Ratings & Reactions: Blackburn v Villa

[Villan4Life]

1 minute ago, Fowlersrs said:

Nope. I think we will tonk Rotherham Tuesday 

You sure? I reckon another draw or even a loss.

[dounavilla]

Slow build up, bypass of the midfield, no closing down , no quick 121s, the constant hoofs from the back and from Jedi, the full backs always taking the throw ons , the reliance of a peice of magic from someone, the Times we only have one body in the box, the reliance of crossing from the wings, the crossing from the wings being pathetic, playing players out of position, signing 2 poor goalies, not signing a centre back, poor formations, reliance on playing a defensive midfielder all the time.Bruce's annoying repetitive comments.

These are just some of the things I could think of in a flash that really says Bruce just has to go.

[jim]

Excuses, excuses, excuses... **** off!

[leighavfc]

We need at least 7 points from this and the next 2 imo. Even though were on course for this now thanks to Hourihane.. today was the day i turned against Bruce. We are going nowhere playing the way we are.

It sums it up when a player he dropped comes on to save him again.

[KevinRichardsonsMoustache]

Only saw the second half, I’m afraid, so please correct me if my comments are out of place. From what I saw, but the usual problems remain. As multiple posters in the match thread said, it was like some of our offensive play in the final third involved players who had trained separately.

 

We can’t control games. Blackburn seemed to realise this as the game progressed and filled the vacuum, they pressed harder and pushed back our midfield. 

 

I was alarmed by the goal for the lack of defensive shape - something I thought Bruce prided himself on.

 

The manager is clearly on borrowed time. I think he should go before the Rotherham game. Quite amazingly, he still seems to have the support of the press - the commentary on Sky was incredible. It was like someone saying that Henry VIII did okay at ruling in the sixteenth century so he’d inevitably do a good job of Brexit. The lack of foresight that Bruce is way out of his depth in 2018 is incredible. 

 

 

[Xela]

Bruce out, Terry In (as player manager!)

[jim]

We lost half the team I built last year!

Because they were all loans you clearing in the woods!

[LoughboroughLion]

Rosenior hit the nail on the head for me in post-match analysis - lot's of talent there, but not currently a team.

We need some direction. 

[eholm]

1 minute ago, dounavilla said:

Slow build up, bypass of the midfield, no closing down , no quick 121s, the constant hoofs from the back and from Jedi, the full backs always taking the throw ons , the reliance of a peice of magic from someone, the Times we only have one body in the box, the reliance of crossing from the wings, the crossing from the wings being pathetic, playing players out of position, signing 2 poor goalies, not signing a centre back, poor formations, reliance on playing a defensive midfielder all the time.Bruce's annoying repetitive comments.

These are just some of the things I could think of in a flash that really says Bruce just has to go.

Up there with the previous OBE post, sir. 

[Xela]

With the talent at our disposal we should be top of this league.

Need to change things now. 

[Only2McInallys]

Draw probably fair we had some players who were playing their first game I think we need to show patience .

Defence is a concern Tuanzebe looked better at cb

[KevinRichardsonsMoustache]

Just now, leighavfc said:

today was the day i turned against Bruce. 

Totally respect your opinion (and hitherto optimism) but as far as I could see, nothing revolutionary happened today. It was the same dross we’ve seen for the last couple of years. This is Bruce ball.

 

The only difference is he doesn’t seem to be able to lift his lumbering carcass out of the wreckage he has created this time.

[Xela]

3 minutes ago, leighavfc said:

today was the day i turned against Bruce. We are going nowhere playing the way we are.

It was the Sheff Utd game for me. Kept hoping we would 'click' but its not happening 

[Paddywhack]

Individually, I can’t really think of anyone who had a bad game, but as a team we’re limp.

We’re so easily nullified.

[Ponky]

I thought we looked better overall in defence (apart from at set pieces) with Jedinak playing in his actual position and protecting the back 4. The main problem with that is that it creates big gaps further up the pitch and more often than not we had Abraham very isolated. When Kodjia came on and he and Abraham started playing off each other a bit we looked much better. Bolasie looked very scratchy which is understandable.

Bruce doesn't seem to understand the difference between winning and not losing.  I think he played Elmo and Albert knowing they would track back, but without considering their limitations going forward. I cannot fathom the notion of neither Kodjia, who is finally back in scoring form, or El Gahazi, who actually seems to be able to cross, starting the game.

I'm not generally one to call for the manager's head but to be honest, this team looks quite broken. Yes, we can look forward to Bolasie and Abraham getting match fit, but Bruce just doesn't seem capable of getting the combination right.

 

[Rugeley Villa]

You’d think after that thrashing at Sheffield Utd, and the international break, we’d come back and put in a show for the loyal fans. Not good enough by a long stretch. Bruce will be saved by that last gasp goal, but weren’t impressed at all today. Don’t think we deserved to lose, but we offered very little today. Plenty of quality players for this league, but we just can’t seem to get it to gel, or even remotely look like we are getting it right. The keeper is simply not good enough, although he can pull off some good saves. Just too many mistakes that will cost us points. We will never challenge promotion with that defence, and that’s a fact. Very good in midfield and upfront on paper, but we are nowhere near our full potential in that department imo. We’ve got no bottle either. Unless something drastically changes, we won’t be going up, and will just miss out on the play offs. We will put good runs together, and we will also go on 5-6 games winless runs which will cost us. 

[Rugeley Villa]

8 minutes ago, leighavfc said:

We need at least 7 points from this and the next 2 imo. Even though were on course for this now thanks to Hourihane.. today was the day i turned against Bruce. We are going nowhere playing the way we are.

It sums it up when a player he dropped comes on to save him again.

Same here. Bruce has lost me today. One good performance this season, and that’s it. Not losing many, but not winning many either. We’ve had a generous start in terms of fixtures. The style of football just adds misery to what is a very frustrating start to the season. 

[leighavfc]

1 minute ago, KevinRichardsonsMoustache said:

Totally respect your opinion (and hitherto optimism) but as far as I could see, nothing revolutionary happened today. It was the same dross we’ve seen for the last couple of years. This is Bruce ball.

 

The only difference is he doesn’t seem to be able to lift his lumbering carcass out of the wreckage he has created this time.

Oh yeah i agree, nothing massive thats turned me today... a constant build up of dross since day 1 of this season has finally turned me. I dont mind if we play poor football but win, with the squad we have there is no excuse to not at least play well never mind win. Hes not doing either atm.We wont move forward under Bruce and if we are not careful will create a big gap between us and the top 2. 

Personally i like the bloke but things villa im fed up with him. Have saw both sides of argument until now, and have been largely undecided. 

[Ponky]

9 minutes ago, leighavfc said:

today was the day i turned against Bruce.

 

I'm a bit the same I think. I though today he had an amazing attacking arsenal at his disposal and we were finally going to see him going for it. Instead, he set us up to try and avoid defeat. There is simply no way you can get promoted by playing for a draw against average to poor teams, even if they're at home. 

 

[jim]

He almost looked disappointed when our goal went in. Perhaps he was dreaming of being on the beach next week?