Steve Bruce

[NeilS]

30 minutes ago, HeyAnty said:

I get that. The one thing i do hope, if our owners are half thinking of getting rid, i hope they do it now and give a new manager a chance with the international break coming up

I think it will be too soon in their minds to get rid at this moment in time. Players are hopefully still incoming, and still settling into the squad. I think the earliest we will see them act is November/December time if they don’t see the team performing consistently well by then.

[Mazrim]

They won't want to waste this season. They know there could be enough resources in the squad for a dynamic resourceful manager to get us up. I can't believe Bruce is in their future planning anyway so if he's proving a failure in the short term they'll pull the plug.

[mykeyb]

2 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said:

No, no fickleness round here, none at all..........remember how much quieter the Bruce out noise was when we won 7 games in a row last season.........no fickleness whatsoever.........

There were some fans moaning about performances after the first 3 games but we were told that the results were the most important thing. 3 games later for many of us what we feared would be the case has happened. The lack of playing identity which in the first three  games left us hoping for a bit of individual magic has meant that we have got the results we thought might happen.

This is his 3rd season and we all know what we will see on the pitch, the longer he stays the more damage is done to our promotion hopes.

[S-Platt]

3 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Oh here we go again, let's all play the silly game.

We could win the next 5 on the bounce and you can bet he would still be deemed a dinosaur failure by some on here.

 

Back to you.

let's take these 5 games for me if we played like we did for 60 mins against Brentford i would think a corner had been turned.

Would not matter if we won all I think that style over a full season would take us up.

Win the next 5 playing like a team that has no clue but score from a set piece I would still think he has no idea.

[AvfcRigo82]

It's fumbling in the dark football.

[villakram]

Barcodes getting dumped out tonight and all sorts of background nonsense there. Maybe they could make us love them again by taking Unkle Brucie off our hands... pretty please?!?

Edited August 29, 2018 by villakram
Kids, say no to Bruceball!

[sharkyvilla]

1 hour ago, Tayls said:

Pep is crazy with that tactics board. I cannot imagine Bruce analysing the opposition in one half, identifying a weak point and then passing that onto the players so they can make a specific play. 

But then there is the video analysis where Pep presents to them in a dedicated room - I wonder if Villa even bother with that! 

The gap is huge. I hope our new owners/CEO have a vision that is similar to that of owners at elite clubs. 

I thought we poached Southampton's video analyst a few years ago.  Not sure what happened to him, or whether we bother with any of it nowadays.

[Tommo_b]

4 hours ago, villabromsgrove said:

So what's your honest assessment of Bruce then Tommo?

Hah well I wanted him gone when the idea of Henry was a possibility as it was exciting.

And I get the want for him to go, trust me I do, I just find some of the statements on here mind boggling, have an opinion but keep it sensible, too many people think just because someone is unsure on sacking Bruce that they must be Bruce lovers or some crap like that.

I think every Villa fan accepts Bruce could be doing better, but are also possibly more realistic, he isn’t going to get sacked any time soon unless he goes on a losing run which obviously could happen but it’s also just as likely to go on a winning run, if the latter happens you are not going to be saying bye to Bruce any time soon, so why not just stop with the anti-Bruce nonsense and picking flaws in every obscure detail and support the manager while he is here, he might not be a good manager but he is currently ours and with that I think while we are in touching distance of the top spot he is never ever going to be sacked so just save your fingers and thumbs the effort of typing and enjoy the ride, the good and that bad. 

[Dodgyknees]

"Leeds lost, they should sack their manager"

I just spilled a bottle of red wine over on my carpet. I don't need to worry though because my neighbour also spilled red wine over his carpet today.

 

[foreveryoung]

Mendes at wolves has got all players playing the same football in one season, they strolled past Sheffield Wed last night, an there lies the problem with Bruce. After 2 years he still has not installed a consistent game into the players, we never really know what team is going to turn up.  

Last night the fringe players looked rubbish and haven't learnt nothing from Bruce and his staff. They as good as got turned over by Burton's second team. ( an they think they are going to get a game in the Premier League Ha!). Our first team are half decent because they w'ere quality before they came here

To me with the loanees we have brought in and with Fulham and Wolves out the way, we have the best squad in the League, maybe with the best single player. If we fail to get promoted this season it is going to be down to the style of play and the outdated tactics of the manager period, no excuses!!

I'm no hater by the way, I actually think Bruce is a great man manager, an a good guy. Its just obvious his tactical style of play, an coaching is now outdated in the Championship. I said before Fulham and moreso Wolves played Premier League football in the Championship, which is why they got promoted. Bruce still plays Championship football, an he can't adapt, which is why we will struggle to get promoted with him in charge.

[tinker]

A good manager takes the blame when things go wrong and gives out praise to his  team when things go right.

It's a pretty basic ethos , not followed widely ime, but it's one that should be in team sports . He's time limited 

[Chicken Field]

Was surprised to see that 7 (I think) of the starting 11 against Burton were Bruce signings + the only sub used? and he doesn't think they are good enough?

Top performers since Bruce has joined are, Grealish, Hutton and Chester (and Kodja pre injury), who all were here before he joined. The players Bruce has signed have been abysmal and do not even fit his own "brand of football". Pure madness. Can't wait until he gets the sack, sick and tired of his boring football and boring signings. 

One of the first things Bruce talked about was stability and not making too many chances, though he went on to buy a bunch of old footballers and loanees, with short term aims in mind, has brought in a total of more than 20 players in his however long he has been here, whilst hardly ever using the same XI two matches on the row, except for when we have multiple matches in a short period of time. And majority of the problems we have had for ages, are still here, such as an absolutely ridiculously massive squad, with majority of the players nowhere near good enough, new bomb squad, Grealish our only youngster given a proper chance, buying players on massive wages with no re-sale value. This is so boring as we keep on making the same mistakes and never try anything new, except for with Garde who got only a few months and was badly treated by the club, we need to get with the times.

[Pimlico_Villa]

17 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Mendes at wolves has got all players playing the same football in one season, they strolled past Sheffield Wed last night, an there lies the problem with Bruce. After 2 years he still has not installed a consistent game into the players, we never really know what team is going to turn up.  

Last night the fringe players looked rubbish and haven't learnt nothing from Bruce and his staff. They as good as got turned over by Burton's second team. ( an they think they are going to get a game in the Premier League Ha!). Our first team are half decent because they w'ere quality before they came here

To me with the loanees we have brought in and with Fulham and Wolves out the way, we have the best squad in the League, maybe with the best single player. If we fail to get promoted this season it is going to be down to the style of play and the outdated tactics of the manager period, no excuses!!

I'm no hater by the way, I actually think Bruce is a great man manager, an a good guy. Its just obvious his tactical style of play, an coaching is now outdated in the Championship. I said before Fulham and moreso Wolves played Premier League football in the Championship, which is why they got promoted. Bruce still plays Championship football, an he can't adapt, which is why we will struggle to get promoted with him in charge.

Could not agree more! 

[Kiwivillan]

2 hours ago, Tayls said:

Pep is crazy with that tactics board. I cannot imagine Bruce analysing the opposition in one half, identifying a weak point and then passing that onto the players so they can make a specific play. 

But then there is the video analysis where Pep presents to them in a dedicated room - I wonder if Villa even bother with that! 

The gap is huge. I hope our new owners/CEO have a vision that is similar to that of owners at elite clubs. 

Bruce gets new players to stand on a chair and sing a song

[DaveAV1]

1 hour ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

It's fumbling in the dark football.

I’ve had a lot of fun fumbling in the dark 

[VillanousOne]

I think the first season most fans were just glad Bruce steadied the ship, made us at least competitive again and stopped the rot (even if plenty of us could see that the football wasn't great and had serious limitations). Plus not a full season, no pre-season, players not signed by him, players signed by him in Jan needing time, it was hard to draw a complete conclusion even if we always knew Bruce was a pretty old school manager. 

Season two, preseason happens, entire squad is better, Kodjia injured but despite underused players we are eventually flooded by loans. JT though is a genius move. Roughly 25% of the times we show flashes of genuine quality and attacking flair, 25% of the time we play ugly but are hard to beat grinding out some wins and draws,  30% of the time timid safety first football and being only capable of playing for 20 mins in any game loses us matches, 20% we play ok but luck goes against us and we drop points. Despite this we stay in the mix for second place, for way longer than expected (we keep bring in former managers as coaches which also gives you hope of a playing style change), but then after some superb wins against Wolves and Cardiff (hope i have that right) we lose to Bolton, QPR and Norwich and almost lose even a play off place.

We grind through the play offs into the final then play like trash and lose.

This season I think after all the change and club problems it is wrong to expect Bruce to pull out his best eleven and have us winning straight away despite the fact we still have a decent team, I expected it to take a good 10 games before we see where we are going. But even then, i still expect the team selected to do their best and go out to try and win matches, I hope our tactics are positive and with most of the squad still here and still expensively assembled you hope we can still compete. But aside from one 45 minute half so far we have been very very average, sometimes terrible. Players out of position and lots of individual errors plus diabolical cup games.

Any normal manager deserves time, but Bruce has had long enough and there is virtually no evidence of change. Most fans believe he could sign Read Madrid's first eleven and they will still play to 'not lose' games.

Bruce has an amazing record at getting teams promoted, but it feels like the footballing world has moved on and the rules have changed.

[Keyblade]

36 minutes ago, tinker said:

A good manager takes the blame when things go wrong and gives out praise to his  team when things go right.

It's a pretty basic ethos , not followed widely ime, but it's one that should be in team sports . He's time limited 

The weird thing is, Bruce is normally pretty good at taking the blame for bad performances. He's generally given honest but measured interviews during his time here. Not sure what prompted him to throw the players under the bus like that yesterday.

[Kiwivillan]

9 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Moreira - according to most on here he wasn't signed by Bruce so do we chalk that one off?

Taylor - was used as a makeweight in an exchange to get sulky pants Ayew out of the club

Elphick - signed before SB arrived

Tuanzebe - young player, minimal experience, tried in a new role 

Bree - young player, hasn't made the grade to be honest and doesn't look likely to do so

Lansbury - bit part player

Adomah - signed before SB arrived

Hourihane - the one 'genuine' first teamer, even he's looking likely to be pushed out of the starting XI

De Laet - Signed before SB arrived

Hepburn-Murphy - young player, trying to find his way (and currently failing, sorry to say)

El Ghazi - has been here one week or so, trying to settle into the club

 

That was the starting XI last night, so 7 players signed by SB (6 if we stick with the VT narrative that the keeper was not a SB signing) and I'm sure when all 7 were signed (bearing in mind that they weren't all signed at once) they were with a view to playing an important role either now or in the future, that it hasn't happened for most of them is either through bad luck or a failure on their part.

Banging on about 'he started with 8 of his signings' a) is factually incorrect (wow, soooo not like VT to get something wrong) b) is a misrepresentation of the truth, not a lie, but a distortion of the truth to fit a narrative.

I didn't say 8 started. I said 8 took the field. 8 is Elmo.

I like the narrative the keeper wasn't Bruce signing because I can't believe he would sign someone as progressive as McGinn 

[Tayls]

1 hour ago, foreveryoung said:

Mendes at wolves has got all players playing the same football in one season, they strolled past Sheffield Wed last night, an there lies the problem with Bruce. After 2 years he still has not installed a consistent game into the players, we never really know what team is going to turn up.  

Last night the fringe players looked rubbish and haven't learnt nothing from Bruce and his staff. They as good as got turned over by Burton's second team. ( an they think they are going to get a game in the Premier League Ha!). Our first team are half decent because they w'ere quality before they came here

To me with the loanees we have brought in and with Fulham and Wolves out the way, we have the best squad in the League, maybe with the best single player. If we fail to get promoted this season it is going to be down to the style of play and the outdated tactics of the manager period, no excuses!!

I'm no hater by the way, I actually think Bruce is a great man manager, an a good guy. Its just obvious his tactical style of play, an coaching is now outdated in the Championship. I said before Fulham and moreso Wolves played Premier League football in the Championship, which is why they got promoted. Bruce still plays Championship football, an he can't adapt, which is why we will struggle to get promoted with him in charge.

I don’t mean to be a condescending asshat, but what do you mean by Mendes has got players playing...?

[Keyblade]

2 minutes ago, Tayls said:

I don’t mean to be a condescending asshat, but what do you mean by Mendes has got players playing...?

Think he meant Nuno Espirito Santo to be fair