Steve Bruce

[TRO]

25 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

That's a worrying statement but probably quite accurate. Do we literally have nobody else who can play that role?

No.........And that in itself is damning

Edited February 14, 2017 by TRO

[villa89]

Just now, TRO said:

but to think it is all down to the manager alone, dare I say is wishful thinking.

Honestly I fail to see what else it could be. It's not the atmosphere at the ground or around the club. It's not the structures at board level or the transfers that we've made or the training facilities. For me it has to be the managers fault. Just like it was Di Matteo's and Sherwoods fault when we were underperforming under them, it's Bruce's fault now. He'll get time to show us if he's good enough to get us out of it but I have seen nothing to suggest he is, which is disappointing.

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

8 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

Has he lost the dressing room?

None of the players look like they want to fight for him.

Clearly has, if he was managing a Sunday league team in the same manner wouldn't you lose confidence.(although he could argue that he is trying to give everyone a chance with his constant changes).

[thunderball]

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

I don't know how we have signed most of the leagues better players and landed in this dark dungeon, but we have.....but to think it is all down to the manager alone, dare I say is wishful thinking.

.....but what other conclusion can you draw? RDM did better with arguably less resources, and at least he was consistently average. Bruce is getting worse by the week. Lose to Newcastle next and we could be four points from relegation in a tail spin of form.

[Zatman]

1 minute ago, Mantis said:

Thing is, Bruce was pretty much the consensus appointment. It looks terrible in hindsight but it didn't at the time.

i dont know, i said it was a terrible appointment at the time

[DCJonah]

Only matter of time now. Absolutely no chance he's the manager start of next season. 

Xia knows we have to get promoted next year. 

It seemed the right decision, but we are not the club I thought we were when Bruce was appointed. We need a completely different type of football manager to rebuild this team up from the ground floor. 

Every day he's in charge and we're not looking for his replacement is a wasted day. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

I think just like us, they thought he was safe hands to get us up, and then revise.

Now as that is doomed, restart the whole bloody process, progressive, top management team!

We don't meed mamy players anymore (aside from anyone with arms who is not Johnstone in goal). Bring Gollini back.

Chuck money at our management and coaching team, this will make or break us!

[AshVilla]

If we don't get promoted next year were screwed.

The next managerial choice is vital we should be going up as champions with this squad we just need to find a manager that will get the best out of them.

[villa89]

Just now, Zatman said:

i dont know, i said it was a terrible appointment at the time

I didn't like his appointment at the time  because he has shown that he's not good enough as a premier league manager but was willing to accept that with his track record he should be able to get us promoted. I was wrong on the latter. 

[VillaCas]

8 minutes ago, TRO said:

Look, I'm not going to defend this awful, awful run.

but he has had 4 promotions from this league and even this dramatically turgid football, cannot take that away from him.

Good managers win bad managers lose.....its all a bit of a basic statement.

how do know, he hasn't got confidence in his tactics, but losses drain managers too, they are not impervious to it.....events have proved he is struggling to come up with answers and in the timescale I think this will beat him.

I don't know how we have signed most of the leagues better players and landed in this dark dungeon, but we have.....but to think it is all down to the manager alone, dare I say is wishful thinking.

I Don't care who is right or who is wrong.....I'm like you, I just want a winning manager.....maybe I'm not as confident as you of getting one....if he is sacked.

You've constantly been peddling the same "trust in Bruce" line TRO. Even now you are saying that it is "the timescale that will beat him" as if he will get this right if only we are more patient. No it's not down to the manager alone, it's also down to the team that choose the manager and the team that choose the players. I'm absolutely convinced that had we bought Wagner in in October we would be in the play-off spots now.

I could care less about Bruces four promotions - all I care about is what he has done at Villa and he has done an absolutely terrible terrible job

After all the money that's been spent on players that were absolute standouts elsewhere we sit six points above the drop

A bad appointment - No excuses

[thunderball]

No sane person will take us now. Xia wont sack him either, not unless we are right above the relegation zone. Scarily, that could be three games.

[Upper north stander]

7 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

If we don't get promoted next year were screwed.

The next managerial choice is vital we should be going up as champions with this squad we just need to find a manager that will get the best out of them.

I really hope I'm wrong but I think we could be here for the long haul like a Leeds Or forest

[Mantis]

12 minutes ago, Zatman said:

i dont know, i said it was a terrible appointment at the time

Well done, but most didn't.

[villa89]

3 minutes ago, Upper north stander said:

I really hope I'm wrong but I think we could be here for the long haul like a Leeds Or forest

I'm struggling to see how we could turnaround from where we are now to even be a playoff team next season. I dont think Bruce is the man to do it anyway. 

Edited February 14, 2017 by villa89

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

2 minutes ago, Upper north stander said:

I really hope I'm wrong but I think we could be here for the long haul like a Leeds Or forest

What is even more pathetic is that none of them have ever had an owner and opportunity like ours. Watch one of these teams here get taken over by another Chinese Billionaire, get it right amd show us how it's done. In true Villa fashion ffs.

It's like signing Harewood when we were about to hit champions League and Man City being taken over all again.

[villa4europe]

still hasnt come out and spouted some post match nonsense by the sound of it

[jon_c]

16 minutes ago, Zatman said:

i dont know, i said it was a terrible appointment at the time

I found it frustratingly baffling at the time that so many were so many were calling for his appointment, I couldn't fathom it then and can't fathom his support now. It's as if people never watched one of his teams play.

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

14 minutes ago, VillaCas said:

A poor, unambitious, short-sighted appointment from the off. I predicted 12th when he took over but even that would be wildly optimistic now.  Nice bloke but Bruce is looking more and more a footballing dinosaur and clearly not up to the job

He needs to go - he won't resign, they never do - he will think that he can turn it around. It's extremely unlikely that that will happen

I suspect that he will hang on until the Newcastle game but if Xia is brave he will pull the trigger now. I feel really sorry for Xia, he deserves better than this, although he does need to find some better advisors to help him choose a manager. The same team that unearthed RDM and Bruce can't be allowed to go for third choice

Appoint a caretaker and hope we can grab two or three wins to keep us safe and then find a proper manager in the summer. I'd go for Wagner if Huddersfield don't go up - if Xia had had good advice he would already be here now

You can't start out with that bolded sentence and then allow your heart to bleed for Xia.

His choice was RDM; and with the appointment of Bruce, neither he or his advisers foresaw what you stated right there in your first sentence. You saw it from the outset, as did others, so why in their collective football wisdom didn't they!?

I'm sorry, but it's their job to get those decisions right and between them, they have massively **** up. The board has overseen two totally awful managerial appointments in less than six months. Xia has either chosen badly himself or picked a bunch of short sighted clowns to advise him, but either way, the buck stops with him. 

 

[TRO]

19 minutes ago, VillaCas said:

You've constantly been peddling the same "trust in Bruce" line TRO. Even now you are saying that it is "the timescale that will beat him" as if he will get this right if only we are more patient. No it's not down to the manager alone, it's also down to the team that choose the manager and the team that choose the players. I'm absolutely convinced that had we bought Wagner in in October we would be in the play-off spots now.

I could care less about Bruces four promotions - all I care about is what he has done at Villa and he has done an absolutely terrible terrible job

After all the money that's been spent on players that were absolute standouts elsewhere we sit six points above the drop

A bad appointment - No excuses

I wasn't peddling anything, I was appealing for stability and yes I am very surprised he is in this situation and also surprised Ranieri is too, but not to digress.

But you wasn't so convinced or vociferous after 12 games when he had a 41% win ratio, was you....its only since this dreadful run has materialised that your confidence in not wanting Bruce had grown.

Look no one can defend this, you would be mad to......but other than gut feel, how do you know, who can fix this.

but you can no more be sure Wagner would fix this than Bruce being given an extended run.....no one can be sure that RDM could'nt have turned it around.

Quite frankly I am staggered that Steve Bruce has found himself in this position.

He is a well experienced manager......Ron Saunders was initially branded in some quarters as another journeyman manager.....Tony Barton had the best win ratio since the war and who was he.....know one knows.

hindsight is an exact science.

Ps even though I have defended him I cannot unconditionally defend this low level serving match after match, despite the mitigating circumstances.

Edited February 14, 2017 by TRO

[srsmithusa]

I don't hate Bruce as a person or as a manager, but he needs to be replaced as soon as we can find a replacement.  I don't know whether he's a dinosaur, or too defensive, or too cautious, or just making mistakes, or just getting screwed by under-performing players, or all of the above.

We have changed owners, board, managers, coaches, fitness trainers, players, and lucky underwear.  I don't even blame Bruce for all our problems.  Neither to I blame a curse.

I blame a 7-8 year mentality that is content with small victories.  (we had more shots, we didn't get relegated, we kept Benteke, etc. etc)  In our defense we were forced to settle for small victories when our owner shut his wallet.  It was the mental defense of many fans, but it was also the defense of the owner, the board, the manager, the players.  We took pride in small victories and learned to settle for them.  A contented haze just as certainly as an addict comfortably hazed out while the house is on fire (sorry for the melodrama).  Look at the effort from half our roster last year and the "efforts" they put in, and defended!!  Look at Gabby's waist line!

Changing it has to come from Tony and from the board.  (it started at the top, it has to be changed from the top.)

They cannot accept small victories as good enough.  That's why they have to let Bruce go.  He must be the first sacrifice made (there will almost certainly be others). Players, trainers, coaches, must see in the actions of the club that we demand results.  Full stop.   "Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try."  "Do" is rewarded.  "Do not" is penalized.  "Try" is the same as "do not."

If the board will not have that attitude in retaining a manager, the players will not have that attitude for pressuring the opponent, showing for a pass, or finishing a goal attempt.

Sorry Steve, for the good of Villa, you have to go.