Steve Bruce

[bobzy]

23 minutes ago, jon_c said:

Sounds from that interview, like that is what he has been told. 

Yeah - ridiculous.  We don't have to finish 10th, no prizes for that!  Getting the team used to playing with each other (oo-er) and getting a solid system for this season would be enough for me.

[ThunderPower_14]

If we sacked Bruce now we'd be looking for our 6th permanent manager in just over 2 years.

 

At what point do we stop and realise that the performances and inconsistency aren't all down to the manager?

 

We'll avoid relegation at this point barring disaster, so let's just let the dust settle on what has been an incredibly tumultuous couple of years for our football club and see if we start heading in the right direction.

[Grasshopper]

1 hour ago, Eastie said:

Steve Bruce says Villa must finish in the top 10 this season and mount a challenge for promotion next term. we have to finish in the top 10. We have to. 

“We must finish the season strongly which will stand us in good stead for the beginning of next which will be huge for everybody.”

https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2017/03/10/bruce-on-his-aims

Excuses out already ....there or there abouts..........mount a challenge.......

could mean anywhere between 7th and 10th if there's only 3pts difference. Unbelievable statement. Next season Toon & Brighton will be in PL (most likely) and one of Hudds, Leeds, Reading, ShefW & Fulham will be there too. So being "there or thereabouts/mounting a challenge" will mean us competing with (for examples sake Hudds winning playoffs) Leeds, Reading, ShefW, Fulham, Sunderland, Hull, Boro, PNE, Derby, for 7-10th. Should be sacked for saying that. Bruce Out

Edited March 10, 2017 by blandy
Please stop the line breaks, it's bad for mobile reading

[striker]

1 hour ago, Eastie said:

 

Steve Bruce says Villa must finish in the top 10 this season and mount a challenge for promotion next term.

Bruce hasn’t given up on the play-offs for the claret and blues but knows it will be a difficult task.

But, if we don’t achieve that goal this time around, Bruce says the minimum is completing the campaign in the top half and then pushing for the Premier League in 2017/18.

He said: “We know that next season we have to be there or thereabouts. I think everyone expects that. 

“A lot of the lads have a lot to prove over the next 10 games and stake a claim that once pre-season comes that they are part of our squad that will take this club to mount a challenge.

“I think everyone is disappointed this season that we haven’t been able to. But it’s not that easy. Just because we’re Aston Villa doesn’t give us a divine right as we have seen many times. 

“But it has got to be the aim and the challenge. There is still a lot to play for this season in my eyes because we have to finish in the top 10. We have to. 

“We must finish the season strongly which will stand us in good stead for the beginning of next which will be huge for everybody.”

 

https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2017/03/10/bruce-on-his-aims

Being thereabouts won't be good enough for me next season. It has to be automatic considering the money spent already and I guess more in the summer. The stability excuses won't cut it at the end of next season if he gets that much time.

[rubberman]

I hope it is mounting a challenge to win the thing, not hit top 6.  Top 2 should be the only target.  If we're out of the top 6 after a couple of months it'll be time for a change.

(Unless we screw up the rest of this season, in which case the change should come in the summer).

[Eastie]

4 minutes ago, striker said:

Being thereabouts won't be good enough for me next season. It has to be automatic considering the money spent already and I guess more in the summer. The stability excuses won't cut it at the end of next season if he gets that much time.

Agreed I thiNk the owner , staff , players and fans should all expect to be looking for automatic promotion nest season - nothing less.

[HanoiVillan]

14 minutes ago, Grasshopper said:

Excuses out already ....there or there abouts..........mount a challenge.......

could mean anywhere between 7th and 10th if there's only 3pts difference. Unbelievable statement. Next season Toon & Brighton will be in PL (most likely) and one of Hudds, Leeds, Reading, ShefW & Fulham will be there too. So being "there or thereabouts/mounting a challenge" will mean us competing with (for examples sake Hudds winning playoffs) Leeds, Reading, ShefW, Fulham, Sunderland, Hull, Boro, PNE, Derby, for 7-10th. Should be sacked for saying that. Bruce Out

He should be sacked for saying something?

[striker]

25 minutes ago, Eastie said:

Think that is a reasonable expectation for this season .

Not when Bruce first came in though and considering the start he had.

Goalposts have definitely changed to give him more time and maybe save the face of those who recommended him to be fair?

He has to mid next next season for me and if Villa are not challenging for automatic promotion by that time then it will imo be time for a change.

[blandy]

Just now, HanoiVillan said:

He should be sacked for saying something?

Not just something. Actual words, dude. #Sad! #Losers

[Wezbid]

It's just a phrase, if we're not pushing up the top next year, Bruce will know he won't be around. It's daft to think he won't be going for the title because of a throwaway sentence. 

[Grasshopper]

8 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

He should be sacked for saying something?

maybe you should read the whole post and comment/discuss instead of picking on just one part to put the whole post down.

or maybe you dont have reason to believe the rest was moronic, pathetic or simply wrong

[Grasshopper]

11 minutes ago, blandy said:

Not just something. Actual words, dude. #Sad! #Losers

tut tsk

[HanoiVillan]

3 minutes ago, Grasshopper said:

maybe you should read the whole post and comment/discuss instead of picking on just one part to put the whole post down.

or maybe you dont have reason to believe the rest was moronic, pathetic or simply wrong

I don't think the rest of the post was any better. Obviously he didn't mean 'it doesn't matter if we finish 10th next season, if we're not that far from 7th'. It's a tendentious reading of what he said. 

[Demitri_C]

I expect top 6 next season no excuses

[mikeyp102]

15 hours ago, JE- said:

You know why Bruce is such a poor appointment? Because it completely divided the fans 

When was the last time we all could properly get behind a manager that was good for us? 

That's when you know the right managerial appointment is made 

 

Everyone has different opinions, so I'd say it is virtually impossible to get a manager that doesn't divide fans. A successful  villa team will be the only way.

However from the chants Bruce gets at VP you can gage that the vast majority are supportive of him.

[Eastie]

19 minutes ago, striker said:

Not when Bruce first came in though and considering the start he had.

Goalposts have definitely changed to give him more time and maybe save the face of those who recommended him to be fair?

He has to mid next next season for me and if Villa are not challenging for automatic promotion by that time then it will imo be time for a change.

I think when he came in we were 22nd with one win in 11 and the play offs whilst still hoped for were a long shot - however after his first 12 games we were in touching distance and it looked a real possibility .

there have been reasons for the decline in results since and some of those reasons are down to Bruce - I think next season we will need to be up there come October time or there may well be swift decisions made .

personally I believe we will be up there but in December I never envisaged we would be in the bottom 10 come march .

time will tell.

[Eastie]

7 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

I expect top 6 next season no excuses

Promotion must be the aim - nothing less.

[bannedfromHandV]

27 minutes ago, Grasshopper said:

maybe you should read the whole post and comment/discuss instead of picking on just one part to put the whole post down.

or maybe you dont have reason to believe the rest was moronic, pathetic or simply wrong

Maybe people just have different opinions and don't have the same agenda as you, maybe that's possible?

 

It's rare you get anything but soundbites and throwaway comments from Managers now, this falls squarely into that category.

 

Steve Bruce, no matter what you might think is not a stupid man, also, whilst I can't claim to have ever been a particular fan of his he's always appeared to me to be self-aware, he knows the stakes, he knows that failure to be in the playoffs next season will mean insta-sack, failure to be in the top two will put his position under serious threat. 

 

He doesn't need to come out and blatantly say that just to appease you or anyone else incapable of seeing beyond the black and white.

[BOF]

I think most of us have a fair idea what is or is not acceptable next season.  It's pointless to over-analyse a throwaway line and a figure of speech in that manner.  He's not subtly placing a get-out clause into the ether that he can go back and refer to next season.  I'd say the stuff that actually matters gets said between him and the good doctor and I'd say he's under no illusion what is expected.  Placating an interviewer with a common or garden response to getting promoted is standard fare and basically nothing to see (hear?) here.

[Grasshopper]

17 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Maybe people just have different opinions and don't have the same agenda as you, maybe that's possible?

 

It's rare you get anything but soundbites and throwaway comments from Managers now, this falls squarely into that category.

 

Steve Bruce, no matter what you might think is not a stupid man, also, whilst I can't claim to have ever been a particular fan of his he's always appeared to me to be self-aware, he knows the stakes, he knows that failure to be in the playoffs next season will mean insta-sack, failure to be in the top two will put his position under serious threat. 

 

He doesn't need to come out and blatantly say that just to appease you or anyone else incapable of seeing beyond the black and white.

Unfortunately, I think the nature of the business is so high profile with such enormous rewards, that no matter who it is, at whichever club in whichever professional league, the incumbent will always want "another chance/more time/more money to finally get it right.

Sometimes, you cant get blood out of a stone.