Steve Bruce

[markavfc40]

1 hour ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I keep seeing this but to be honest, I heard the opposite, I heard fans cheering them off the pitch at half time.

From where I was stood in the Holte I heard plenty of booing at half time although in fairness in the Trinity adjacent the tunnel the players did get a resounding send off and plenty of encouragement.

Bottom line for me is that as a fan base we can't be so reactionary and short sighted. In terms of Bruce this means remembering what he inherited 18 months ago which was a club that was at rock bottom in terms of confidence that wreaked of a losers mentality that hadn't won away from home for 14 months and had won a total of 5 games in 18 months. It was potentially heading in the same direction as where Sunderland find themselves now.

More recently it means putting Tuesdays result in the context of still having won 10 of our last 13 games.

We need to step back sometimes and cut the manager and team a bit of slack as despite things being very much on an upward trajectory lately there will still be downs and it is at those moments we can play our part by staying 100% behind them.

 

Edited March 15, 2018 by markavfc40

[srsmithusa]

4 hours ago, striker said:

There will be those who will make it though (they’re doing it now rehashing the stability argument) and that’s their prerogative but for me one of Bruce’s failings this season is not utilising the squad at his disposal.

The persistence on using Onomah until lately instead of giving Hayes more of a chance and not using O’Hare more when Grealish was injured has cost Villa points. It was also very obvious to me that Bjarnson was a decent DM in the making some time ago and would have added more energy to the midfield yet it took the arrival of Agnew to recognise that.

In essence Bruce has cost Villa points this season by not having the guts to change it when needed and he did it again (on his own admittance) against QPR.

Yes the criticism is harsh when you consider the recent run and the result against Wolves but those performances should convince us that Villa were capable of more this season if the manager had gotten the team selections consistently right.

Agree with this.  I agree that it may seem harsh after the recent string of wins, but criticism that is harsh is not criticism that is unfounded.  It’s his job to win us points by his decisions, and he has done that, but he has also cost us more points than separate us from the league leaders.  Again, I know that some see that as harsh, but harsh is not inaccurate.  

Edited March 16, 2018 by srsmithusa

[sheepyvillian]

54 minutes ago, striker said:

There will be those who will make it though (they’re doing it now rehashing the stability argument) and that’s their prerogative but for me one of Bruce’s failings this season is not utilising the squad at his disposal.

The persistence on using Onomah until lately instead of giving Hayes more of a chance and not using O’Hare more when Grealish was injured has cost Villa points. It was also very obvious to me that Bjarnson was a decent DM in the making some time ago and would have added more energy to the midfield yet it took the arrival of Agnew to recognise that.

In essence Bruce has cost Villa points this season by not having the guts to change it when needed and he did it again (on his own admittance) against QPR.

Yes the criticism is harsh when you consider the recent run and the result against Wolves but those performances should convince us that Villa were capable of more this season if the manager had gotten the team selections consistently right.

The recent run won't mean Tom Tit without the reward of promotion.

[Vive_La_Villa]

After Tuesday I no longer have an expectation for any of the last 9 games. If we can get beaten so convincingly against one of the worst away teams in the league then we can’t take anything for granted now. 

9 games away from a crisis Steve. 

[AntrimBlack]

58 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

After Tuesday I no longer have an expectation for any of the last 9 games. If we can get beaten so convincingly against one of the worst away teams in the league then we can’t take anything for granted now. 

9 games away from a crisis Steve. 

Unfortunately, the crisis will be ours, not his.

[Keener window-cleaner]

1 hour ago, markavfc40 said:

From where I was stood in the Holte I heard plenty of booing at half time although in fairness in the Trinity adjacent the tunnel the players did get a resounding send off and plenty of encouragement.

Bottom line for me is that as a fan base we can't be so reactionary and short sighted. In terms of Bruce this means remembering what he inherited 18 months ago which was a club that was at rock bottom in terms of confidence that wreaked of a losers mentality that hadn't won away from home for 14 months and had won a total of 5 games in 18 months. It was potentially heading in the same direction as where Sunderland find themselves now.

More recently it means putting Tuesdays result in the context of still having won 10 of our last 13 games.

We need to step back sometimes and cut the manager and team a bit of slack as despite things being very much on an upward trajectory lately there will still be downs and it is at those moments we can play our part by staying 100% behind them.

 

I agree with the booing part, for me it would take quite much before I would start booing the players. The booing is a bad habit.

But I don't buy the picture that we were rock bottom in terms of confidence 18 months ago and heading in the same direction as Sunderland are now. I think there are some important differences. Sunderland is in a complete shambles, they are litterarly rock bottom in the league, they have an owner who has wanted out for some time and is ready to give the club away. We on the other hand had a new owner with one of our largest (the largest?) net spend in a summer, and there was a feel good factor at the club. We had some mixed performances and lost some games, but mainly it was because of all our draws that we slipped down the table and was under the middle of the table for a period. There was a period of gloom where Di Matteo was questioned and we looked like we would blow our chances to get promoted. But I wouldn't call it rock bottom or a risk of getting to the shambles Sunderland are in now. The state the club was in the season before that though I would say we were heading in the Sunderland direction, or could even say that we actually were there.   

[srsmithusa]

Y’all know I’m not Bruce’s biggest fan. But booing our own team at half time is never acceptable in my book.  

[sheepyvillian]

3 hours ago, blandy said:

I think that's a big part of it. The number of games everyone plays in this league is mad. It's mental as well as physical fatigue, IMO.

It's the same for all the teams. Why should we be more fatigued than any other club ?

[vreitti]

6 minutes ago, sheepyvillian said:

It's the same for all the teams. Why should we be more fatigued than any other club ?

Precisely. Don't see Cardiff or Fulham suffering to much with fatigue. Just another lame excuse, and we really don't want anymore of those.

Edited March 15, 2018 by vreitti

[sheepyvillian]

9 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

 

So Steve Bruce should be rewarded for maybe getting us up next season, after failing to get us up this for the past 2 seasons, with what  will more than likely be a weaker squad as everything has been thrown at it for the past couple of seasons.

If he can't get us up, or consistent with this very expensively assembled squad, what would magically change and make banking our future on Steve Bruce a sensible option?

Sorry but we would be better off getting a long term, talented young coach at that point to nurture the young talent and develop whatever the "Villa Engine" is.

Totally on point. Gwan my bredren.

[terrytini]

1 hour ago, sheepyvillian said:

It's the same for all the teams. Why should we be more fatigued than any other club ?

True.

But equally, why shouldn’t we be ?

[TRO]

4 hours ago, sheepyvillian said:

Saunders took us up in his first season. For me, as far as the manager goes, it's promotion or failure. The money he's spent with the talent at his disposal we should expect nothing less than promotion .

That was the sole reason for his appointment. It has to be, for the good name that is Aston Villa, this season. I'm not interested in give him another season, the same was being said at the end of the last one. 

Are you serious......"said at the end of the last one". That team was no where near ready.

saunders did but he didn't have fix a confidence crises.....he was left a decent platform by Vic Crowe....not least Brian Little and Keith Leonard.

Edited March 16, 2018 by TRO

[TRO]

4 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

After Tuesday I no longer have an expectation for any of the last 9 games. If we can get beaten so convincingly against one of the worst away teams in the league then we can’t take anything for granted now. 

9 games away from a crisis Steve. 

A bit harsh.....but in all honesty it highlighted the fact that we can't take any team for granted.

[A'Villan]

10 hours ago, markavfc40 said:

From where I was stood in the Holte I heard plenty of booing at half time although in fairness in the Trinity adjacent the tunnel the players did get a resounding send off and plenty of encouragement.

Bottom line for me is that as a fan base we can't be so reactionary and short sighted. In terms of Bruce this means remembering what he inherited 18 months ago which was a club that was at rock bottom in terms of confidence that wreaked of a losers mentality that hadn't won away from home for 14 months and had won a total of 5 games in 18 months. It was potentially heading in the same direction as where Sunderland find themselves now.

More recently it means putting Tuesdays result in the context of still having won 10 of our last 13 games.

We need to step back sometimes and cut the manager and team a bit of slack as despite things being very much on an upward trajectory lately there will still be downs and it is at those moments we can play our part by staying 100% behind them.

 

Absolutely.

We all want promotion and all of us are emotionally invested in achieving it.

One loss to QPR doesn't close that door. Despite being a blow to our chances of automatic promotion.

IMO whether you are pleased with Bruce or not now is not the time to do anything but back the team.

We still have an excellent chance of going up.

We should be a source of confidence rather than compounding  the anxieties.

Until our chances of going up are put to bed we should be behind the team and Bruce.

 

[Vive_La_Villa]

23 minutes ago, A'Villan said:

IMO whether you are pleased with Bruce or not now is not the time to do anything but back the team.

I’m not Bruce’s biggest fans but this is something we should all agree with. The team really need our support. 

[blandy]

9 hours ago, sheepyvillian said:

It's the same for all the teams. Why should we be more fatigued than any other club ?

I think all teams suffer, but with different training methods, different age profiles, differences in difficulty of individual games the effects occur at different times of the season.

[AntrimBlack]

9 hours ago, sheepyvillian said:

It's the same for all the teams. Why should we be more fatigued than any other club ?

Our players are older?

[sheepyvillian]

7 hours ago, TRO said:

Are you serious......"said at the end of the last one". That team was no where near ready.

saunders did but he didn't have fix a confidence crises.....he was left a decent platform by Vic Crowe....not least Brian Little and Keith Leonard.

That confidence seems to be waning.

[TheStagMan]

I am not one of Bruce's biggest fans (you may have noticed) and much as I was infuriated by the performance mid week we absolutely have to get behind the team and the manager for the rest of the season. Let's hope for a reaction on Saturday and we get back on form for the rest of the season.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, sheepyvillian said:

That confidence seems to be waning.

In you?