Steve Bruce

[Eastie]

1 minute ago, Dave J said:

TRO -  i'm not sure the Alex Neil / Steve Bruce comparison is the correct one at this moment in time?

I also feel that since the Wolves game - Bruce has shown himself to be exactly what he is - a limited, average manager who when it really matters is unable to deliver.

We are right now at the business end of the campaign and Bruce has done nothing in recent matches to give me any confidence going into the play - offs that he can navigate successfully through them.

i think someone else suggested getting rid now just to give us a chance in the play - offs and whilst I am not advocating this - you can clearly see how someone can arrive at this conclusion - I don't see us making it now unless we have a sudden upturn in the next two home games.

For me if anyone needed any proof that he is not up to the task - then look no further than the run of and level of performance since the wolves game .

Bruce talks a lot about expectation - for me this club is too big for him - he’s much better with clubs where the expectation lies lower 

[Dave J]

29 minutes ago, Eastie said:

Pot kettle - pity he didn’t do what he preaches when wearing a villa shirt .

But when he did - he definitely did 

[Eastie]

Just now, Dave J said:

But when he did - he definitely did 

Twice

[Demitri_C]

41 minutes ago, Eastie said:

Pot kettle - pity he didn’t do what he preaches when wearing a villa shirt .

I know but he isn't wrong with this statement and we have to remember collymore was suffering with depression 

[markavfc40]

12 hours ago, briny_ear said:

Have to say I agree with this. The complacency with which our players approached today’s match was staggering - unbelievable. I’ve no doubt Steve Bruce will pay the price for this late season fade out - football managers know only too well the penalty for failure, it is s constant feature of their careers.

The remarkable thing is that no such rule appears to apply to players. It was the guys out on the pitch who let us down today, not the manager. But there will be no sackings for them. They will sail on in their careers unpunished.

I think when it is 1 or 2 players who are poor, or maybe at a push 3 or 4, then yes put it on the players. When it is pretty much the whole team who have been poor in four of the last five games then I think you have to place that at the managers door especially when it is the squad he has put together.

I actually don't think this is a squad that lacks fight or desire. It is full of big characters and more than its fair share of natural leaders and good pro's. For me we often lack a bit of focus and things like too many passes go astray and we become hesitant and take an extra pass or an extra touch and our play then becomes slow and looks lethargic.

In fairness though it is not for me, or any of us for that matter, to explain why we haven't come out all guns blazing or with a definite game plan in four of the last five games. I do find it concerning though the manager doesn't seem to have a clue either as it suggests he doesn't know what is needed to put it right. It is interesting that in 2015/16 Hull were top with 13 games to go. They then won 5 of their last 13 games and finished 4th so Bruce has had trouble in this regard before.

For now though we have to trust that he can put it right and in fairness to him we have shown in enough games this season that when we are something close to being on it we can be effective. You don't get to the upper echelons of the table and stay there for 4 or 5 months unless you are a decent side.

Despite being hugely pissed off we have missed out on automatic that is gone now but all is not lost and it is time to dust ourselves down and come together and get behind the club. The full inquest and season review can wait until there is no longer anything to play for but for now we have plenty to focus on and this can still be a very special season.

On a positive note going into the play offs one of the things that gives me the most hope is that in arguably the games with the biggest crowds and the most intense atmospheres and hype and expectation against Wolves and Sha at home we produced two of our best performances. Two or three similar performances in the play offs and our aim will have been achieved.

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by markavfc40

[Dave J]

17 minutes ago, Eastie said:

Twice

I would suggest a tad more than twice - can you imagine Collymore's natural ability coupled with say Deano's industry - we would be taking of him in world class terms 

[tomav84]

10 hours ago, Dave J said:

What! The buck stops 100% at his door - we had a chance to to put ourselves back in with an outside chance of automatic and Bruce's charger's put in a display like this.

TRO - I find it difficult that even your very good self would wish to protect Bruce after this.

unfortunately that's one of the problems with modern football. the players have put in too many half arsed efforts this season, particularly recently, and they know that they'll end up near blameless and their manager will ultimately pay the price. this is where football works differently to pretty much every industry in the world...at my year end review if i'm under performing i would be put on essentially on a watch list where if my performance did not improve i would be out the door. at no point would fingers be pointed at my manager for not motivating me properly etc...i'm paid to do my job and i've never understood why football cannot work similarly. there is enough data analysis out there to back up poor performance (distance covered, heat maps, touches per game etc)

the fact that cardiff players will run through walls for warnock, says more about his/our players than warnock/bruce

has bruce made mistakes? of course, i dont like the 4 attackers on the pitch for the last 20 mins anymore than anyone else, but he shouldn't be in the position where he has to do that in the first place and if the players had put away these piss poor oppositions earlier he wouldnt have to

[Dodgyknees]

12 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

I know but he isn't wrong with this statement and we have to remember collymore was suffering with depression 

Plenty of people do and aren't lady beating words removed. 

[Eastie]

7 minutes ago, Dave J said:

I would suggest a tad more than twice - can you imagine Collymore's natural ability coupled with say Deano's industry - we would be taking of him in world class terms 

I certainly wouldn’t be - have been watching villa for 40 years and doubt he’d get into my top 50 villa players in that time - collymore was many things but world class - not in a million years - he played with better players than Deano at Liverpool and was never world class 

[Eastie]

12 minutes ago, Dave J said:

I would suggest a tad more than twice - can you imagine Collymore's natural ability coupled with say Deano's industry - we would be taking of him in world class terms 

You are  right - I remember 3 decent games from him - Liverpool home , athletico Madrid and his hat trick against some little foreign club who I can’t remember  their name

Edited April 8, 2018 by Eastie

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

1 minute ago, Eastie said:

Liverpool home

I thought he was world class that day & highlights what a waste it all was in the end.  He could have been a legend and for that one game I will always be thankful,  I loved it. 

He ran the game and he was truly outstanding in that game IMO.

[striker]

7 hours ago, Zatman said:

Players look wrecked and all down to him. We had midweek game but was a stroll in the park and over on the hour mark but he didnt think be a good time to give Terry and few others a rest.

His subs are also absolute shambles. We used moan at MON switching full backs sub but putting the strikers on is crazy

This rest business is a bit baffling to me. There have been several international breaks, the latest most recently so I’m not sure fatigue is the main cause of Villa’s inconsistency?

Yesterday rather than getting into Norwich from the start Villa sat off them preferring to pass the ball around, or hoofing it forward (when they had it) at walking pace. It looked to me the Villa players were out for a wee stroll in the sun with the ball getting in the way and that invited Norwich onto them.

The mentality of the Villa players wasn’t right from the start and it’s only the better teams that can go up a gear winning a game (Man U yesterday for instance). There have been too many lacklustre performances like this even going back to the start of the season where fatigue shouldn’t be an issue so imo it’s either the manager’s inability to motivate the players, the players choking under pressure or the players giving 100% only when they want to?

If it’s the latter then the players do not respect the manager, fans or themselves enough to put the effort in and that would be a terrible indictment of the current squad.

That is why I’ve been banging on for some time now for Bruce to bring in one or two of the U23s particularly in midfield who would bust a gut rather than what we’re seeing at the moment which is a total lack of pride in wearing the shirt.

[sheepyvillian]

2 hours ago, Eastie said:

Pot kettle - pity he didn’t do what he preaches when wearing a villa shirt .

He was a depressed soul. Even Churchill riled against the " black dog ".

[Eastie]

1 hour ago, striker said:

This rest business is a bit baffling to me. There have been several international breaks, the latest most recently so I’m not sure fatigue is the main cause of Villa’s inconsistency?

Yesterday rather than getting into Norwich from the start Villa sat off them preferring to pass the ball around, or hoofing it forward (when they had it) at walking pace. It looked to me the Villa players were out for a wee stroll in the sun with the ball getting in the way and that invited Norwich onto them.

The mentality of the Villa players wasn’t right from the start and it’s only the better teams that can go up a gear winning a game (Man U yesterday for instance). There have been too many lacklustre performances like this even going back to the start of the season where fatigue shouldn’t be an issue so imo it’s either the manager’s inability to motivate the players, the players choking under pressure or the players giving 100% only when they want to?

If it’s the latter then the players do not respect the manager, fans or themselves enough to put the effort in and that would be a terrible indictment of the current squad.

That is why I’ve been banging on for some time now for Bruce to bring in one or two of the U23s particularly in midfield who would bust a gut rather than what we’re seeing at the moment which is a total lack of pride in wearing the shirt.

Probably a mixture of all 3 of those reasons 

[Dave J]

2 hours ago, Eastie said:

I certainly wouldn’t be - have been watching villa for 40 years and doubt he’d get into my top 50 villa players in that time - collymore was many things but world class - not in a million years - he played with better players than Deano at Liverpool and was never world class 

I think you misunderstood me - not for one moment am I suggesting Stan was world class - but he potentially could have been with the right motivation and work ethic.

on his day and up for it  - he was unplayable imo 

[sheepyvillian]

19 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Under no circumstances should Bruce be here next season.

You can guarantee if we do go up, there will be calls for him to stay on. Look at the euphoria after we won seven on the spin, you'd of thought we'd already been promoted.

Never, ever, count them chickens.

[sheepyvillian]

Just now, Dave J said:

I think you misunderstood me - not for one moment am I suggesting Stan was world class - but he potentially could have been with the right motivation and work ethic.

on his day and up for it  - he was unplayable imo 

The amount of players you could say that about, but, I agree, he was certainly one of them.

[sheepyvillian]

15 hours ago, briny_ear said:

FFS if you want to have a go at Steve Bruce then just do it. But don’t make idiots of yourselves by praising Warnock as a better manager. He has achieved far less than Bruce and whenever he has got a club to the top flight it has been like a water schute back out again.

They're  both limited. Under no circumstance would I want to see Warnock the manager of Aston Villa. FGS, let's show some ambition. 

[foreveryoung]

No way can Bruce come with us if we get promoted, he lost the skill to manage Premier League years ago. I'm actually fighting off the half of me wanting to stay in this league for the competitive football, its nice to compete rather than, "we go again" type football. If it wasn't for the money and maybe loss of players, I would be happy to stay another season, Premier league lately is pants, you obviously just buy your wins in the league.

As for a change of manager, I wouldn't take Warnock, although I have seen his passion giving the players a bollocking, an I just can't see Bruce acting in this manner, half time team takes rarely change anything. Sean Dyche is the man we need, if we had any chance, I would even take him this late in the season.

[imavillan]

Its no coincidence that the top 3 sides in the division have one thing in common.

They all have a game plan and [play with a high tempo/pace.

Our style of play is so predictable, one dimensional and slow. Apart from a few games this season the football being played is, well, boring. Its only the winning games that have been putting a smile on my face. 

I've had enough of the bloke and regardless of promotion or not he needs to go.

If we do not go up this season, i fear we will be in the Championship for quite a few years so we will need somebody to build something to make that happen. Lord knows who but it sure isn't Bruce. Equally if we do manage to get up, he is not the bloke to keep us in the Premiership.