion rivals. Hence my concern. 

Edited November 22, 2017 by vreitti

[TrentVilla]

9 minutes ago, vreitti said:

Agreed. Therefore it's a bit of a worry we still have to play the aforementioned promotion rivals. Hence my concern. 

But if you take the current top 10 less ourselves, we’ll have played 6 of the remaining 9 after Saturday.

[Stevo985]

I think there are plenty of fans who would enjoy the games a lot more if they didn’t hate Steve Bruce so much. 

[bobzy]

10 minutes ago, vreitti said:

Let's see where we stand after we've played Ipswich, Leeds, Derby and Sheffield U, okay? If we're still maintaining an average of +2p, perhaps I'll start believing too.

I'm not saying I "believe", I just don't particularly see the relevance in your fixture list stuff after playing most sides in the league including most of the toughest ones away from home.

[TrentVilla]

Just now, Stevo985 said:

I think there are plenty of fans who would enjoy the games a lot more if they didn’t hate Steve Bruce so much. 

I think this is a bit silly, sorry.

I don’t think people hate him.

[KSV]

Wow. Bruce will win the championship and villa fans will still whinge that we didn't get enough goals or we didn't wear our third kit enough.

I have seen every game this season. Most have been average in terms of entertainment. But he has added mental strength to this squad. Our defence is good. We have had injuries to key players all season and haven't been able to field our best 11 nor will we with kodjia for the season. Wolves have had the luxury of no injuries and keeping their best players fit. I read we've used over 30 players already. Yet with all the changes and the slow start we had we are fourth.

But we can't win away..... 3-0 @ Barnsley.. 4 -0 @ Burton.

But we can't come from bwhind.. 2-1 @ qpr. 

These issues we've had for years and years. 

Slowly slowly he is turning the ship around. Qpr and Preston were arguably the best we've played recently.. Norwich and a few other games we were quite entertaining.. but it's a long hard season with many games back to back... Sometimes you just need to grind a win and get the 3 points. Even wolves have played poorly and won.. we just dont see it.. yes they play better style.. but they've been lucky with injuries and keeping same team on the park and built combinations.

I am not convinced Bruce is the man to take us Forward after promotion.. but I wouldn't want to change it now.. so why is there even a debate? Sack him now and bring in who? What does that do to the dressing room.. for the players who clearly like him and are playing for him. 

Personally when Terry and Kodjia got injured I thought our season was over.  Somehow we have won 2 games since. May not be pretty but players are responding to him and it's going well so far.. just enjoy it and let's see where we are in January.

[bobzy]

1 minute ago, TrentVilla said:

I think this is a bit silly, sorry.

I don’t think people hate him.

Perhaps "irrational dislike" is more apt than "hate", but there's certainly a feeling of anti-Steve Bruce rather than pro-Villa on a fair amount of posts in this thread.

I understand thinking he's a dull manager, not thinking we can progress etc.  That's fine - I think I fall into this camp.  But to come on after a win (and there's been something like 7 in the last 11 games?) to have the same people just banging on about how shit Steve Bruce is, is tiring and, as mentioned, irrational given the form we're in.

His style of play is currently garnering results.  Our form over the last 10 games is second only to Wolves, who are top.  But Bruce is shit and we're going nowhere.

[TRO]

4 hours ago, TrentVilla said:

I don’t think people are expecting expansive football though, that isn’t what I’m talking about when I’m critical of how we play and I don’t think it’s what others are talking about either.

Nobody expects us to play like Man City But our retention of the ball is really really poor and there is no sign of it improving. 

That in ability to retain possession can and often does put us under pressure in games particularly late on when it possibly could be reduced by us keeping the ball.

You day he hasn’t the players to play this way, I’m not really so sure about that. You say yourself the way we are playing is Bruce’s style and that I agree with.

 

 

Trent, my description "expansive" was perhaps not accurate, it was just a term, but i Know exactly what you are referring to.

I think we allow ourselves to get closed down too easily and coupled with an inconsistent approach to running off the ball.....pass and move looks an ambition at present.....there is no cohesion in our play to execute this.

I reiterate once more.....we get closed down to easy to make the pass and move game work.....we need to create space for ourselves and work it.....converesly we give space to the opposition gift wrapped......Loftus Rd an exception.

our play is undoubtedly scrappy, too often.....it leads me to be unsure if we actually have the ball skills as a group, that we might think we have. I do subscribe to the view that SB gets us to play a cautious style, but i do not subscribe to the view that some of the scrappy play, is directly down to him.....i see players at times, who are struggling to control the ball.

Having said all of that.....I refuse to deny myself the happiness of a win and a decent league and form placing.

UTV

[BOF]

8 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

But if you take the current top 10 less ourselves, we’ll have played 6 of the remaining 9 after Saturday.

Did someone say mini-league?  Here's the top 10 versus the top 10 so far.

 

Interestingly, if you have a league table of the top 10 versus the rest (11-24) we're top (although we've played more).

 

[briny_ear]

10 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

I think this is a bit silly, sorry.

I don’t think people hate him.

Not “hate” perhaps. I think “despise” is the word that comes to my mind, reading some of the frequent contributors to this thread.

Whatever, it’s quite dispiriting to come onto the site after a win, with the idea of celebrating a bit, to find people banging on about how rubbish Bruce’s football is.

If people weren’t obsessing so much about Steve Bruce, they might be able to enjoy our successes a bit more.

Edited November 22, 2017 by briny_ear