collapse collapse

Please donate to help towards the costs of keeping this site going. Thank You.

Recent Topics

Recent Posts

Re: Other Games - 2023/24 by Sexual Ealing
[Today at 11:25:52 AM]


Re: FFP by FatSam
[Today at 11:23:15 AM]


Re: Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers Pre Match by LeeB
[Today at 11:20:10 AM]


Re: FFP by Duncan Shaw
[Today at 11:19:49 AM]


Re: UEFA Europa Conference League-Knockout stages (Lille) by curiousorange
[Today at 11:19:49 AM]


Re: Other Games - 2023/24 by Nev
[Today at 11:13:40 AM]


Re: Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers Pre Match by Nev
[Today at 11:12:18 AM]


Re: FFP by Nev
[Today at 11:04:06 AM]

Follow us on...

Author Topic: Bruce Sacked at last (now official)  (Read 2113181 times)

Offline aj2k77

  • Member
  • Posts: 10802
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1725 on: April 17, 2017, 07:47:41 PM »
I wouldn't be sad to see him go win, lose or draw next Sunday. We wouldn't miss his football or tactics, that's for sure. He gave us an initial boost that staved off relegation fears before nose diving and putting us pretty much back where we were anyway.  I'm not sure what he brings to the table, all i'm going off is the football on the field is dire, we look every inch a crap Championship side, a Cardiff or plodding Ipswich. There is no nous, guile or ingenuity, the rhythm is painfully slow, like watching two pensioners shag. The same old same old can be thrown at him, what the hell goes on during the week?

We really wouldn't miss him at all, there's probably two people at the club we'd miss, Chester and Kodjia, all the rest are replaceable so poor has the season been.

Online Brend'Watkins

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 21324
  • Location: North Birmingham Clique teritory
  • GM : 20.03.2025
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1726 on: April 17, 2017, 07:57:23 PM »
You know there is something wrong when even the winning football is shit. Have we really outclassed any team since he was here or even played really well?  Brighton away to me was our best performance for me in as much that we played well for about 30 mins. Other than that it's all huff and puff and a bit of luck here and there. I don't think more of that will be enough to get us 2nd next season. 

Offline brian green

  • Member
  • Posts: 18350
  • Age: 85
  • Location: Nice France
  • GM : 19.06.2020
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1727 on: April 17, 2017, 08:00:35 PM »
The problem is that Bruce should be doing it NOW and he is not.  He screwed up the transition of the January window and had to have two shots at the season.  Now the players will all scatter for the summer and come back fat and half arsed.  Then Bruce will have to have his third shot at getting a team to perform.  If he has a bad start it will be another season just like this one.  And repeat.

Online AV82EC

  • Member
  • Posts: 10232
  • Location: Macclesfield
  • GM : 22.02.2024
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1728 on: April 17, 2017, 08:10:14 PM »
For me, he gets the summer and the first half of the season, if we're not solidly top 3 and in with a shout of automatic promotion by then he needs to go.

I can think of 5 games where we've played well for the whole game this season and you can say we put in a performance

Rotherham H W3-0
Forest H D2-2
Brighton A D1-1
Rotherham A W2-0
Huddersfield A L0-1

You can maybe add Reading A where we seemed to play for the 90. I think we can all come up with about 20-25 others where we've been great for a half or had a really good spell of play but the rest has been average.

The plus points for me are he seems to have stopped the rot at VP where we'll probably end with a play off tally level of points but he hadn't done much to turn around our abysmal away form. We're had to beat and he's got the best out of Jedinak, Baker and Chester. Johnstone has settled after a nervy start.

The negative points

- he still hasn't worked out a style of play to suit his attacking players
- he seems to like to stop them playing rather than have them worry about us
- he doesn't know his best formation
- he certainly doesn't seem to actively promote the U23 prospects, Green aside.
- he's constructed a team with no pace

I'm less concerned with the style of play at this juncture as this season in hindsight has been about turning it around, solidity, shape and mentality but I'd like to see some efforts made on our attacking play for next season. He needs much more consistent players next season so Adomah, Grealish, Amavi and Bacuna for all their talent need to step up if they're still here.

So my feeling is he'll be given the summer but if it starts to go awry he'll have no one to blame but himself as he'll have had very generous backing in both windows.



Offline Rudy65

  • Member
  • Posts: 4414
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1729 on: April 17, 2017, 08:11:32 PM »
What an uninspiring trio, Bruce, Clemence and Calderwood. Get rid. No improvement whatsoever in 6 months. No style, panache, flair, tactics or game plan. Awful

Go foreign a la Hull, Huddersfield, Fulham, Reading. In fact wait until Huddersfield dont go up and then go and get Wagner. Even if we dont go up we might get entertained


Offline QuintonVilla

  • Member
  • Posts: 2493
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1730 on: April 17, 2017, 08:18:23 PM »
He's got until October for me. Although if we lose to that shower next week and keep them up I'll never forgive him.

Offline oldham_villa

  • Member
  • Posts: 878
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1731 on: April 17, 2017, 08:20:10 PM »
Having 2 games in the top 5 decent performances which include Rotherham is slightly more embarrassing for Bruce, i'd say. I wanted him as manager and i'm so disappointed.

The lack of passing, hoofing at every opportunity and allowing the other team to have the ball (irrespective of how poor they are), has made me want him replaced.

Offline brian green

  • Member
  • Posts: 18350
  • Age: 85
  • Location: Nice France
  • GM : 19.06.2020
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1732 on: April 17, 2017, 08:21:49 PM »
Next season could be gone by next October.  Dithering will always have us playing catch up.

Offline olaftab

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 39680
  • Location: Castle Bromwich
  • GM : 12.06.2024
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1733 on: April 17, 2017, 08:25:19 PM »
The best Bruce has ever done is to average 1.8 points per game in championship and somehow managed to drag teams to promotion and almost immediately relegated them the following season from premier league.  Whyness picked him in panic mode to win promotion and it has not worked. So coupled with absolutely mind numbing turgid football he plays I see no point in sticking with him.

Offline Rudy65

  • Member
  • Posts: 4414
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1734 on: April 17, 2017, 08:25:24 PM »
For me, he gets the summer and the first half of the season, if we're not solidly top 3 and in with a shout of automatic promotion by then he needs to go.

I can think of 5 games where we've played well for the whole game this season and you can say we put in a performance

Rotherham H W3-0
Forest H D2-2
Brighton A D1-1
Rotherham A W2-0
Huddersfield A L0-1

You can maybe add Reading A where we seemed to play for the 90. I think we can all come up with about 20-25 others where we've been great for a half or had a really good spell of play but the rest has been average.

The plus points for me are he seems to have stopped the rot at VP where we'll probably end with a play off tally level of points but he hadn't done much to turn around our abysmal away form. We're had to beat and he's got the best out of Jedinak, Baker and Chester. Johnstone has settled after a nervy start.

The negative points

- he still hasn't worked out a style of play to suit his attacking players
- he seems to like to stop them playing rather than have them worry about us
- he doesn't know his best formation
- he certainly doesn't seem to actively promote the U23 prospects, Green aside.
- he's constructed a team with no pace

I'm less concerned with the style of play at this juncture as this season in hindsight has been about turning it around, solidity, shape and mentality but I'd like to see some efforts made on our attacking play for next season. He needs much more consistent players next season so Adomah, Grealish, Amavi and Bacuna for all their talent need to step up if they're still here.

So my feeling is he'll be given the summer but if it starts to go awry he'll have no one to blame but himself as he'll have had very generous backing in both windows.

Are you sure? He has lost over a third of the games in charge

Offline Monty

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 25408
  • Location: pizzaland
  • GM : 25.05.2024
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1735 on: April 17, 2017, 08:27:51 PM »
On the one hand, he's had a while to sort it all out now and it frankly doesn't look all that great. On the other hand, it would seem unfair to sack a guy who has put together two very good runs this season. On the third hand, even when we've been good the football's been boring - and not necessarily the right sort of boring either, like clever boring; just a bit like boiled-cabbage-football, flavourless, old-fashioned (not in a good way)...I don't know, I'm rambling, but he's not been that impressive.

Offline auntiesledd

  • Member
  • Posts: 1998
  • Age: 59
  • Location: Hoveside (via Erdington)
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1736 on: April 17, 2017, 08:37:44 PM »
Here's what SB had to say after the game (c/o the BBC Sport website)

"It [Jonathan Kodja's red card] cannot be deemed as violent conduct, surely. I hope the referee looks at it, because the referee didn't give it - the fourth official did.

"We have 3,500 people spending their hard-earned money, it's live on the telly and you never want to see it. They want to see the players perform.

"Two games in 48 hours has cost us the match. We still may not be good enough to beat them but it's still a hell of an advantage for them. It was too much for us."


The traveling support - like those Villa fans suffering the game on TV - did want to see them perform, Steve. So how come they didn't bloody well perform? And why were they shite on Saturday as well eh?? Deary me.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2017, 08:47:49 PM by auntiesledd »

Offline old man villa fan

  • Member
  • Posts: 3458
  • Location: Birmingham
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1737 on: April 17, 2017, 08:43:07 PM »
On the one hand, he's had a while to sort it all out now and it frankly doesn't look all that great. On the other hand, it would seem unfair to sack a guy who has put together two very good runs this season. On the third hand, even when we've been good the football's been boring - and not necessarily the right sort of boring either, like clever boring; just a bit like boiled-cabbage-football, flavourless, old-fashioned (not in a good way)...I don't know, I'm rambling, but he's not been that impressive.

At the end of the season, a realistic view has to be taken.  He will have been in charge for 35 games and it should have been enough time to make an impression.  He has had two good runs as you say but if we let the rest of this season slide, it will also be two poor runs.  Currently, he has taken 48 points from 32 games. Extrapolate that over a season and it wouldn't be enough to make the play-offs.

Offline Monty

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 25408
  • Location: pizzaland
  • GM : 25.05.2024
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1738 on: April 17, 2017, 08:48:54 PM »
On the one hand, he's had a while to sort it all out now and it frankly doesn't look all that great. On the other hand, it would seem unfair to sack a guy who has put together two very good runs this season. On the third hand, even when we've been good the football's been boring - and not necessarily the right sort of boring either, like clever boring; just a bit like boiled-cabbage-football, flavourless, old-fashioned (not in a good way)...I don't know, I'm rambling, but he's not been that impressive.

At the end of the season, a realistic view has to be taken.  He will have been in charge for 35 games and it should have been enough time to make an impression.  He has had two good runs as you say but if we let the rest of this season slide, it will also be two poor runs.  Currently, he has taken 48 points from 32 games. Extrapolate that over a season and it wouldn't be enough to make the play-offs.

That kind of statistic makes me concerned I must say.

Also - and this sounds trivial, but anyway - I just can't imagine that a guy as accustomed as Xia is to a certain kind of modern high life is pleased entrusting his glamorous sports toy to a man who is sort of the football equivalent of an old tractor. Like I say, trivial, but surely the style is not sufficiently Davos and just a bit Brexit for an international cosmopolitan elitist like our Tone*?

*Without, dear God!, trying to bring up politics.

Offline itbrvilla

  • Member
  • Posts: 6829
  • Location: Birmingham
  • GM : 16.02.2022
Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #1739 on: April 17, 2017, 08:50:26 PM »
He's a charlatan fuck him off.

 


SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal