Steve Bruce

[This Could Be Rotterdam]

Noticed he said it was ironic that we found it more difficult playing against 10 men. 

Moronic would have been a more appropriate word. 

[Jareth]

A few teams have made a good start, us included. But why do I get the feeling we'll fall short again? I know it was the third game in but we cannot drop points in this manner, we have to seize those chances over a season or we will just miss out again. The manager has to change, sooner rather than later please.

[Mazrim]

I keep hearing there's no plan B. I agree. But plan A is not entirely obvious either. I think a lot of fans would cut Bruce more slack if there was some semblance of a plan or method. It seems no more thought out than where players are playing and... do your best.

The new owners are football fans. They will see this too for sure. If Bruce wants to keep his job I suggest he thinks of how he wants the team to play and at least one alternative if that's not working, and do it PDQ.

This is what should have happened in preseason, rather than fannying about  trying to play 3 Centre halves when you only really have one. WTF was he thinking?

I don't expect any changes though. It hasnt happened in 2 years.

[omariqy]

Brentford will be a good test. We are at that point where we need to see an improvement in performance. If we don't then Wednesday will be very difficult. 

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

1 hour ago, A'Villan said:

A research done on the 2012-13 season, 98 teams across the top five leagues (England,  France, Germany, Italy, Spain) were analysed on their passing patterns in order to establish and define any unique playing style using statistics. Over 1 million passes were analysed. There was only one outlier. Barca's tiki taka. Surprise, surprise. The team dominating Europe at that period. What this revealed about Barca's game was that in a three-pass sequence, a player who passed the ball will often receive it back in a one-two exchange immediately. Rocket science, huh? Well, apparently that's what set them apart from the other 97 top tier teams. One-twos.

It  makes sense though and is what we're lacking.

Soooo, problem solved then: we need a manager who can get us playing like Barcelona. It can’t be any of the managers from the other 97 teams in that study, though, because they don’t play like Barca either. 

On the bolded bit, perhaps Bruce bought McGinn because he wanted a more dynamic midfielder who could compliment Grealish; one who is adept at passing sharply, moving quickly and finding spaces to take the ball back effectively. 

 

Edited August 19, 2018 by Morley_crosses_to_Withe

[Stevo985]

1 hour ago, Taxahunter said:

But Stevo, they didnt park the bus, they outplayed us with 10 men for the first 15 minutes of the second half and was closer, than we were, to scoring the 2nd goal 

Yes they did. And no they weren’t. 

[romavillan]

1 hour ago, Jareth said:

What yer heard on that?

not seen heard it myself but apparently Bruce mentioned appointment inside two weeks in the pre match presser

[mykeyb]

9 hours ago, TRO said:

Yes, but how many has he lost through no fault of his own.....He has had players simply not do it for him...like Lansbury and Hogan.

I accept he has to take responsibility for that.

Its not a clear picture, there are many arguments and counter arguments.

6-7 games might be enough for our owners to make a decision on Bruce's suitability to complete the task required. I wouldn't be surprised if they have been working on plan b for a while.

[Vive_La_Villa]

I didn’t see the game so can’t comment on the performance but we really should be beating a team that is down to 10 men for so long. 

I’m not confident about Wednesday. Would probably take the draw. 

Will be interesting to see how Bruce sets the team up.

 

[Herman22]

I didn't see the game yesterday, just saw the highlights from Sky. Pretty disappointing when a manager can't see the potential in being a man up for 50mins and make some positive changes to win the game. But you aren't going to change SB, he is negative by nature and will still see that as a point gained on the road rather than two lost. 

For me, it's his team selections that are baffling. Tuan at RB is just wrong, either play him at CB or leave him on the bench. Jedi at CB when he clearly doesn't want to play there. These are not enforced changes. Elmo or RDL can play at RB, Elphick or Tuan can play at CB. Even BB at DM is an out of position trial from last season.  I'd still prefer to see Jedi in DM. 

[Guest av1]

20 minutes ago, Herman22 said:

For me, it's his team selections that are baffling. Tuan at RB is just wrong, either play him at CB or leave him on the bench. Jedi at CB when he clearly doesn't want to play there. These are not enforced changes. Elmo or RDL can play at RB, Elphick or Tuan can play at CB. Even BB at DM is an out of position trial from last season.  I'd still prefer to see Jedi in DM. 

The scary thing about the back 5 is that the only 2 that are any good were already at the club when Bruce joined. 

Imagine if RDM hadn't signed Chester? 

When you actually access Bruce's signings it gets even worse.

Bree - Doesn't get a look in

Taylor - is useless

Lansbury - Can't get a game

Hogan - £12m down the pan

Keepers x2 - look useless 

 

The bloke simply can not build a team. This is his 2nd full season, and the only decent players at the club are those that were here before his arrival.

I'm sure that point won't be lost on the new owners and the incoming board. 

[Guest av1]

36 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I didn’t see the game so can’t comment on the performance but we really should be beating a team that is down to 10 men for so long. 

 

 

Just to add, a team that most people believe will be relegated this season. Ipswich are absolutely dreadful. 

[TRO]

4 hours ago, DaveAV1 said:

How can it be no fault of his own?? Sure nobody has 100% success rate in signings and injuries happen to all teams. But he was fully aware of how many loan players we had that wouldn’t be available the following season. 

The main  reason Hogan hasn’t worked out is that he was the wrong player for the style that Steve Bruce’s teams play. Hardly not his fault. 

Dave, you keep banging that drum.....but there is no evidence to prove it......its just an opinion, like mine is, the problem lies with the player, he needs to adapt and he hasn't. 

losing Terry and Johnstone was not his fault.....Terry could have been kept on and Johnstone could have been bought, had the funds been there and a way around FFP.....that is not down to him.

He was fully aware, but, being aware and being able to do something about it, is 2 different things.

Edited August 19, 2018 by TRO

[Guest av1]

1 minute ago, TRO said:

Dave, you keep banging that drum.....but there is no evidence to prove it......its just an opinion, like mine is, the problem lies with the player, he needs to adapt and he hasn't. 

 

Proof? No, it can never be proved. But lumping the ball up to a guy like Hogan will never work in a million years. 

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

losing Terry and Johnstone was not his fault.....Terry could have been kept on and Johnstone could have been bought, had the funds been there and a way around FFP.....that is not down to him.

 

But he knew there was an issue with FFP, so whilst it wasn't his job to resolve that, only an idiot would have been under the impression that we could have kept Terry. 

It was a gamble that didn't pay off. He knew that. 

[TRO]

3 hours ago, Taxahunter said:

Has he? All teams we have played against this season has scored against us, Hull, Wigan, Yeovil and Ipswich. Granted Yeovil was disallowed, but In my opinion it shouldnt have been. Its  Championship teams we should have had clean sheets against. 

We are not solid at present, but I think last season we was more solid than the season before.

I don't think we are solid right now.

[TRO]

5 minutes ago, av1 said:

Proof? No, it can never be proved. But lumping the ball up to a guy like Hogan will never work in a million years. 

But he knew there was an issue with FFP, so whilst it wasn't his job to resolve that, only an idiot would have been under the impression that we could have kept Terry. 

It was a gamble that didn't pay off. He knew that. 

so he should have done what?

[srsmithusa]

2 hours ago, Mazrim said:

I keep hearing there's no plan B. I agree. But plan A is not entirely obvious either. I think a lot of fans would cut Bruce more slack if there was some semblance of a plan or method. It seems no more thought out than where players are playing and... do your best.

The new owners are football fans. They will see this too for sure. If Bruce wants to keep his job I suggest he thinks of how he wants the team to play and at least one alternative if that's not working, and do it PDQ.

This is what should have happened in preseason, rather than fannying about  trying to play 3 Centre halves when you only really have one. WTF was he thinking?

I don't expect any changes though. It hasnt happened in 2 years.

Took the words out of my mouth.   

[TRO]

1 hour ago, mykeyb said:

6-7 games might be enough for our owners to make a decision on Bruce's suitability to complete the task required. I wouldn't be surprised if they have been working on plan b for a while.

You have to be aware.....The opinions on here in the main are not representative of the overall opinions elsewhere.

I think Steve Bruce has more support than you think.

That is not to say they all think he is perfect.....but we have already seen the Gary Rowett saga at Blues. It sent them in to a tail spin.

People i speak to Villa Fans and others and I mention so many want him out on here.....they just give a derisory grin and say "are you joking"

 

[TRO]

3 hours ago, Rodders said:

In defending Bruce in the summer - relatively speaking - I was doing so with eyes wide open that there would be many frustrating days like this one ahead. It's annoying, but I suppose at least we have points on the board whilst hopefully improving very quickly. If we play this badly for a while, irrespective of points gained, Bruce won't be here by Christmas. The new owners cant be blind. 

We cannot keep playing like this, I agree.

They will be seeking advice and opinions from All sorts of quarters and they will build a picture.

The burning question is ....where does the problem lie?.......Now I know the over whelming opinion ( on here)will be the manager, but they will have to establish that in their own mind.

[Guest av1]

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

so he should have done what?

On Hogan.

He could have done what competent  football managers do when looking to sign a player. 

Ie: Accessed what he needed, looked at his budget, and looked at players that suit the style of play he was looking to implement.

 

On Terry. 

Maybe not sign the bloke in the first place and use the bundles of money used on wages on someone that could give us more than one season. 

 

I find it quite ironic that Dr Xia gets lambasted (rightfully so) for gambling the clubs future on promotion, yet Bruce, who took the same short term gamble on Terry, Snodgrass, Johnstone and Grabban did exactly the same thing and no one bats an eyelid. 

Bruce knew about FFP, and therefore knew that none of those players were obtainable without promotion. He took the same gamble and he failed. 

It also doesn't help that most of the players he has signedon permanent deals aren't even good enough to get in tbe first 11. Our best players are those that the much derided RDM bought to the club.