Ipswich Town v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[aj2k77]

This is just another wasted season. It's following the same pattern as last year with a slight downgrade on players which will lead to us scrambling to make the play offs. As is, under Bruce, we have very little chance of going up.

You can't call it a wasted season after 3 games, that's ridiculous.

The football is the same, the mistakes are the same, the square pegs in round holes are the same. The results will follow a similar pattern. We will be there or thereabouts in Bruce's words but ultimately it's not good enough and it will be another year down here. If you've seen anything to suggest otherwise then fair play to you and it's enjoyable to win a lot of games but I cant see any way under Bruce that this set of players will finish top 2.

[martyn ellis]

A team goes down to ten men after half an hour. What do you do? Up the tempo, use the width, tire them out, keep getting the ball in the box. From the Radio Suffolk commentary and the brief highlights, it appears we did none of those things. Someone on here said in the match thread after they went a man down something to the effect of we'll hang on for the draw now. never a truer word. Turgid. So far we've had a workmanlike win over an under-par Hull side, a last gasp winner against a decent Wigan side, a lucky win against a League 2 side and now this. Wednesday night will teach us a lot about our real credentials in this league. Hope I'm wrong but I'm fearing the worst.

[Clampy]

The mistake Bruce made yesterday for me was not changing it at half time and possibly catching them off guard. I'd have taken off Elmo (who really shouldn't be a first choice winger now anyway) and put Adomah on the right, shifted Kodjia out wide of the three where he looks more of a threat and played RHM through the middle.

[Clampy]

This is just another wasted season. It's following the same pattern as last year with a slight downgrade on players which will lead to us scrambling to make the play offs. As is, under Bruce, we have very little chance of going up.

You can't call it a wasted season after 3 games, that's ridiculous.

The football is the same, the mistakes are the same, the square pegs in round holes are the same. The results will follow a similar pattern. We will be there or thereabouts in Bruce's words but ultimately it's not good enough and it will be another year down here. If you've seen anything to suggest otherwise then fair play to you and it's enjoyable to win a lot of games but I cant see any way under Bruce that this set of players will finish top 2.

But to write off the season after three games when absolutely anything can happen between now and next May is stupid. Besides, who's to say he will last the season?

[aj2k77]

We can only hope. He won't get us up, he's wasting our time. 4 transfer windows in and we have Alan Hutton left back and a loan center back kid out of position at right back. That's shite.

Let's look at his transfers.

Lansbury - dropped
Bjarnason - in and out
Hogan- dropped
Bree - dropped
Hourihane - dropped
Taylor - dropped
Bedeau- youth player
Samba - released
Whelan - in and out
Elmohamady - in and out

Of all the players he's signed long term there isn't a single one who has held his position in the team long term, they're nearly all failures.  So when he moans about no money, remind him he's fucked what he did have up the wall and it's on the subs bench.

The team yesterday was mostly made up of players Bruce didn't actually sign, his transfers have been that bad.

He's a waste of time and money.

[sirlordbaltimore]

The outpouring of utter mentalness on Twitter post match yesterday was truly something to behold.

It's no wonder we're a laughing stock with other supporters. 7 points from 9 banked, into the next round of the cup and you'd honestly have thought we were rock bottom after 45 games the way some were carrying on on there.

Here's hoping Bruce calls out the panic merchants again if we fail to beat Brentford (as usual) on Weds and really lights their fuses 

He'd be bang on right again of course. It was only about a month ago that were were on the brink of administration ... people really do have short memories these days.

[ChicagoLion]

It’s the fact that people’s memories are working fine and can spot patterns of failure.
He continues to deliver the same performances which will ultimately deliver the same outcome, failure.

[SoccerHQ]

7 points flatters us based on performances. It's been a kind run aswell. With this style I'd say a 5-6 winless run when we started playing top 8 teams in a period of 3-4 weeks is pretty likely.

[brontebilly]

We can only hope. He won't get us up, he's wasting our time. 4 transfer windows in and we have Alan Hutton left back and a loan center back kid out of position at right back. That's shite.

Let's look at his transfers.

Lansbury - dropped
Bjarnason - in and out
Hogan- dropped
Bree - dropped
Hourihane - dropped
Taylor - dropped
Bedeau- youth player
Samba - released
Whelan - in and out
Elmohamady - in and out

Of all the players he's signed long term there isn't a single one who has held his position in the team long term, they're nearly all failures.  So when he moans about no money, remind him he's fucked what he did have up the wall and it's on the subs bench.

The team yesterday was mostly made up of players Bruce didn't actually sign, his transfers have been that bad.

He's a waste of time and money.

It's an unusual list above. Hourihane for starters have been a big success, limited or not, he was our highest scoring midfielder since Platt last season. The likes of Bjarnasson, Whelan and Elmo were all signed as squad players really and have all done fine. The failures are Hogan (spectacular), Lansbury (lazy signing), Taylor and Bree.

There are plenty of valid reasons to have a go at Bruce but his transfers in/out have been decent enough in his time. McGinn looks a gem of a player too.

[berneboy]

Stephen Roger Bruce please give us hope. Please.

[cdbearsfan]

The outpouring of utter mentalness on Twitter post match yesterday was truly something to behold.

It's no wonder we're a laughing stock with other supporters. 7 points from 9 banked, into the next round of the cup and you'd honestly have thought we were rock bottom after 45 games the way some were carrying on on there.

Here's hoping Bruce calls out the panic merchants again if we fail to beat Brentford (as usual) on Weds and really lights their fuses 

He'd be bang on right again of course. It was only about a month ago that were were on the brink of administration ... people really do have short memories these days.

I'm not in the "Bruce out" camp, at least not yet. You've come across as a bit of an arse in that post though, to be honest.

[Ivo Stas]

Let's look at his transfers.

Lansbury - dropped
Bjarnason - in and out
Hogan- dropped
Bree - dropped
Hourihane - dropped
Taylor - dropped
Bedeau- youth player
Samba - released
Whelan - in and out
Elmohamady - in and out

Of all the players he's signed long term there isn't a single one who has held his position in the team long term, they're nearly all failures.  So when he moans about no money, remind him he's fucked what he did have up the wall and it's on the subs bench.

The team yesterday was mostly made up of players Bruce didn't actually sign, his transfers have been that bad.

According to the figures at www.transfermarkt.co.uk, Bruce has generated £46 million from player sales whilst spending just over £26 million. So he hasn't exactly been given the money to go and buy good players. Yes, he has spent money on loan signings but we have also generated money from loaning out players (like Amavi, Veretout, Gil, etc). Generally, in the loan market where Bruce has had more freedom to act, he has done well: Johnstone, Snodgrass and Grabban especially.

I'd also question whether, until the recent change of ownership, Bruce really signed all these players or whether some (particularly the younger ones) were chosen by Steve Round (of "Villa engine" fame).

Looking to (and adding some players you missed) at the list, I would amend it thus:

Lansbury - dropped
Bjarnason - in and out
Hogan - dropped in and out (and injured)
Bree - dropped
Hourihane - dropped regular
Taylor - dropped in and out
Bedeau - youth player
Samba - released
Whelan - in and out regular
Elmohamady - in and out regular
Terry - regular (and captain)
John McGinn - regular
Ojan Nyland - regular (gulp!)

I'd say Bruce only spent big money once: on Scott Hogan. Personally that was a signing I didn't like at the time for two reasons: he was having success as a result of Brentfords good performances (rather than Brentford's success being due to his performances) and he had a Micah-Richards-like injury record. Thankfully he was 24 when signed so we can expect to get at least half his value back in a sale.

All the rest were budget signings with mixed success: Terry and Hourihane were good, Bree and Lansbury were flops, the rest (Bjarnason, Taylor, Elmo etc) look like the £1m or £2m squad players that we could afford to sign.

I'd say Steve Bruce's signings have been about on par with what we might expect for a manager given £1 to spend out of every £2 he generates from player sales. Hopefully, the purchase of McGinn is an indication of better signings to come...

[ktvillan]

For fans of Alan Hutton, have a good look at his efforts in the build up to Edwards hitting the bar for Ipswich.  Edwards goes past him twice and he then jogs back ball watching as Edwards sprints in behind him for a clear chance on goal.  See also his positioning and ball watching for Wigan's headed goal last week.  Really not sure why people rate him so much.

[brian green]

He was awful yesterday.  Since he scored a goal he fancies himself as Peter McParland reborn.

[sirlordbaltimore]

7 points flatters us based on performances

1-0 flattered us in Rotterdam, i'm still not complaining about it.