Dave J Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 On 25/02/2019 at 10:02, Stevo985 said: Yes on the retarded bit. That was deliberate exaggeration. I don't actually think that anyone else thinks Steve Bruce is retarded, just for clarification. The point was I think people make out he is an utterly useless football manager. When he really isn't, despite his failings with us. I don't think hatred is hyperbole though. You get hilariously slated when you say it, but there are clearly posters who hate Steve Bruce. I don't know why they deny it. I hate plenty of people involved in football and openly admit it. Really ? why on earth would you deliberately exaggerate in a post only to admit this when challenged - just what is the point - what would you be hoping to achieve ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave J Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 On 25/02/2019 at 17:03, bannedfromHandV said: Really? Even when we were challenging for it all season. Even at the full time whistle in VP after the second playoff semi final? Before kick off outside Wembley? At all those points you were certain that SB could not get us promoted? Or are you combining your cynicism with the beauty of hindsight? No hindsight needed BFHV - I like a number of others knew exactly what Bruce would bring to the party. With all due respect do you not get a little tired of mentioning the play off final as though it was something to be lauded over? It was miserable failure - the very fact that we had to play the darn thing is testament to this imo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommo_b Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 His Sheff Wednesday are now above us in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 On 25/02/2019 at 16:28, Keyblade said: We have, but we've managed to stop the rot or at least most of it by 2017, which Bruce played a major role in credit to him. But if he couldn't get promoted with 17/18 Aston Villa I would be amazed if he could do it anywhere else, much less with Wednesday. He got a similar quality team in Hull up in 15/16. Snodgrass, Harry Maguire, Diame, Andrew Robertson, Abel Hernandez. Actually with some of those names probably better than what we had last year. Anyway him getting us up just wasn't meant to be. I think he honestly struggled with the expectations here, you could see that with his digs whenever we had a 4-5 winless run and everyone started to get worried (justifiably) whereas other clubs he's been at don't bat eyelids when they have runs like that down here. Slow start but got us in contention and was unlucky after we did get to 2nd and had a little dip Cardiff hit that mad 7 match winning streak. Then we ran into Fulham who were on an amazing run. When you look at championship this season there is nowhere near the same quality. Look at Leeds faltering now. Boro same as last season. West Brom are basically us last year. Norwich or Sheffield United will probably win the league with about 85 points, we got more just finishing in the play offs last year. No idea what SB was thinking in the summer with some of the decisions he made. Can only think with the turmoil and then new owners coming in he knew he'd be a goner eventually so that maybe explains some of the very lax decisions he made regarding the back 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 2 hours ago, Dave J said: No hindsight needed BFHV - I like a number of others knew exactly what Bruce would bring to the party. With all due respect do you not get a little tired of mentioning the play off final as though it was something to be lauded over? It was miserable failure - the very fact that we had to play the darn thing is testament to this imo Yep Dave, you're always right. Let's get McCormack back in up front. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 23 hours ago, Zatman said: He set us up like some minnow going to Barcelona or Real Madrid. We never laid a glove on Fulham. He did same away to Fulham and Wolves in the league too Think the plan was to start with damage limitation mode, try to keep it 0-0 to half time and then get stronger in second half but it all played into Fulham's hands, standing off them from the start allowed their ball players to get into their stride like Tom Cairney. Didn't like his team selection either, Jedinak was great v Boro but that's his sort of game. 2 man central midfield of him and Hourihane was easily bypassed by Fulham. Fulham were just a nightmare opponent really in a one off final. Boro and Derby the other other options if placings had been different and I'd have been much more confident against either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Pity he could never beat Brentford when he was here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakotaDakota Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 7 minutes ago, VillaChris said: No idea what SB was thinking in the summer with some of the decisions he made. Can only think with the turmoil and then new owners coming in he knew he'd be a goner eventually so that maybe explains some of the very lax decisions he made regarding the back 4. Well quite literally 2 weeks before the season started the entire squad was up for sale and we could well have gone bust before kicking a ball. Guessing this had a bit of an impact on any plans for the summer. Obviously some of this should probably have been addressed in August and it was to a point, Who knows who else we tried to sign (other than Bryan who changed his mind but would have filled a gap) that maybe said no due to the state of the place at the time and remaining uncertainty about the likelihood of us actually making it to the end of the season 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 20 hours ago, Genie said: The play off final first half was a bizarre game off football from our point of view. I bet Fulham couldn’t believe their luck. I thought we were ok second half and had a go but it might of been partly down to Fulham sitting back on their lead. We moan about Fredricks not getting a red for his Grealish stamp but what's forgotten is Odoi did get red so we had 25 minutes to score v ten men (and then extra 30 minutes to score another and go up). Only shot on target was a mazy Grealish run wasn't it? Will have to check the match stats but don't think we even had one corner over the 90 minutes which was bonkers. Was same in 2015 cup final. There's teams who freeze in major cup finals and then there's Aston Villa on a whole different level. The guys who are old enough to watch us win twice at Wembley in mid 90s don't know how lucky they are compared to our three recent appearances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakotaDakota Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 P6 W3 D3 L0 F8 A3 PTS 12 : Pre-Seasons - 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted February 26, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted February 26, 2019 2 minutes ago, LakotaDakota said: P6 W3 D3 L0 F8 A3 PTS 12 : Pre-Seasons - 0 Shame his record for us this season wasn’t that good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 10 hours ago, TRO said: Of Course....and I am not arguing with that, same with Pulis.....They haven't got reputations that precede them for nothing. I am merely saying on occasions, its not the set up....Steve Bruce came out and said he couldn't understand the way we played in the first half at Wembley, that indicates to me along with the second half display, they were not playing directly to orders.....It could equally be argued Fulham went in to defensive mode in the second half and had we scored, they could of come under fire from their fans for doing so. My point is....Its not always a direct instruction from the manager that formulates a game....we would all like to think it is, but I think we give them too much credit for the control we think they have over proceedings.....you only have to look at their faces during a game to know. I am pretty sure the Chelsea Goalkeeper, was not playing to orders, either....just kidding with that bizarre one. Depends what SB said to them in the dressing room ten minutes before kick off. And even how we prepared in the week before the final? I can't believe given how we played that first half phrases like "front foot", "play freely" and "press" would've appeared much in his time talk. I can imagine all the cliches he used to use in his interviews about "playing yourself into the game" "keep things tight" would've. It's like Mourinho at Man. United. Sets training up all week to be defensive and restrictive and guess what talented players play like that on a matchday. Now TRO I know you'll come back with DS can't do this either and I agree it's been a really poor and disappointing run since xmas but I just don't think Dean has the squad to play his style, certainly not without Grealish in the 11. Big squad overhaul this summer. Anyway what's a fact is we were 90 minutes away from premier league football so the performance was simply a massive disappointment considering what was at stake. Who knows how many seasons it will take for us to get into that position again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 10 minutes ago, VillaChris said: We moan about Fredricks not getting a red for his Grealish stamp but what's forgotten is Odoi did get red so we had 25 minutes to score v ten men (and then extra 30 minutes to score another and go up). Only shot on target was a mazy Grealish run wasn't it? Will have to check the match stats but don't think we even had one corner over the 90 minutes which was bonkers. Was same in 2015 cup final. There's teams who freeze in major cup finals and then there's Aston Villa on a whole different level. The guys who are old enough to watch us win twice at Wembley in mid 90s don't know how lucky they are compared to our three recent appearances. 4? The 2000 FA Cup final was just as awful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted February 26, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted February 26, 2019 1 minute ago, Zatman said: 4? The 2000 FA Cup final was just as awful The Liverpool semi final was at Wembley to be fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 1 hour ago, Tommo_b said: His Sheff Wednesday are now above us in the league. Helps that he hasn't had to inherit a steve bruce mess. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 10 minutes ago, LakotaDakota said: P6 W3 D3 L0 F8 A3 PTS 12 : Pre-Seasons - 0 Helps that he hasn't had to inherit a steve bruce mess. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 1 minute ago, Shropshire Lad said: The Liverpool semi final was at Wembley to be fair. True I thought he meant our recent finals. Liverpool game seems to be the exception. Chelsea semi final was awful too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted February 26, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted February 26, 2019 Just now, Zatman said: True I thought he meant our recent finals. Liverpool game seems to be the exception. Chelsea semi final was awful too Fair enough I’ve genuinely wiped that one from my memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 14 minutes ago, LakotaDakota said: Well quite literally 2 weeks before the season started the entire squad was up for sale and we could well have gone bust before kicking a ball. Guessing this had a bit of an impact on any plans for the summer. Obviously some of this should probably have been addressed in August and it was to a point, Who knows who else we tried to sign (other than Bryan who changed his mind but would have filled a gap) that maybe said no due to the state of the place at the time and remaining uncertainty about the likelihood of us actually making it to the end of the season What about elphick on loan, axel at rb and jedinak as cb? Signing keeper who would struggle in sunday league games? Paying Bolassie 80,000 a week so he could get fit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 16 minutes ago, LakotaDakota said: Well quite literally 2 weeks before the season started the entire squad was up for sale and we could well have gone bust before kicking a ball. Guessing this had a bit of an impact on any plans for the summer. Obviously some of this should probably have been addressed in August and it was to a point, Who knows who else we tried to sign (other than Bryan who changed his mind but would have filled a gap) that maybe said no due to the state of the place at the time and remaining uncertainty about the likelihood of us actually making it to the end of the season Yes all true. However once Nas and Wes came in we had that mini bonanza period of re-signing Jack to big new contract, signing McGinn for 5m to strengthen midfield and then the star signings of Tammy, El Ghazi and Bolasie to give us the goals to be in top 6 contention. We also went after that French CB and McKenna from Aberdeen. I just think he simply didn't rate Elphick one little bit and wanted shot of him regardless of whether we could actually get any other CB in. Bad decision particularly as Chester from start of the season didn't look right (think of him lunging in and giving away that penalty v Reading). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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