Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[sirlordbaltimore]

For me it boils down to this:  Do the results and performances under Bruce since the turn of the year merit the sack?   They do.  He could really have no complaints if he was punted now.

When did a manager having about 20 games to turn a sinking ship become enough time to judge him ?

[CT Villan]

Agreed, I told you it was all in the mind.........get in a seriously good Sports Psychologist now, before it's too late.

We already have one... http://www.tombatescoaching.com/pages/About-Us.html

[cdbearsfan]

We don't need to be looking for limited managers.

Go for Bielsa, Howe or Rodgers. They'd sort us out.

[KevinGage]

For me it boils down to this:  Do the results and performances under Bruce since the turn of the year merit the sack?   They do.  He could really have no complaints if he was punted now.

When did a manager having about 20 games to turn a sinking ship become enough time to judge him ?

If we get to the end of the season and are in the same position, or worse is 35 games (the guts of a full PL season and the amount of games he will have had since Di Matteo) an adequate sample size to see some green shoots of recovery?

[russon]

http://www.managerstats.co.uk/managers/martin-o-neill/

I notice MON's Villa record was W80 D60 L50.....we'd thieve our own grandmothers for that now, but then again four consecutive top 6 finishes and a League Cup Final were deemed insufficient if memory serves. Ah well, let's not rake over old coals.

[PeterWithesShin]

There's not too many managers at any club that won't be under pressure after a run of 2 draws and 7 defeats no matter how long they've been in the job. When that run is as Aston Villa manager in division 2 it's definitely a cause for concern.

[Chris Smith]

Just for a second try taking a step backwards. Pretend that you are not a Villa FA and imagine you are neutral observer. What would your opinion be of a club who having been relegated gave a new manager significant funds in the summer only to sack him after a third of the season and then after giving his replacement further significant funds their fans were calling for his head 3 games later?

I was as frustrated as everyone else coming out of the ground last night but we have to keep our nerve, tough it out until the end of the season and then take stock.

[PeterWithesShin]

MON fooled people so much they even think he finished top 6 four times

[russon]

MON fooled people so much they even think he finished top 6 four times

Guilty as charged. Reminds me of the Chris Nicholl goal at OT in '77 which started life as a 30 yarder but is now believed to have started its journey to the back of the net from Tipton.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

MON fooled people so much they even think he finished top 6 four times

And the person starting this whole thread couldn't wait to see the back of him for a good while before he eventually left because he wasn't good enough. Seem to recall how he wasn't good enough to take us to the next level (or something along those lines, if I remember correctly).

[AV82EC]

Just for a second try taking a step backwards. Pretend that you are not a Villa FA and imagine you are neutral observer. What would your opinion be of a club who having been relegated gave a new manager significant funds in the summer only to sack him after a third of the season and then after giving his replacement further significant funds their fans were calling for his head 3 games later?

I was as frustrated as everyone else coming out of the ground last night but we have to keep our nerve, tough it out until the end of the season and then take stock.

Like.

[Allan C]

At some stage you simply have to draw the line at this hire and fire approach.

IMO it is sheer madness to invest money in a 'manager' and then sack him after only a few games/months. It just becomes a vicious circle. It's so difficult as supporters to adopt some patience especially in this day and age when the cost of supporting the club is so excessive. We all want value for money and almost instant success.

Unfortunately for us our club has been so poorly managed over a number of year that I just don't see an easy fix.

I really didn't understand the boards appointment in the summer of RDM but other than that we seem to have assembled a group of individuals that know about football and what is required to turn this club around. With an owner that has so far shown willingness to support them then I feel we have to back the board' judgement and allow Steve Bruce with his vast experience the chance to stabilise the club.

Having said that the results since Christmas have been hugely disappointing and surprising and its very difficult to take a step back from this and look at the overall picture especially when what we are witnessing on the field results wise has been so poor.

Since the transfer window, other than Brentford we have lost all the games due to horrendous individual errors. In all the other games we have been pretty good for long period which suggests to me that the manager is doing something right.

As difficult as it is I think we just need to tough this out season out see which of the new recruits settle and reassess the situation in the summer when the manager has a full pre season to really define how his team will play.

The time to draw the line is when we get the right manager in place. Bruce is not that manager IMO. He's reached his level and I'm sick of hearing that he "knows this league". It's a poor league with largely poor players. We should move heaven and earth to get the right manager now. No more quick fixes. If Newcastle can do it we can. We are a massive club.

Who is the right manager? We’ve tried every combination of manager since PubeHead flounced out and we are back to square one. We were massive club, but are fast turning into an irrelevancy and a poisoned management challis. I can’t think of a single solitary name that would really improve us and frankly if we sack him now we will become an even bigger laughing stock.
There is a fundamental and deep rooted problem at the club, I sure as hell don’t know what it is, but it ain’t just the manager.

The fundamental problem is the manager, just about everything else has changed for the better, unless there is some truth in the badge curse. We need a manager who will take us into the PL and beyond. We keep going for limited managers and therefore get limited results.we are a massive club and if we try we can lure that man to the club

[PeterWithesShin]

Most people on here that are questioning Bruce aren't saying sack him now. Sacking him today is as daft as giving him a free pass to still be our manager next season regardless of how the rest of this season goes imo.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Why sack a manager who's been here 5 minutes? That's just ludicrous and pretty stupid in my opinion.

Is Bruce having a mare at the moment? Yes, clearly. However, he's a manager who has been proven to be good enough to take teams up. He's just signed players he wanted. Just let him sort how he wants the team to play and settle on a team selection. Give him time. Changing managers every two seconds isn't going to work. Let him manage and overcome this extremely bad form. There's no point in sacking him. Who do you think would come that would be able to change things in 2 seconds?

Benitez couldn't stop Newcastle going down, but he's been there a while now, got the team to how he wants it and they're going up. Why don't we try it?

Id give Bruce until Xmas and then, if we're within 6/7/8 points of playoffs, keep him for the rest of the season. He's got to have time and be given a chance.

[KevinGage]

MON fooled people so much they even think he finished top 6 four times

And the person starting this whole thread couldn't wait to see the back of him for a good while before he eventually left because he wasn't good enough. Seem to recall how he wasn't good enough to take us to the next level (or something along those lines, if I remember correctly).

He plateaued in 2009.  He signed off on the Ireland/Milner swap and took his ball home with him when he couldn't sign Aiden McGreedy -despite already having three wingers on the books.

Hard to see how any of those deals would have helped us close the gap on the top 4.