Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[The Edge]

Bruce has said after the game "I ain't ever going to walk away from a challenge".

Except he did just that at Sheffield United, Wigan, Palace, Small Heath, Wigan a second time and Hull.

Yeah has the same ring as when I read Tony Benn's diaires a while back. He was scathing of the crooked Mandelson and his 'I am not a quitter', except quitting as minister twice (albeit forcibly), quitting as an MP, quitting as an EU Commissioner

The man has no shame. He insults our intelligence with his nonsensical press conferences and his buddies in the media lap it up. Not one of them has the cohonies to pull him up even when he blatantly lies. When he unashamedly tells a whopper in the press conference like "I'm not one to walk away from a challenge" has not one journo got the balls to call him out and list all the times when he did just that? It's so  obvious now that he's just waiting for a pay off to swell his already bulging wallet.He better than anyone knows how close we are to ffp penalties and paying him off just exacerbates our situation yet he just keeps hanging on and coming out with his bullshit excuses.  It makes me feel sick just thinking about it.

[AV82EC]

The trouble with the media is they’re not interested in a mid table Championship club and a lot of people moaning at the Manager.

To be fair Matt Law of the Telegraph was there yesterday, his daughters first game poor thing, and he tweeted afterwards #timeforchange. Whether he’d be allowed to do a hatchet job in the Telegraph is another matter.

[Edvard Remberg]

Has he gone yet? 😫😫😫

[Matt Collins]

If the FFP stuff is as potentially serious as reported in the Times then they must put off new candidates? It would basically be get up with this squad (which is great but unbalanced and w no real coaching time) or bust

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

True, but then I don't want anyone who wouldn't back himself to get promoted with this squad, unbalanced as it is.

[andyh]

It is crystal clear that Bruce is now in ‘self preservation’ mode.
When we get to that point in the proceedings, there is absolutely no point in continuing the relationship.

The owners HAVE to act quickly. They really do.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

I think you'll find Richard that what I posted you repeated. You conveniently missed out "under Bruce" to make your point. It also might be worth you looking back at the facts of the last 2 seasons before you call someone's post as being "absolute nonsense". Like me I'm sure you want what's best for AVFC and that means Bruce has got to go. Enjoy your Sunday!

[Matt Collins]

True, but then I don't want anyone who wouldn't back himself to get promoted with this squad, unbalanced as it is.

That got me thinking that it would perhaps suit both parties to have a one year contract

But this is the antithesis of the proper rebuild job we need.

[Monty]

He's just a manager getting steadily more and more left behind. He used to manage in the Premier League, then the yo-yo clubs, and now he just looks like a run-of-the-mill Championship manager. He's not adapting, but changing, and the game is moving on without him.

[A Northern Soul]

I was talking to a guy last week who works very closely with Edens. When he found out I was a Villa fan he asked if I knew of Wes Edens. I answered of course and we went on to talk about Wes’s style. He told me Wes is a winner and is single minded in getting the businesses he owns to be successful. He also said that they brought Bruce in for a chat in the summer with an open mind and decided to give him a chance to quickly deliver what he professed he said he would do, but that he was on a tightrope and they were ready to make a change at the first sign of trouble. That looks like now. How much of this is elaboration, conjecture, speculation or bullshit I am not sure but I found it heartening

[aj2k77]

Burton
Ipswich
Reading
Brentford
Sheff Utd
Blackburn
Sheff Wed


You couldn't ask for any easier run of fixtures to bed in any new players and get things up and running. We won none of those. Look at the names again. Not a single victory. Bruce is finished. His body language is terrible, he's retreating more and more in to his shell, a defensive, dull, safety first manager going in to defensive mode can only get worse and worse. We have all the attacking players you could wish for and don't look like we have a goal in us. We have arguably the most gifted technical player in the division and without making excuses for him, he is moved from position to position game by game, looking half lost. The squad is all over the shop, right backs, wingers and goal keepers here there and everywhere.

It all looks and sounds like it's being made up as Bruce goes along, there is no plan, kid in a sweet shop style, crap, basic, lazy, throw 11 players on the pitch style management. Play the percentages, whips balls in rubbish.  2 years down then lines from him taking over and it looks like he's been here 2 weeks.

[TheMalandro]

The "I'm not going anywhere" is, in my opinion, directed at the owners not the fans.

Just get it done, he doesn't want too be here and we can't afford for it to drag on.

[Steve67]

Are we due a points deduction and therefore unattractive to anyone but Bruce at this point?  Therefore stick with him for this season as long as those points don’t relegate us. Conspiracy theory alert!! Start again next season?

[Little Class]

It's absolute nonsense to say we have blown our chances of auto promotion with 37 games to go and only 5 points off first. Get a new manager in now and I believe we can still do it.

over last 10 years, average points to come 2nd is 88, and twice it has been higher.  2pts on average a match is 92, the target for automatic promotion and guaranteed [almost].  2pts per game now plus 13 already is 87.  So, we can do it if he goes now.

[Damo70]

One or two previous posts have touched on a certain point that I agree with. Whether you want Bruce out (which is pretty much everybody now) or not there comes a time when the manager is a 'dead man walking' and it is not a case of if he will go but just how soon he will go and the fans, the press and more importantly the players and the manager himself all know it. There comes a point when it is almost a case of putting him out of his misery and at that point (which I think we are reaching) it is best to get it over and done with. I also note four of our next six games are away from home.