Steve Bruce

[Designer1]

39 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Out of interest and apologies if this has been mentioned or covered already, but did anyone else see Bruces post match interview last night after the game? It looked like he had bawled his eyes out moments before coming to do the interview.  Strange.

Probably a Cry/Wank 

[TRO]

43 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Out of interest and apologies if this has been mentioned or covered already, but did anyone else see Bruces post match interview last night after the game? It looked like he had bawled his eyes out moments before coming to do the interview.  Strange.

yeah, I thought he looked a bit blarry eyed too....might have been windy.

I also saw the bit where, Their manager referred to Steve as a "class act of a man"......quite a statement....not often you hear that from an opposing manager.

I felt quite proud of him.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, blandy said:

Ha. Hadn’t seen your post above when I just wrote that @TRO 

why...does it change your opinion.?

[TRO]

8 hours ago, DaveAV1 said:

I’m 55 I’ve supported Villa since I was a boy. Outside of my family and a few close friends Aston Villa mean more to me than anything. I went to my first games when we were in the old 3rd division, I was at Highbury and Rotterdam. Up to and including last season I was a season ticket holder, but we moved to the Highlands of Scotland last August and didn’t attend many games. So this season after more years than I can remember, I couldn’t really justify a season ticket.

I neither hate, or even dislike the manager and do not constantly slag him off, I’m just critical of some of the things he does and I believe we could do better managerially. It’s a poor argument when you need to resort to attacking the messenger just because you have different views. I take it that you only comment on things that you have only seen with your own two eyes and don’t glean any information from reading reports or speaking to people? A pretty narrow field of view. 

I’m an Aston Villa supporter, I want what is best for the club I love, as I’m sure all the other posters in here do, including you. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me and neither do I expect to agree with all of the varied views expressed in here. But what I do expect is my opinions to be taken as just that, my opinion, agreeable or otherwise and not a reason to question why I should support Aston Villa. I afford the same respect to every other poster, even though I think some are wrong. I may disagree and question why they hold such opinion, but I never question their right to hold that opinion or cast doubts over their support. 

Can you be our scout in Scotland Dave and Find a big caber tossing brute with a ginger beard that can play centre Half.

[TRO]

3 hours ago, DaveAV1 said:

Perhaps I’m a bit sensitive when it comes to Villa, and may have reacted in a way which misjudged your intentions. However in my opinion Steve Bruce has history when it comes to shifting blame away from himself. 

As for getting behind the team that’s what I’ve done since I was “chosen” almost 50 years ago. During matches I’m 100% very vocally supportive, I’ve never booed and for me that is a big no no. Expressing opinion on here, I think you’ll agree is largely an irrelevance. 

I have, quite recently, expressed support for a lot of aspects of SB’s management. The players clearly like him, as do I as a bloke, and there is no doubt the team spirit is a million miles better than when he arrived. I think last season he built a decent squad, albeit short term. But that’s what I think he was employed to do and most managers are fairly short term in their thinking due to the impatient nature of the business. 

Essentially he’s not a bad manager, more a frustrating one. I think he’s not really sure of what the team needs and so is tentative and driven by a fear of losing. I’m less bothered about the negative style, Warnock got Cardiff promoted with it. The difference being perhaps he knew exactly what he wanted, and wasn’t under the same sort of pressure as SB inevitably is. I just never feel confident that we can win games, so I hope he continues to prove me wrong. UTV

I think that is a fair reference.....I also think John Gregory was reported as saying the same, his one fear was losing.

I also think Neil Warnock was lucky, in the sense that he had the bones of the right kind of players for him to get up.....If he had of inherited a team of lightweights, he would have failed.....In the main they were his sort.

[Dave J]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

Just a point Pete....I'm not saying all our players are not good enough, only some.....and furthermore,to make it more confusing sometimes the same ones are good enough.

let me give you an example.

Albert Adomah

Last season, he started as a squad player on the peripheral, moved his status to regular due to his impact on the team....He was at one time, an integral part of our improvement in results.

Now, I presume there was no change in coaching during the period Albert had his purple patch and him going on Holiday in c Feb/March.

Players who lose form for long periods or it goes up and down like a fiddlers elbow....are in my book, not good enough...consistency is a central ingredient as to how good a player is.

I believe the players who played for the teams that went up were more consistent in their form, than ours.

This passage is an observation.....its not me saying our coaching is not to be judged.

I watch the games and I think at times ( with empathy)they have never seen a coach.....then I watch the individual and think how can a coach have an influence on that, that is just poor play..... A poor first touch or a poorly weight back pass....or a lack of awareness of a player getting around the back of us ( POF) Poor decision making.

I am not naive enough to think all coaches are blameless....but I also think some things they are blamed for... are actually the player themselves.

Just as an added point......Jack did dedicated strength training after his injury and the results are amazing how it has affected his game.....It would do well for some players who have lost their form to do some additional dedicated work on their weaknesses, to regain confidence.

assuming they are not already doing that.

But TRO - you make these observations time again regarding the players not being good enough or bad decision making - however us non - believers understand this also - it's the negative and disjointed  ethos underpinning the team what we struggle with tbh 

[osmark86]

5 hours ago, blandy said:

Yeah. Something I've belatedly realised is that you very rarely see Villa play one touch football with "triangles" pinging it around, pass and move. It's like the default is player gets ball takes a touch, has a look to see who or what is on or around, takes another touch, then passes the ball, often back or sideways. There's frequently too much distance between players, frequently the forward option is closely marked, and it's either knock it back or sideways, or into a space out wide for a wide player to chase. Speed of thought and movement and one touch passing is much absent from most of our play. It's absolutely 100% a coaching/management thing.

Exactly. It's enormously frustrating to watcv. This is something that man city is very good at. You can tell by how they move that each of their players always has more than one option at any given time. This is all down to positioning. They have much better players ofc, but the style of play is not impossible because we're not on the same level. It's all about movement.

[TRO]

8 minutes ago, Dave J said:

But TRO - you make these observations time again regarding the players not being good enough or bad decision making - however us non - believers understand this also - it's the negative and disjointed  ethos underpinning the team what we struggle with tbh 

but Dave, you don't think that is a contributing factor to your claims?

Albert and Kodj's form alone are contributing to that....not to mention others.

[TRO]

3 minutes ago, osmark86 said:

Exactly. It's enormously frustrating to watcv. This is something that man city is very good at. You can tell by how they move that each of their players always has more than one option at any given time. This is all down to positioning. They have much better players ofc, but the style of play is not impossible because we're not on the same level. It's all about movement.

So why doesn't he buy some players from the championship.....and save the club some money?

of course its about movement and you have to have the players with the intelligence to do it.

[osmark86]

4 hours ago, TRO said:

I don't disagree with your assessment Pete....but I have reservations about your conclusions

I think speed of thought is intrinsic and comes with how good a player you are.....In saying that, I am not defending the coaching, because I simply don't know what is causing what you are witnessing.....but I do see the same.

If I was pressed, I would say its down to the quality of the player.....and watching John McGinn for the first time, i feel even more confident......If his game goes down the pan, then I may be persuaded to side with you.

I would say that one of the purposes of good coaching is to alleviate having to think too much. If you know what you're supposed to do you shouldn't have to think too much about it. Football is a game of skill first and foremost but also a game of decisions. If you're trained to think as a unit a lot of those decisions should be taken for you or at least limited to a smaller set of options to allow for quicker decision making. I guess I just want to see evidence of a better drilled team to have some hope for promotion this year. If not that then the least I'm expecting is some Braveheart levels of self-sacrifice on the pitch.

Edited August 15, 2018 by osmark86

[osmark86]

4 minutes ago, TRO said:

So why doesn't he buy some players from the championship.....and save the club some money?

of course its about movement and you have to have the players with the intelligence to do it.

Intelligence plays a part sure, but if you don't have a bunch of free-thinkers then don't tell them to improvise. This is all based on assumption ofc, but if such is the case then I would be much more rigid in my instructions to limit individual decision making. I just think that something is fundamentally wrong in the coaching based on how inept we look as a unit on the field at times.

[srsmithusa]

3 hours ago, TRO said:

I don't disagree with your assessment Pete....but I have reservations about your conclusions

I think speed of thought is intrinsic and comes with how good a player you are.....In saying that, I am not defending the coaching, because I simply don't know what is causing what you are witnessing.....but I do see the same.

If I was pressed, I would say its down to the quality of the player.....and watching John McGinn for the first time, i feel even more confident......If his game goes down the pan, then I may be persuaded to side with you.

I’ve seen enough that I’m willing to sadly predict McGinn will “go down the pan” with Bruce in charge.   I truly hope I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure I am right.  That’s why I remain Bruce out.  

[sheepyvillian]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

yeah, I thought he looked a bit blarry eyed too....might have been windy.

I also saw the bit where, Their manager referred to Steve as a "class act of a man"......quite a statement....not often you hear that from an opposing manager.

I felt quite proud of him.

I'd be crying after that performance.

[sheepyvillian]

10 minutes ago, srsmithusa said:

I’ve seen enough that I’m willing to sadly predict McGinn will “go down the pan” with Bruce in charge.   I truly hope I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure I am right.  That’s why I remain Bruce out.  

And I don't bloody blame you.

[vreitti]

36 minutes ago, TRO said:

So why doesn't he buy some players from the championship.....and save the club some money?

of course its about movement and you have to have the players with the intelligence to do it.

If I'm not mistaken he did in fact buy several of the most influential players from the championship? Players that were performing superbly before, for other teams. Have they suddenly lost what intelligence they had? Surely you agree we have (and had last season too) one of the best squads in this division? How come we, after two years with Bruce in charge, still get outplayed plenty, by far lesser players/teams?

Edited August 15, 2018 by vreitti

[vreitti]

Having just watched the uefa super cup final... The team with a more refined and drilled system, just beat a team of individuals, lacking a discernible gameplan. Of course it's at a higher level, and we are talking about a "meaningless" one-off game only, but i think it highlights our current predicament quite well.

[Dodgyknees]

2 hours ago, Designer1 said:

Probably a Cry/Wank 

Had one of those once, in front of a photo of Karren Brady.

[blandy]

2 hours ago, TRO said:

why...does it change your opinion.?

No, not at all, it was just that I tagged you for the impression I had that you feel it’s more a player issue, then I saw your post where you said as much. Sorry .

but I do nevertheless listen with interest and (I hope at least) an open mind. I have no wisdom on this, only an opinion.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, blandy said:

No, not at all, it was just that I tagged you for the impression I had that you feel it’s more a player issue, then I saw your post where you said as much. Sorry .

but I do nevertheless listen with interest and (I hope at least) an open mind. I have no wisdom on this, only an opinion.

Me too, Pete......its just an opinion.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, vreitti said:

If I'm not mistaken he did in fact buy several of the most influential players from the championship? Players that were performing superbly before, for other teams. Have they suddenly lost what intelligence they had? Surely you agree we have (and had last season too) one of the best squads in this division? How come we, after two years with Bruce in charge, still get outplayed plenty, by far lesser players/teams?

I was responding to a comment referring to Man city's movement.....I was saying why doesn't Pep sign them from the championship instead of the best around.....if it was JUST coaching.