Steve Bruce

[Dave J]

Well I'm no Bruce fan and if a parting of the ways came about today I would not be sad - however even I can recognise that last night was a case of " get the job done" so I'll cut him slack on the performance and look forward to the next round.

[villan_007]

6 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

I was hoping we'd play 352 with Bree Chester Samba and was delighted when I saw the line up then find out he played Thor at LB. Another mind boggling Bruce decision

bahaha so you want to play a right back as a center back in a 3 and you think Bruce's decision is mind boggling. Thor can play anywhere down the left/right he is a utility player.

He was also a last minute replacement for Amavi who dropped out to finalize his move. Thor took one for the team. Fair enough he had a shocker, but there is nothing mind boggling about it, especially given your alternative.

[omariqy]

Honestly I don't think you can complain. I've blasted Bruce plenty of times. However, that was a tough fixture in terrible conditions. He mixed it up, played the youth and we created plenty. Colchester are a good side and finished the season strong. No cup game is easy. 

[Rodders]

yep, given our past in games like these, we got the job done and allowed some of our kids a decent run out. conditions were crap too. Not worth analysing heavily

[Demitri_C]

9 hours ago, thabucks said:

We won't win enough either with the tactically clueless fat turd in charge. Nothing has changed from last year. He is not the man to build us and move us forward. Yeah we won but I can see a bigger picture than x2 turgid games. 

Why you getting personal for? You might not like him but to disrespect him like this after a win is actually embarassing.

[Demitri_C]

We were not great but hell we won without really playing well. Beats getting humiliated like we did under the last flop vs Luton 

[omariqy]

My maths may be off but I make it that Bruce has spent £1m net since he has been manager. 

Edited August 10, 2017 by omariqy

[vreitti]

6 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I think the Villa fans who hate him played their part in the push, lol. Fair play.

I really wanted him to do well here, young, black South American guy with a cool name, turns out football doesn't work like the movies unfortunately,

I really wanted him to do well too, unfortunately it turned out he was utter garbage as a footballer.

I certainly don't hate him or any player for that matter, and it's quite sad if he's really this sensitive to "abuse".

[Tommo_b]

6 minutes ago, omariqy said:

My maths may be off but I make it that Bruce has spent £1m net since he has been manager. 

Impressive if correct.

[markavfc40]

I thought we did ok last night in dire conditions. Both sides looked better going forward than they did defensively so I think defenders struggled way more with the pitch than the attackers.

I thought he made the right calls and I was pleased he changed the side. This is a long season and we need to keep players as fresh as possible. It was the right move to stick with Hogan though in the hope he would get off the mark and in that regard it worked a treat.

As others have said last night was about getting the job done. This Saturday we need to see 90 minutes like the first 45 against Hull.

[DCJonah]

10 minutes ago, Tommo_b said:

Impressive if correct.

Is it?

He inherited a load of players who were on loan and leaving or someone like amavi, who is not needed here but still going for big money. 

At present, his signings really haven't contributed much either. 

I like what our transfer committee has done, which Bruce is part of, but I don't think I'm at the it's impressive stage just yet. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

6 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I think the Villa fans who hate him played their part in the push, lol. Fair play.

I really wanted him to do well here, young, black South American guy with a cool name, turns out football doesn't work like the movies unfortunately,

I thought he was Dutch with Caribbean roots? either way it's best for all parties he leaves. 

Bruce seemed to like him so I suspect it was a case let the guy leave and start again.

[thabucks]

I don't understand the praise Bruce is getting for playing youth it's what a lot of bigger clubs do in the cups it's not groundbreaking. Don't get me wrong it was great to see and I thought the side he picked was spot on. However my gripe is that I can see him putting Hutton Johnstone Whealen gabby straight back in at the weekend whereas Steer Bree onomah & o'hare showed more and deserve to start over those as they are the future of the club hopefully... Bruce will destroy any momentum by reverting to type and being cautious as that's the type of manager he is. 

I was a tad harsh on him last night and as pointed out we won so I'll give him his dues. 

[osmark86]

11 minutes ago, thabucks said:

I don't understand the praise Bruce is getting for playing youth it's what a lot of bigger clubs do in the cups it's not groundbreaking. Don't get me wrong it was great to see and I thought the side he picked was spot on. However my gripe is that I can see him putting Hutton Johnstone Whealen gabby straight back in at the weekend whereas Steer Bree onomah & o'hare showed more and deserve to start over those as they are the future of the club hopefully... Bruce will destroy any momentum by reverting to type and being cautious as that's the type of manager he is. 

I was a tad harsh on him last night and as pointed out we won so I'll give him his dues. 

I guess we'll see come the weekend. I do hope he recognizes Onomah's talent and starts him next to Whealan (who I didn't think was terrible on sat). I think they'll pair up well and allow for our other players to go more forward.

I know your frustration, but we have to enjoy ourselves too :D. I think that this season might just be a really fun one.

[Stevo985]

I don't think we can read much into last night.

I wasn't very impressed by the performance, but like I said in the match thread, those conditions weren't just bad, they were **** dreadful. Weather like that is a real leveller, and I thought it was telling that in the second half when the conditions eased we took over as the clearly dominant team (although frustratingly again didn't convert any chances)

That coupled with the fringe players and youth we played with means I was happy just to get the job done and get into the next round.

Highlights were Onomah, O'Hare and the youth of our frontline in the second half. Fair play to Bruce for playing those guys, he now needs to follow it up by giving Onomah a start as he's clearly ready, and giving O'Hare game time as well.

Jed Steer did well too. Be interesting if he starts pushing Johnstone for a place.

[wazzap24]

2 hours ago, omariqy said:

My maths may be off but I make it that Bruce has spent £1m net since he has been manager. 

If the Amavi/Bacuna moves go through as expected, it'll be £7/8m in the black. 

Given the average quality of player he's signed, that's outstanding. 

[wazzap24]

2 hours ago, DCJonah said:

Is it?

He inherited a load of players who were on loan and leaving or someone like amavi, who is not needed here but still going for big money. 

At present, his signings really haven't contributed much either. 

I like what our transfer committee has done, which Bruce is part of, but I don't think I'm at the it's impressive stage just yet. 

I couldn't disagree more. It's not all down to Bruce, but what the club has done transfer wise since he arrived, isn't just impressive it's bordering on miracle working. 

To bring in 3 players who played in the prem last year and 3 top performers from the championship, whilst operating within FFP guidelines and making a reasonable net profit (assuming sales of JA/LB go through ok) is nothing short of amazing. The club had been making the NHS look well funded for years before Xia arrived. Yes RDM spent some cash and Bruce benefited from the performances of JK, JC and MJ, but what he's done since is remarkable imo. 

If the signings don't perform this season, then ultimately it's is irrelevant, but right now, on paper, he's done a brilliant job.  

[Jareth]

57 minutes ago, wazzap24 said:

If the Amavi/Bacuna moves go through as expected, it'll be £7/8m in the black. 

Given the average quality of player he's signed, that's outstanding. 

I think he's getting his January kitty lined up. Gotta be at least 10 mill available if he needs it then.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

3 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I thought he was Dutch with Caribbean roots? either way it's best for all parties he leaves. 

Bruce seemed to like him so I suspect it was a case let the guy leave and start again.

I'd be lying if I told you I know where Curacao is. Yes he is Dutch but represents them.

They are either Caribbean or South American ish region. lol

I just know he plays in Concacaf tornaments with the likes of Mexico, USA, Jamaica, Honduras etc.

[TheStagMan]

I have bashed Bruce plenty on here, but I am not going to bash him for that one. The conditions were abysmal - to the point that game was very close to being called off. Weather like that really is a leveler. At one point a cross-field ball didn't make it to its intended target because it hit the ground, there was a huge splash and it pretty much stopped dead. Plus you could see how fired up they were and that Szmodics bloke looked like a complete pshyco.

What I did see was some nice attempts at passing, and a bit of decent skill from Onomah and O'Hare

Our defence was dreadful. We were cut open far to easily and Samba in the first half was in full Micah Richards mode. In the second half he improved, but boy oh boy...... although I am not going to be too critical as it really was a makeshift defence.

Thor..... Oh my word, every time I have seen this guy in action he has been terrible. I know he was playing out of position but some of his passing was woeful even given the conditions. 

Hogan made some nice, intelligent runs, and Onomah is going to be one hell of a player.