Aston Villa Gerrards Ball vs Aston Villa Bruces Ball- Which one is the worst to watch?

[ChesterDad]

19 hours ago, Xela said:

Bruce by far.

Lambert was even worse. 

Not much of a choice really - both absolutely shocking managers.

I have a degree of sympathy for Lambert - he was well and truly shafted imo 

[icouldtelltheworld]

Might start a petition asking for us to never have another Steve as manager.

Football is easily worse under Gerrard, theres a bit of revisionism around the Bruce era for me. We weren't great to watch, but the road to the play offs in 17/18 was somewhat exciting.

We are turgid under Gerrard and its the first time I've ever really lost interest in watching us, other than maybe late-stage Lambert

[YLN]

7 hours ago, wedge said:

What an utterly pointless thread. My goodness our fanbase are cringeworthy bed-wetters at times. 

What an utterly pointless reply. My goodness our fanbase are cringeworthy bed-wetters at times. 

[PaulC]

How can you compare championship football with premier league? If we were in the championship under Gerrard we could play a different type of football but this league is unforgiving. 

[a-k]

9 hours ago, sne said:

Steve Bruce.

But with the players Gerrard had available I guess one could argue his football is even worse.

This. We are playing some of the worst football in the league despite having some of the most creative players in the league

[nick76]

1 hour ago, PaulC said:

How can you compare championship football with premier league? If we were in the championship under Gerrard we could play a different type of football but this league is unforgiving. 

Given how Gerrard is regressing this team we may find out how Gerrard manages us in the Championship next season

[Demitri_C]

Lambert wasnt great but even he was better than gerrard in my opinion

He pulled off some great wins like arsenal away, plop. Whats gerrard done? Literally his best win was leeds away and Southampton home 

[Mark Albrighton]

1 hour ago, PaulC said:

How can you compare championship football with premier league? If we were in the championship under Gerrard we could play a different type of football but this league is unforgiving. 

While it is apples and oranges, sometimes it is possible to say this was a fairly manky orange but that apple was rotten to the core.

For instance, I’d be accepting of the view that Ings is a better striker than Kodija, but Kodija was a better striker for us in the Championship than Ings has been for us in the Premier League (so far).

You just have to weight things accordingly to allow for a fair(ish) comparison.

Having said that, I don’t feel particularly strongly either way on the particular comparison between Gerrard and Bruce.

[VillanousOne]

43 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Lambert wasnt great but even he was better than gerrard in my opinion

He pulled off some great wins like arsenal away, plop. Whats gerrard done? Literally his best win was leeds away and Southampton home 

Agreed, Lambert also had a far worse squad.

Bruce was afforded a ridiculously expensive squad for the Championship and still ended up relying on loan players, BUT i do remember enjoying some games under him and Lambert.

Gerrard actually had some decent games and results last season but that feels like a long time ago and our results and more importantly our performances have got steadily worse.

[May-Z]

I dislike Gerrard's football more than Bruce's. 

Under Bruce, we kept tight and he just let the attackers try and conjure something up on their own....but at least he put players in positions where they could try to do that. 

Stevie has a shit style AND plays a formation where it castrates any individual ability, with players actually regressing.

 

[messi11]

4 hours ago, PaulC said:

How can you compare championship football with premier league? If we were in the championship under Gerrard we could play a different type of football but this league is unforgiving. 

Football is Football? 11 players, 1 ref, 1 ball, 1 goalkeeper. Does it matter if its the german league, champions league, league 2, afgan league, Sunday league?

[ciggiesnbeer]

6 hours ago, Stephen_Evans said:

Apart from Scott Hogan of course, that legendary maker of runs his teammates couldn't see!

To be fair to Bruce his other more expensive striker was passed out drunk in a bush all the time so I have compassion.

[StewieGriffin]

Went with Gerrard because of the talent he inherited and the money he spent

[Tom13]

1 hour ago, May-Z said:

I dislike Gerrard's football more than Bruce's. 

Under Bruce, we kept tight and he just let the attackers try and conjure something up on their own....but at least he put players in positions where they could try to do that. 

Stevie has a shit style AND plays a formation where it castrates any individual ability, with players actually regressing.

And Bruce didn't freeze out more technical players

[Keyblade]

1 hour ago, StewieGriffin said:

Went with Gerrard because of the talent he inherited and the money he spent

In relative terms, I think Brucie is still ahead there.

[DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth]

I narrowly went with Gerrard’s on the basis that I think Bruce did at least turn around the rot in his initial season. I also feel some sympathy for the man for his personal suffering in that awful final season.

[skarroki]

On 02/10/2022 at 21:46, Xela said:

Bruce was in the Championship and we were effectively the Man City of that league in terms of money/players

Maybe in terms of players, I'd argue there were better squads in that league at the time, but we didn't have enough money to pay our taxes and considered selling Grealish for £4mil so I think comparing the doctor and his fabricated Chinese finances to the Arab oil money pumped into city is a stretch. 

[skarroki]

It's definitely Bruce ball. There's been an awful lot of dross down Villa Park and as much as I don't enjoy watching us at the moment, it's not worse than screaming at and praying your own players don't shoot because of how bad they are at it, on a rare foray into the opposition half (referring to the thunderbolt foot of Tonev)

[AV82]

Gerrard is lucky he has a better team otherwise he'd win this poll by a landslide.

Edited October 4, 2022 by AV82

[El Segundo]

The only time watching Villa has bored the pants off me over several games was under Bruce - until now.  Gerrard for me combines the stifling ultra caution of McLeish with the plodding,  tactics free approach of Bruce.  Not a great combination and the West Ham and Southampton games in particular were eye bleedingly bad.  Gerrard has much better quality available, so he has far less of an excuse for serving up some of the dullest football around.