Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Legion on September 15, 2018, 07:19:58 PM
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Give us an O...
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Jammy fucking gammon prick.
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Meh...
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Glad we didn't lose but I hope that's the end of Bruce as manager of Aston Villa. 6 wins from our last 17 league games since beating Wolves is unacceptable.
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Just fuck off Bruce and let someone else make steam out of this squad.
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Jammy yes but if the owners aren’t watching the last 2 performances and putting out feelers Bruce is 5he least of our problems.
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Dreadful. The late equaliser should change nothing. Some of those players were truly awful today.
The fact he didn't even barely celebrate our goal says a lot. Hopefully he's gone in the next 24 hours.
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Each final whistle just leaves you numb.
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Even if would have lost still don’t think he would have gone. We’re going no where with this prick in charge
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Strange emotion when that Hourihane free kick went in, elation then that sinking feeling that it might have saved his job, I really hope it hasn’t.
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Glad we didn't lose but I hope that's the end of Bruce as manager of Aston Villa. 6 wins from our last 17 league games since beating Wolves is unacceptable.
8 in 22 across all competitions. He's turned us into a mid-table championship team but has done it with a squad full of players who should be challenging for the title in this league.
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Worldy from Hotlips, but he has to go. Some other bugger needs to sort this unbalanced mess out.
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We can't carry on playing football in this chaotic manner, its clear nobody has a clue what they are doing, where they are supposed to be, Bruce has to go, need to turn this season around and get out of this bloody awful Championship.
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2 points off the play offs, 4 points off second place, he's going nowhere.
I'm glad we didn't lose.
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I noticed he didn’t celebrate the goal. Let’s pray he knows he is toast.
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Worldy from Hotlips, but he has to go. Some other bugger needs to sort this unbalanced mess out.
Seconded.
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Abraham missed two great chances at 0-0. Overall to me, we should've won it in the second half.
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I’d never wish a loss just to be rid of a manager but fuck me, this bloke is trying my patience.
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Meh...
Never has a meh been more appropriate
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That's it....Fuck off Bruce !
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Strange emotion when that Hourihane free kick went in, elation then that sinking feeling that it might have saved his job, I really hope it hasn’t.
This is the worst thing about the situation, we score and it's slightly bittersweet because it just extends the torture. I'll never want Villa to lose a game but I can't help feeling that we're stuck in a cycle of shit until we lose enough games to force the board to act.
I'm just fucking fed up of the whole thing now, he's shit, he's made us shit and no amount of time is going to change it.
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It was an awful performance, there is obviously something not right.
The body language of the players speaks volumes.
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The odds are that it will soon be a run of wins. And then another winless run. And then a run of wins. And another shit run. And at the end of the season we'll still be in division fucking two.
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It was an awful performance, there is obviously something not right.
The body language of the players speaks volumes.
Exactly. Some of them, including Jack, barely put in a shift. Bruce's non reaction to the goal suggests a lot is wrong behind the scenes. The time to act is right now.
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I have never known such a muted response to a Villa equalizer on here.
Says it all really...
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It is depressing to just think about Tuesday and watching yet more crap!
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I’d never wish a loss just to be rid of a manager but fuck me, this bloke is trying my patience.
He's such a chancer and he knows full well he's been caught out. I really hate watching our games. I really wish I didn't care.
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Proper Carlos strike from Hourihane that, to be fair.
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Thought we played well overall we were the better side for most of the game. Still too many errors at the back exemplified by Grealish having to mark two players in one situation. Jedinak much better in midfield. Like the look of Abraham too. He will get us goals. Bolasie’s cameo, he looked sharp and showed a will with the challenge on the keeper.
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Superb strike from Hourihane to paper over the cracks yet again.
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Fantastic from Conor again! One of our top scorers last season but dropped by Bruce, yet Conor with his assist for Barny (vs Wigan) and his free kick today has made a huge contribution to our points tally with little actual game time.
Keep up the good work Hourihane!
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Whoever this pundit is is the only one talking any sense on here. Obviously not a paid-up member of the Fistface Fan Club.
Oh, here he comes...
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Strange emotion when that Hourihane free kick went in, elation then that sinking feeling that it might have saved his job, I really hope it hasn’t.
Same here - and I would have taken defeat if it guaranteed getting shot of the clown.
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We are a lonely piece of driftwood aimlessly bobbing along in the sea. Going nowhere at all
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Fuck off times a million you pathetic, excuse-making bastard.
If I hear that "lost six players" rubbish one more time....
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So, apparently we’ve got six new players and he’s had the rebuild.
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He looks to me like he knows his time is up.
The players look like they know it too.
I just hope it’s being strung out as long as it has becuase we’re busy sourcing the new manager.
I don’t think we should be under any illusions however - new manager or no, I just cannot see us going up this year. We’re just too unbalanced as a team/squad.
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Same here, he looks like he knows he’s done.
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Strange emotion when that Hourihane free kick went in, elation then that sinking feeling that it might have saved his job, I really hope it hasn’t.
Same here - and I would have taken defeat if it guaranteed getting shot of the clown.
If he was going, he's still going. I'd be fucking stunned if 1 point and 1 goal at Ewood altered that.
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Thought we played well overall we were the better side for most of the game. Still too many errors at the back exemplified by Grealish having to mark two players in one situation. Jedinak much better in midfield. Like the look of Abraham too. He will get us goals. Bolasie’s cameo, he looked sharp and showed a will with the challenge on the keeper.
Thought we stank out the county of Lancashire
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As much as I was happy we scored another part of me thought "this gives Bruce another week".....
Reality is we haven't won a game since August 11th despite a pretty easy start to the season and we're barely above the bottom half.
On rare weekends when the top 2 both fail to win we simply have to step up but we saw another mediocre and stumbling performance.
We do need a change of manager and I hope this new ownership can be a bit more proactive rather than letting the season drift away.
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feck me his interviews do my head in .. he needs fucking off and made into a plate of chips
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feck me his interviews do my head in .. he needs fucking off and made into a plate of chips
Gammon and chips, that's lunch sorted for tomorrow.
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The last few games it looks like the players were not putting much effort in, which indicates they are not behind him and his "methods". I think Purslow needs to look at the performances since Wolves,
the transfer window, the unbalanced squad, the shit football and the mediocre points return from a relatively straightforward start to the season, and act soon before the season becomes a complete write-off.
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Hourihane (https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11499184/hourihane-magic-saves-villa)
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Bruce said something about "not getting time" so I'm clutching a straw that says he was given an ultimatum that it was win today or push off. His lack of response at the equalising goal hints at that too, if he knew it wasn't enough.
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Ineptlights (https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11499204/blackburn-1-1-aston-villa)
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Bruce said something about "not getting time" so I'm clutching a straw that says he was given an ultimatum that it was win today or push off. His lack of response at the equalising goal hints at that too, if he knew it wasn't enough.
If he had to win, then why put that team out? Doesn't make sense
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Observations
Bruce setup not to lose instead of trying to win. Unless that changes he has to go. Sick of it
Jedinak did ok but should never play ch again
Grealish just isn’t effective and needs to do a lot more
Abraham should of scored but showed promise
Bruce has to realise his only hope is play on the front foot the squad is there use it. If not go please just go
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so whats El Ghazi done wrong ?
I thought starting with Adomah was a little odd.
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Even Franksy and Thommo are taking the piss out of his excuses.
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Bruce Out
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Glad we didn't lose but I hope that's the end of Bruce as manager of Aston Villa. 6 wins from our last 17 league games since beating Wolves is unacceptable.
8 in 22 across all competitions. He's turned us into a mid-table championship team but has done it with a squad full of players who should be challenging for the title in this league.
Im not sure about that at all, we do have some very talented players at this level but its a wildly unbalanced squad with a lot of dross that are regulars.
No wonder players are struggling to settle given how the ridiculous transfer business completed in the summer
Nyland - hopeless
Hutton & Elmo right side - average at best
Tuanzebe and Taylor - average at best
Jedinak - looked finished to me today
Adamoah and Kodjia - not the forces of old
Whelan and BB - squad players
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Bruce said something about "not getting time" so I'm clutching a straw that says he was given an ultimatum that it was win today or push off. His lack of response at the equalising goal hints at that too, if he knew it wasn't enough.
If he had to win, then why put that team out? Doesn't make sense
Wanted to grind out a 1-0 like we did at likes of Forest and Sheffield last season.
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Today it was lacking...in urgency, enthusiasm, application and skill, apart from the free kick.
Midfield was set up too negatively. Hutton can play LB and ElMo can play RB so why not do that? Presumably we have to play Tuanzebe as I am yet to get him, let alone what we've done to the keeper position.
Although I think we were the better team in the 2nd half, the midfield play was stodgy. After a good start, McGinn seems to have gone off the boil a bit and generally fades after an hour, and even Jack didn't look too interested today.
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Thought we played well overall we were the better side for most of the game. Still too many errors at the back exemplified by Grealish having to mark two players in one situation. Jedinak much better in midfield. Like the look of Abraham too. He will get us goals. Bolasie’s cameo, he looked sharp and showed a will with the challenge on the keeper.
Thought we stank out the county of Lancashire
Up until they scored we were well on top. We actually attacked for a lot of the game. More than Blackburn did. We weren’t great but an improvement on games since Brentford. We deserved to win the game.
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On the underwhelming side of mediocrely shyte.
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Thought we played well overall we were the better side for most of the game. Still too many errors at the back exemplified by Grealish having to mark two players in one situation. Jedinak much better in midfield. Like the look of Abraham too. He will get us goals. Bolasie’s cameo, he looked sharp and showed a will with the challenge on the keeper.
Thought we stank out the county of Lancashire
Up until they scored we were well on top. We actually attacked for a lot of the game. More than Blackburn did. We weren’t great but an improvement on games since Brentford. We deserved to win the game.
You must have been watching a different game.
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Bruce said something about "not getting time" so I'm clutching a straw that says he was given an ultimatum that it was win today or push off. His lack of response at the equalising goal hints at that too, if he knew it wasn't enough.
If he had to win, then why put that team out? Doesn't make sense
Wanted to grind out a 1-0 like we did at likes of Forest and Sheffield last season.
what drop your main striker and bring taylor and adomah in from the cold?
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Look on the bright side...I had £50 on both teams to score at evens money.
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Bruce said something about "not getting time" so I'm clutching a straw that says he was given an ultimatum that it was win today or push off. His lack of response at the equalising goal hints at that too, if he knew it wasn't enough.
If he had to win, then why put that team out? Doesn't make sense
Wanted to grind out a 1-0 like we did at likes of Forest and Sheffield last season.
what drop your main striker and bring taylor and adomah in from the cold?
I guess he saw Dack plays a free role for them and so wanted to counter that by putting Jedinak on him.
I don't have much of an issue with team selection, maybe I'd have played Kodjia out wide but him and El Ghazi started in Sheffield after all.
People wanted a more balanced back 4 so if that means bringing Taylor in (who was o.k tonight) so be it...
I think the bigger issue here is whatever 11 we put out, balanced or not, the team isn't winning games and the performances are really mediocre for all the talent we have.
Team is weak in certain areas but we would look so much better under a more proactive manager. Who that is I don't know but the season is seriously drifting now.
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Observations
Bruce setup not to lose instead of trying to win. Unless that changes he has to go. Sick of it
Jedinak did ok but should never play ch again
Grealish just isn’t effective and needs to do a lot more
Abraham should of scored but showed promise
Bruce has to realise his only hope is play on the front foot the squad is there use it. If not go please just go
Bruce set us up as a Steve Bruce side. It might have worked at Wigan and Hull 10-15 years ago. It no longer works. When Dean Smith. Dean Fucking Smith has spent next to nothing, sold his best players and has his Brentford side in second place then you can go fuck off Steve Bruce with your weekly bollocks excuses you useless bastard.
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It was an awful performance, there is obviously something not right.
The body language of the players speaks volumes.
Thought it was an improvement on recent weeks but the side has been all over the place since Game 1 lets be honest.
Positives today, thought Taylor did ok, Tuanzebe from centre back ensured we could keep possession a lot better, Abraham showed he will be an improvement on our other forward options, McGinn was superb, by a mile our best player, Hourihane's goal was outstanding, Bolasie and Kodjia cameos were decent,
Negatives - Nyland is useless, Hutton was useless again, Elmo worse, Jedinak is finished, Grealish hardly broke sweat and Alberts struggles continue. Our shape remains really poor with Grealish about 15 yards too far away from Abraham. Defensively, we look soft as shit and are going to be bullied all season from crosses and set pieces if today is anything to go by. Terry's presence is badly missing but when a 37 year old is seen as the possible saviour, it exposes Bruce's reign to ridicule
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It’s not the players or necessarily the formation.
It is the mentality and method.
He just chucks a team together which is inevitably a version of 4-4-2 and hopes for the best.
There is no strategy, no intent and no fucking idea.
People are having a go at Jack, he looks completely lost, our attacks are slow and predictable and when we lose it is every body run back behind the ball and if the opposition lose it, we start again or just kick it in a forward direction.
There is nothing different now to when he walked through the door, this is Bruceball and I am sick of it.
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I'm excited because his exit must surely be imminent. Body language is telling. We deserve better.
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Not good enough.
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Thought we played well overall we were the better side for most of the game. Still too many errors at the back exemplified by Grealish having to mark two players in one situation. Jedinak much better in midfield. Like the look of Abraham too. He will get us goals. Bolasie’s cameo, he looked sharp and showed a will with the challenge on the keeper.
Thought we stank out the county of Lancashire
Up until they scored we were well on top. We actually attacked for a lot of the game. More than Blackburn did. We weren’t great but an improvement on games since Brentford. We deserved to win the game.
You must have been watching a different game.
I didnt notice their goalie had made lots of saves
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It’s not the players or necessarily the formation.
It is the mentality and method.
He just chucks a team together which is inevitably a version of 4-4-2 and hopes for the best.
There is no strategy, no intent and no fucking idea.
People are having a go at Jack, he looks completely lost, our attacks are slow and predictable and when we lose it is every body run back behind the ball and if the opposition lose it, we start again or just kick it in a forward direction.
There is nothing different now to when he walked through the door, this is Bruceball and I am sick of it.
Not disagreeing with your argument but no way can Grealish get a pass. His workrate and attitude are abysmal at the moment.
Its like he played with a sulk when he was moved to the left late on, woeful effort to stop the cross that led to the goal.
Id be dropping him v Rotherham, pushing McGinn a bit further forward and getting Hourihane back in.
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welll thank mcgrath , Jack won us the free kick
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I agree with you about Grealish, he's been poor of late. He should be tearing this division a new one, but he's quite often shown up by supposedly inferior players. Dack for Blackburn had a much, much better game today. What's Grealish's return so far after 7 games, 1 assist and no goals? Whatever the reasons, and I absolutely accept a lot of it is down to Bruce, that is nowhere near good enough for a player of his ability.
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I think grealish is part of the problem. Seems undroppable but producing very little. Can't play in a midfield two, not a winger and doesn't produce anywhere near enough in the number 10 position. It prevents us playing two up front and I can't see how we can unlock the potential of the attack with him in the team, especially with his current output.
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We needed a win. After the equaliser the players should have been getting the ball out of the net and back onto the centre spot, not celebrating. We're not behaving like a club seeking promotion.
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I think grealish is part of the problem. Seems undroppable but producing very little. Can't play in a midfield two, not a winger and doesn't produce anywhere near enough in the number 10 position. It prevents us playing two up front and I can't see how we can unlock the potential of the attack with him in the team, especially with his current output.
Wouldn’t a better manager sort this out!?
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I agree with you about Grealish, he's been poor of late. He should be tearing this division a new one, but he's quite often shown up by supposedly inferior players. Dack for Blackburn had a much, much better game today. What's Grealish's return so far after 7 games, 1 assist and no goals? Whatever the reasons, and I absolutely accept a lot of it is down to Bruce, that is nowhere near good enough for a player of his ability.
I agree.
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I really hope Grealish isn't sulking/has had his head turned since the saga with Sperms.
Not that he should need it but if Terry and Snodgrass were still here they'd be on his case making sure he's grabbing games by the scruff.
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I think one of the biggest decisions of the new manager will be to decide if he can get a tune out of Grealish or whether we could get a couple of really effective midfielders ( Ryan Woods / Tom Cairney type ) for the 25 mil that we would get for him. I don’t want to see him go, but you get the feeling that maybe we could both do with a fresh start.
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Lowlights (https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11499204/blackburn-1-1-aston-villa)
Bruce Sky post-match (https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/championship/11499217/bruce-understands-fans-frustration)
OS post match interview https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1041041252320456704
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It’s not the players or necessarily the formation.
It is the mentality and method.
He just chucks a team together which is inevitably a version of 4-4-2 and hopes for the best.
There is no strategy, no intent and no fucking idea.
People are having a go at Jack, he looks completely lost, our attacks are slow and predictable and when we lose it is every body run back behind the ball and if the opposition lose it, we start again or just kick it in a forward direction.
There is nothing different now to when he walked through the door, this is Bruceball and I am sick of it.
I was going to say something very similar.
We have a bunch of very, very talented individuals.
However, we have a ‘manager’ who is unable to get them to play as a team, with any discernible way of playing, other than whack and chase or rely on a piece of individual skill or brilliance.
Imagine, with a forward thinking manager who knows how to set a team up, this group of players would romp this division.
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Looks like a man who knows it's time for a change.
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The commentary said it was the best they had seen Villa play all season.
I thought is was one paced, in-energetic, passive bollocks, yet again.
12th, it’s simply not good enough. Let’s make a mangerial change.
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I think grealish is part of the problem. Seems undroppable but producing very little. Can't play in a midfield two, not a winger and doesn't produce anywhere near enough in the number 10 position. It prevents us playing two up front and I can't see how we can unlock the potential of the attack with him in the team, especially with his current output.
Wouldn’t a better manager sort this out!?
Of course he would, he is the most talented player in the division and we are getting no where near the best out of him.
We are playing a midfield 5 and somehow he is supposed to carry the team, the opposition know that if they stand on him then they have negated any creativity that we have.
His starting position should be a lot further up the pitch.
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I think grealish is part of the problem. Seems undroppable but producing very little. Can't play in a midfield two, not a winger and doesn't produce anywhere near enough in the number 10 position. It prevents us playing two up front and I can't see how we can unlock the potential of the attack with him in the team, especially with his current output.
Wouldn’t a better manager sort this out!?
A better manager would spot that we need to have two sitting midfielders with Grealish ahead of them.
Instead, we are playing with one sitting midfielder and due to his lack of technical ability, the two ahead of him (Grealish and McGinn) retreat further and further
Hence the huge gap between Abraham and our midfield today
But there is a bare minimum required from each player irrespective of tactics, application and attitude
Grealish was found badly wanting in both categories today, he should be earning his corn from the bench v Rotherham
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I think Bruce has been listening to criticism of players playing out of position and today finally decided to play the first 11 where they naturally belong.
Axel and Chester looked good enough at centre half, Nyland looks inept and does not command the box at all, Taylor has no confidence from what I saw today.
Jedinak looked solid enough but lacks energy, which at his age is no surprise.
Jack again looks class on the ball but no end product, McGinn tired after the hour mark similar to Albert.
Abraham looked good but needed some help.
All in all it’s time and time gone for Bruce, the forward options alone should be enough to tear this division up, 12th is nowhere near good enough.
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Should he fuck, he’s the best player in this division by a country mile.
We should be building a team around him and his strengths, not shoe horning him into whatever Bruce’s weekly tactical dogs breakfast is.
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The whole thing was a fucking Bruce shambles. We got away with 1 point.
After 2 years of Bruce, I would expect to be taking Blackburn's pants down, giving them a good hiding and collecting another 3 points on the way to The Championship title.
As it stands, also rans again. Not good enough. Bruce out.
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We had a run of fixtures to have been well out in front in this league. That we're twelfth heading into autumn proper tells you how he's approaching it all. The guy is at least six weeks overdue for a walk around the rose garden.
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Why does every Villa side under him ‘need time to gel?’ Last season the same. The halfway (no it wasn’t steve it was october)’ through the season before was the same. Yet Bielsa can come into Leeds and have six weeks intensive work and they look more cohesive than us. Monks blues look more cohesive than us despite having Gardner as their saviour. Brentford with a tenth of the budget have had more cohesion than us throughout our time in this league. I could go on. And he wonders why there’s ‘hysteria.’
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Excuses, excuses, excuses..... just like the ones he keeps wheeling out from last season (I.e his relentless statement that Grealish was out for 6 months last year when it was 3) the bloke knows he is on borrowed time, trouble is he’ll just keep doing enough to keep his feet from the fire and by the time we do ditch him it’ll be too late
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A better manager would spot that we need to have two sitting midfielders with Grealish ahead of them.
This is clearly right. For most games I'd play McGinn and Hourihane/Thor as 'normal' midfielders and then get Grealish 10-15 yards higher up the pitch with those 2 looking to find him early and then 1 of them running beyond him.
Earlier you posted about the squad full of top players bit but I think you misunderstood, I wasn't saying the squad is a title challenging one (because the defence is a mess), but the attacking players we have should be running teams ragged in this league because 6-7 of them are top of championship/bottom of prem standard (or better) and then there's a handful of playoff standard players as well.
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Thought we played well overall we were the better side for most of the game. Still too many errors at the back exemplified by Grealish having to mark two players in one situation. Jedinak much better in midfield. Like the look of Abraham too. He will get us goals. Bolasie’s cameo, he looked sharp and showed a will with the challenge on the keeper.
Really? - we weren't very good, and I thought Blackburn were generally the tidier and more composed.
Most of the people around me were (a) not impressed, and (b) keen to see the back of fistface
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Maybe one caveat Blackburn haven’t lost for 24 home games apparently.
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The commentary said it was the best they had seen Villa play all season.
I thought is was one paced, in-energetic, passive bollocks, yet again.
12th, it’s simply not good enough. Let’s make a mangerial change.
Didn't Don Goodman so the Brentford game? We were miles better that night, easily our best performance of the season.
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We had a run of fixtures to have been well out in front in this league. That we're twelfth heading into autumn proper tells you how he's approaching it all. The guy is at least six weeks overdue for a walk around the rose garden.
Yep most of the teams we've played so far will finish in the bottom half.
Ipswich are bottom, Hull will just be outside bottom 3 as will Reading and think Blackburn will be mid table. Only Brentford of who we've played so far will be top 6.
We needed a good start as our fixtures for example in December are horrendous looking so I'd rather go into that period with a good points total than having to win a few of those who stay in the top 6 mix.
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No fixtures in this league are horrendous. No combination of any of the other 23 is horrendous. Not for a side with 40 million quids worth of wingers on the bench.
Man City away, Liverpool at home, Spurs away and Man United at home Boxing Day; that's horrendous.
Simply not good enough.
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No fixtures in this league are horrendous. No combination of any of the other 23 is horrendous. Not for a side with 40 million quids worth of wingers on the bench.
Man City away, Liverpool at home, Spurs away and Man United at home Boxing Day; that's horrendous.
Simply not good enough.
If SB is still somehow in charge in two months time I'd say a run of Derby away, SHA and Forest at home then Boro and WBA away before Stoke and Leeds at home which takes things up to Boxing day is as tough a run as you can get at this level.
It's similar to the run up to last xmas when we had Leeds away, then Derby away, Sheffield United at home and Brentford away on boxing day. All games we didn't win but at least we had a decent amount of points on the board.
Hopefully all bets will be off with a new manager in charge sooner than later.
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This comment made my piss boil ....."its just finding a system that suits everyone"
So into his third season and he has no discernible system or way of playing. Had he come in when hired and introduced a method of playing he could then get the players in to suit what he is trying to do. The reality is he just gets players in without doing his homework hoping that something will just gel. Lets face it he took the quick fix option last year bringing players in on loan on huge wages. That is completely arse about face and sums up the way this club has been run for the last 5 years.
The lack of coaching by probably the highest paid highest team in the Division is truly abysmal.
Please just pull the trigger and get in a forward thinking manager who can make this talented squad into a cohesive unit.
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He’s out on bail, he’s out of jail and that’s the way it goes. Raah!
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I hate them bidness men.
FREEZE!
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Played players in natural positions yet insisted on having elmohamedys on show and in blocking path of the more attacking individual.
He's already blocked RDL and Bree and now he's blocking Elghazi or Boalsie but hopefully not much longer.
A more skillfull attacking player would take advantage of the spaces and possession he had and Albert Adomah would be more effective than Elmo and should not always be first sub off.
All elmohamedys did was loop crosses over .
I would prefer a more attacking player used in a 4-3-3 .
Tammy should nt be so isolated and he showed at times pain and frustration in not being played in or play coming to him.
I felt Mcginn tired badly and he also gave away an needless foul for yellow card.
Jedinak was way way off pace at times and passing was pretty hopeless
What a great goal by Hourihane.
Grealish should be on the ball involved on the play far more . He should be conducting things. And actually made some superb tackles and challenges as well as winning free kick.
To suggest he's not committed or sulking is nonsense to me
The Villa started the match well and ended with a goal but at times the disjointedness of team really showed up.
There are some highly highly talented players and squad and Bruce is and will continue to stuggle as he showing such ineffectiveness.
I imagine he ll change the team in midweek .
So he's kind of experimenting again.
Emperor Steve's new clothes
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I’m going to support Grealish here. He is by far the classiest player in our squad and possibly the only one who would fit into a premier league team. A player with his natural ability must find it almost unbearable playing under Bruce. So let’s put the blame for our shocking performance where it should be, the manager, not the player who will ultimately play at the highest level, hopefully for Villa
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Hourihane is an example of a quality player for this division not being used correctly, Surprised with the criticism of Jack thought he was head and shoulders above every other player on the field but should be played just behind the forwards to get the best out of him. Could go through most of the team and point out where Bruce has got it wrong but while he is here we will not change. Individually the squad we have is superior to any other team just needs a better manager to get them going.
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I don't see from his post-match interviews anything resembling someone who knows that the jig's up. He looks to me like he's trotting out the same old bullshit that's worked for him since he's been here, and there's no reason to think that it will change.
I only contributed this because I tend to be wrong about everything so, y'know, fingers crossed.
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Should he fuck, he’s the best player in this division by a country mile.
We should be building a team around him and his strengths, not shoe horning him into whatever Bruce’s weekly tactical dogs breakfast is.
Absolutely.
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I’m going to support Grealish here. He is by far the classiest player in our squad and possibly the only one who would fit into a premier league team. A player with his natural ability must find it almost unbearable playing under Bruce. So let’s put the blame for our shocking performance where it should be, the manager, not the player who will ultimately play at the highest level, hopefully for Villa
Exactly, we’ll put mate.
When you think of all the options a player like him gives you.
Can someone tell me what the plan is for Grealish?
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I’m going to support Grealish here. He is by far the classiest player in our squad and possibly the only one who would fit into a premier league team. A player with his natural ability must find it almost unbearable playing under Bruce. So let’s put the blame for our shocking performance where it should be, the manager, not the player who will ultimately play at the highest level, hopefully for Villa
Exactly, we’ll put mate.
When you think of all the options a player like him gives you.
Can someone tell me what the plan is for Grealish?
Judging from last night, it is to cover the left back.
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I’m going to support Grealish here. He is by far the classiest player in our squad and possibly the only one who would fit into a premier league team. A player with his natural ability must find it almost unbearable playing under Bruce. So let’s put the blame for our shocking performance where it should be, the manager, not the player who will ultimately play at the highest level, hopefully for Villa
Exactly, we’ll put mate.
When you think of all the options a player like him gives you.
Can someone tell me what the plan is for Grealish?
Judging from last night, it is to cover the left back.
Yes, what the bloody hell was he doing back there?
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This comment made my piss boil ....."its just finding a system that suits everyone"
So into his third season and he has no discernible system or way of playing.
Abso-fucking-lutely. That's a sacking offence, that comment.
How about, one of these days, we appoint a manager who, y'know, actually has a philosophy, an identity, a preferred style of play, and then recruits players to fit his style.
Bruce is the epitome of quantity over quality, and he can fuck off.
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His post match “interview” again is full of spin and bullshit.
Bleating on and on about the penalty but completely ignores the perfectly valid goal they had chalked off a few minutes earlier.
It’s all about deflection, look at what’s going on here, so you are not looking at what’s going on over there.
The more I think about the way we play the game, the more and more angry I get. It seems to be based on these 2 footballing philosophies.
Sideways, sideways, whack and chase.
Or,
get it to the wide man and try to cross it.
God, I hope we are coming to the end of this blokes time at the club, I really do.
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Ewood Park is the closest Championship ground to where I live, but, typically, this weekend is my local music festival and I bought my ticket back in January. When the fixtures came out I thought about going to the match and then to the Festival. Then I thought f*ck it. I get a Head for the Hills Festival once a year; I get a Bruce-inspired Villa fixture every week. One I enjoy; the other I don't.
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Putting aside the fact it was yet another woefully disjointed performance there were some bright spots.
Actually playing a recognisable back 4 was the first one and we did look more solid.
The midfield was all over the place again, Jedinak was woeful, McGinn lively but Grealish useless. Elmo and Adomah get up and down but offer little end product and for me we didn’t look a proper fwd threat until Bolasie and Kodjia appeared. Was impressed with Abraham as he grew into the game and became less isolated.
If we stick with Bruce it’s more of the same I’m afraid we’ll be “there or thereabouts” until Christmas then go on anothe shit run, lose touch, go on another good run to get us there or thereabouts ,then blow it again. His throwing shit at the wall approach isn’t good enough and he needs to go. If he’s still trying to find a system to fit his players after being here 2 whole years with 4 transfer windows and the biggest budget in the division, I think he’s proved someone else should be implementing that system.
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On reflection of yesterday, if that performance and result was in the middle of a good run and we were top 6 it would have been decent. However, it just added to the notion that all we're going to get with Bruce is negative football and a striker who is miles away from the nearest player. He's got the best squad in the league, especially in attacking areas, yet we set up scared of Blackburn. He played two wingers whose only job was to track back and neither of whom can cross a ball.
We need to set up on the front foot, play with pace and swagger and if we do that I genuinely believe we'll take apart most teams in this league. If we start Bolasie, El Ghazi, Kodjia and Abraham against Rotherham we'll score 3 or 4. Ok we might concede but we're already conceding anyway with this shit football we're playing.
That was also arguably the quietest away end at Blackburn I've been a part of. That's not a dig at the fans by the way, you can just tell everyone is bored. We're all waiting for us to let the handbrake off and go at the opposition but it never happens. He's sucked the life out of our away support in the same way McLeish did.
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… That was also arguably the quietest away end at Blackburn I've been a part of. That's not a dig at the fans by the way, you can just tell everyone is bored. We're all waiting for us to let the handbrake off and go at the opposition but it never happens. He's sucked the life out of our away support in the same way McLeish did.
I'd agree with this.
The things that really frustrated me yesterday were:
- the players don't move the ball quickly enough
- the keeper is rooted to the line all the time
- the players really do not look after the ball
- why can they not take throw-ins that go to players wearing the same colour shirt?!
- why only one up top? Abrahams was isolated for most of the game and bullied by the Blackburn centre backs
- I am personally not enamoured of playing two wingers; Elmo is a FB in my opinion, so play him there or not at all
These issues point to poor coaching and a lack of managerial direction ...
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I’m going to support Grealish here. He is by far the classiest player in our squad and possibly the only one who would fit into a premier league team. A player with his natural ability must find it almost unbearable playing under Bruce. So let’s put the blame for our shocking performance where it should be, the manager, not the player who will ultimately play at the highest level, hopefully for Villa
Exactly, we’ll put mate.
When you think of all the options a player like him gives you.
Can someone tell me what the plan is for Grealish?
Judging from last night, it is to cover the left back.
Yes, what the bloody hell was he doing back there?
We hadn’t properly reorganised following the substitutions which reflects badly on the manager but also on the on field leadership. That sort of thing rarely happened with Terry on the pitch.
Overall I thought we were ok, not great but nowhere near as bad as some of the comments above, against a team with a very good home record. Due to holiday it is the first game I have seen since the opening day so perhaps had fewer preconceptions than many on this site so watched it with a bit more of an open mind. Back 4 looked reasonably solid, Abraham looks dangerous we just need to find the right blend in midfield.
I still think Bruce is on borrowed time but he got more right than wrong yesterday.
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My mentioning of Jack wasn't a criticism of him. I do think he is under par at the moment and not contributing enough but he gives Bruce a headache because he can't leave him out but his style goes against everything Bruce stands for. I do think by including him in the XI means Bruce feels vulnerable elsewhere in the team so that's why we see the defensive players in areas where they shouldn't be such as Elmo on the wing. Albert played because he tracks back and he's worried about the shit defence he's left us with.
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It was clear that both wingers were there primarily to protect the awful full backs being exposed. Both Hutton and Taylor leave glaring spaces to be exploited.
Although jedinak made a couple of very good tackles his lack of mobility is easily worked around by Blackburn or ant team who does not lump it.
Abraham came into it once played with support.
Mcginn was busy but headless chicken sometimes.
Grealish ineffective.
The comments and excuses from the manager is really boiling my piss.
I cannot see anything different if he stays other than stumbling along.
It's got so bad I think having no manager would see a better performance
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I don't think it was any better or worse than 90% of the performances under Bruce
it was just typical Bruce fare, we could have won, lost, but we ended up drawing,
yesterday is what we are and have been for the last two years, it's no worse than much of what's gone before
we desperately need a change and I hope it's coming soon
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Listened to the match commentary on talksport 2 yesterday which was incredibly biased in Blackburn's favour, however there was a lot of interesting points made which indicate that the media are finally cottoning on the shambolic job that Bruce is doing.
Firstly they said that the defence is all over the place and that the goalkeeper looks hopeless, but in my opinion the two most damning points raised were that Aston Villa have no footballing identity. They said its as though he's just gone out and brought a load of, admittedly talented, players and just chucked them together with no thought for the balance of the team.
The other point amongst many criticisms that they made was Jack Grealish. Apparently he was awful yesterday. I wasn't at the match so am only going on the views of the commentators, but they did give some stats about goals scored (3 I think they said) and assists- again I can't remember, but it was a poor return. So we all know that Jack is a very talented footballer. I actually think he should have gone to the World Cup and he would not have looked out of place in Southgate's team, but has his head been turned or is he just out of form? My worry is that the longer we persist with Bruce the more likely we are going to lose the most talented home grown player in a generation. I just can't see us getting promoted under Bruce, so there is no way Jack is going to hang around, and why should he? He could be playing in the premier league not in the chumps league with a dinosaur as a coach.
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Grealish was awful. He's more interested in trying to buy fouls and win free kicks than find a through ball or have a shot. On that note, why won't he shoot? Very very rarely does he pull the trigger when it opens up for him. Have a dig.
He needs to be more positive in his play and run at people, far too often he cuts inside and passes it square 5 yards.
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His buying a foul and winning a free kick got us out of jail last night.
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I find it difficult to criticise individual players with the Elephant in the room.
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Bruce persists with throwing attacking players at the starting XI and hoping that they gel. It was the same last season when we were behind in games that we rally should have won when we had several strikers on the pitch all vying for the same space and looking for the same ball. He’s tactically inept, just throwing more attacking talent at a problem is not the answer.
Last season we had a reasonably strong core to the side. Obviously a couple of players from that core have gone but we really should have looked to re-establish that core and build from there. We are a squad of individuals who lack cohesion.
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Brilliant goal by Connor, but why spend time celebrating it, when we had time to get a winner, shows how negative the team have become under Bruce. If we fail to win either of our next 2 matches, surely he has to go.
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You know they stop the clock?
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That's a good point about the late equaliser. A team wanting to win the league would have quickly taken the ball from the net and put it on the centre-circle for the opposition to resume play and give us as much time as possible to get three points from deepest Darwen.
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There was plenty of time to score after the goal. In fact Blackburn almost did.
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This comment made my piss boil ....."its just finding a system that suits everyone"
So into his third season and he has no discernible system or way of playing. Had he come in when hired and introduced a method of playing he could then get the players in to suit what he is trying to do. The reality is he just gets players in without doing his homework hoping that something will just gel. Lets face it he took the quick fix option last year bringing players in on loan on huge wages. That is completely arse about face and sums up the way this club has been run for the last 5 years.
The lack of coaching by probably the highest paid highest team in the Division is truly abysmal.
Please just pull the trigger and get in a forward thinking manager who can make this talented squad into a cohesive unit.
"It's just finding a system that suits everyone". That comment does not reflect well on him. It is the kind of comment that would be made by a new manager who has just inherited a struggling team assembled by the previous manager.
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That's a good point about the late equaliser. A team wanting to win the league would have quickly taken the ball from the net and put it on the centre-circle for the opposition to resume play and give us as much time as possible to get three points from deepest Darwen.
This. I said it on the match thread, never mind celebrating, get the ball back on the centre spot. Anyone would have thought it was a winning goal.
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You know they stop the clock?
Technically they do - but there’s a reason you see many teams just rush to get the ball from the back of the net and get on with the game. They’ll give you a little back, but after that it’s your own time you’re wasting.
If nothing else - send us the message that you want to win it, and that a draw at Blackburn isn’t ‘as good as a win’ if you get it in added time.
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You know they stop the clock?
Technically they do - but there’s a reason you see many teams just rush to get the ball from the back of the net and get on with the game. They’ll give you a little back, but after that it’s your own time you’re wasting.
If nothing else - send us the message that you want to win it, and that a draw at Blackburn isn’t ‘as good as a win’ if you get it in added time.
Really good point. First game of last season, Hull at home, there's about 3 minutes to go with the scores level. We win a free kick in a good position and a chance to get the ball in the box.
Henri Lansbury took an absolute age to get over to the ball to take it. No urgency, nothing. It was like we were 4-0 up and just cruising. I've seen bloody great oil tankers turn and move quicker than him.
The ball eventually gets floated in, easily cleared and already we are in injury time and the game peters out in to a draw.
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Meh...
Never has a meh been more appropriate
Its a rare one for me to use but meaningless tosh is appropriate in this case.
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I have often thought in the past few seasons that we are awful in the last 5 plus injury. More likely to concede than score however if one thing has improved this season it is ability to score late goals. We have both won and saved games by scoring very late. This is the only positive so far.
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That's a good point about the late equaliser. A team wanting to win the league would have quickly taken the ball from the net and put it on the centre-circle for the opposition to resume play and give us as much time as possible to get three points from deepest Darwen.
This. I said it on the match thread, never mind celebrating, get the ball back on the centre spot. Anyone would have thought it was a winning goal.
That is about drilling high level of expectation in to the team and one team that did it better than others, in the 20 years or so after football started, were manure and you would think Bruce knows how to do that?
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This comment made my piss boil ....."its just finding a system that suits everyone"
So into his third season and he has no discernible system or way of playing.
I always thought a coach had a system and than got players in to do the job but I am very naive.
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Observations
Bruce setup not to lose instead of trying to win. Unless that changes he has to go. Sick of it
Jedinak did ok but should never play ch again
Grealish just isn’t effective and needs to do a lot more
Abraham should of scored but showed promise
Bruce has to realise his only hope is play on the front foot the squad is there use it. If not go please just go
Bruce set us up as a Steve Bruce side. It might have worked at Wigan and Hull 10-15 years ago. It no longer works. When Dean Smith. Dean Fucking Smith has spent next to nothing, sold his best players and has his Brentford side in second place then you can go fuck off Steve Bruce with your weekly bollocks excuses you useless bastard.
Yeah but Dean Smith is rubbish. It’s all the boffins behind the scenes that work the magic.
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Happy that we managed to get a point out of it but we were pretty piss poor again to be honest. It's a game we would have won last season.
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I’m not so sure we would have wonthat game last season.
I think it was a bit like the Bolton game.
Whether we would have won it or not, it shows we are not progressing.
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Quite enjoyed the first 5 minutes or so of the game yesterday and then found myself reading the paper and looking at my phone as the match went on and hearing the commentators saying what an enjoyable match it was between two good sides. I have no idea what constitutes a good match or what good teams look like these days in that case.
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The commentators did not just say how enjoyable the game was, but repeatedly reminded us of it.
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Happy that we managed to get a point out of it but we were pretty piss poor again to be honest. It's a game we would have won last season.
And our target is to improve on last season's failure so not good.
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Quite enjoyed the first 5 minutes or so of the game yesterday and then found myself reading the paper and looking at my phone as the match went on and hearing the commentators saying what an enjoyable match it was between two good sides. I have no idea what constitutes a good match or what good teams look like these days in that case.
Me too, except it was my kindle instead of a newspaper.
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Quite enjoyed the first 5 minutes or so of the game yesterday and then found myself reading the paper and looking at my phone as the match went on and hearing the commentators saying what an enjoyable match it was between two good sides. I have no idea what constitutes a good match or what good teams look like these days in that case.
Me too, except it was my kindle instead of a newspaper.
I could only find a fairly Shiite local pub which had one screen showing us. One of the few remaining pubs where the old time Irish fellas gather in Shepherd’s Bush.
Had the benefit of the wisdom of a Hibs fan telling me how McGinn would run the game and a 66year old nutter who told me that different Villa managers allowed McGrath to have 4 pints before a game. I was almost pining for the sky commentary to be audible.
I thought it was an awful game and we again had no pattern to our play. Too many players below par and nobody shone. Unlike many on here I thought Jedinak’s defensive work was decent.
At one point the cameras panned in on Tore Andre Flo who apparently is technical coach to Chelsea’s loan players. I imagine Abraham will have him on speed dial after that.
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Quite enjoyed the first 5 minutes or so of the game yesterday and then found myself reading the paper and looking at my phone as the match went on and hearing the commentators saying what an enjoyable match it was between two good sides. I have no idea what constitutes a good match or what good teams look like these days in that case.
Me too, except it was my kindle instead of a newspaper.
I could only find a fairly Shiite local pub which had one screen showing us. One of the few remaining pubs where the old time Irish fellas gather in Shepherd’s Bush.
Had the benefit of the wisdom of a Hibs fan telling me how McGinn would run the game and a 66year old nutter who told me that different Villa managers allowed McGrath to have 4 pints before a game. I was almost pining for the sky commentary to be audible.
I thought it was an awful game and we again had no pattern to our play. Too many players below par and nobody shone. Unlike many on here I thought Jedinak’s defensive work was decent.
At one point the cameras panned in on Tore Andre Flo who apparently is technical coach to Chelsea’s loan players. I imagine Abraham will have him on speed dial after that.
Which pub was that Pat?
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We watched most of the game in a hotel bar prior to attending a party. Left before the end to get changed, convinced we'd never score. To say I was surprised when I found out the score this morning was an understatement.
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The good;
The back four looked more solid. We defended well by and large. Blackburn are a big physical side, even Dack looked a fatty.
Tuanzebe moving the ball out of the back four gave a link to the midfield.
We showed resilience to come back.
Taylor played alright.
Nyland made a brilliant reaction save to Tuanzebe's header. Fumble of the free kick apart, he looked ok. I do think with confidence he will be fine.
The bad;
Elmo and Adomah. They didn't stretch Blackburn and put in 6 crosses that we're woeful.
Tammy was isolated.
We moved the ball too slowly through midfield.
Jack was too deep.
We had 40 million quids worth of wingers and had a full back out wide.
Jedinak. What's the point?
When Kodjia came on we looked more like it. We also had a bit more zip to us and opened them up.
We didn't deserve to lose, we were probably the better side second half, but that's not good enough. The run we're on isn't good enough. There is no viable means of breaking a side down and we are consistently relying upon moments of quality.
Yesterday we ought to have gone 433, where Kodjia could drift or get close to Tammy and El Ghazi could have added pace wide.
McGinn and Hourihane are box to box. They can pass, the latter is a huge goal threat. Why aren't we aiming to play at a higher tempo? Aiming to run aides off the park without the ball rather than relying upon gaining physicality to win it back?
Keep it, thread it quickly through the phases, dominate territorially and youre asking thr opposition run 70 yards to jit your box.
We're playing within ourselves when we have the best attacking players in the league.
44 fucking 2 at home Tuesday.
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Ads, I would like to go 4-3-3 as well but I am not certain Grealish would fit that formation, as i think we need Jedinak in the middle of the middle three, with McGinn and Hourihane either side.
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I don't think we do.
A Man United game sticks in my head for the they played 442 and their full backs were so high that Evra was often starting 15 yards inside our own half and him and Valencia were absolutely hemming us in.
If you keep most of the ball and have pace to burn then I don't think you need anybody occupying that zone 10-15 yards in front of the back four. Instead you're reliant upon dominating territory and really using the press to smother the ball higher up. Hourihane played as a defensive player for Barnsley and as a box to box one. McGinn rats after the ball. Both are so much more mobile than Jedinak and both offer more of a threat going the other way.
We need some attacking intent.
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I find it difficult to criticise individual players with the Elephant man in the room.
Ftfy
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Happy that we managed to get a point out of it but we were pretty piss poor again to be honest. It's a game we would have won last season.
No, It’s just another game we should have won.
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I don't think we do.
A Man United game sticks in my head for the they played 442 and their full backs were so high that Evra was often starting 15 yards inside our own half and him and Valencia were absolutely hemming us in.
If you keep most of the ball and have pace to burn then I don't think you need anybody occupying that zone 10-15 yards in front of the back four. Instead you're reliant upon dominating territory and really using the press to smother the ball higher up. Hourihane played as a defensive player for Barnsley and as a box to box one. McGinn rats after the ball. Both are so much more mobile than Jedinak and both offer more of a threat going the other way.
We need some attacking intent.
And that’s the problem with what’s going on summed up. Bruce has the players to dominate sides such as Blackburn by setting the agenda on the pitch. Instead he sets us up to counter the oppositions tactics too often.
I couldn’t go yesterday as sorting out family stuff but when I saw the team my view was it was set up to match Blackburn at their game not play them at ours.
I was pleased to see the central defensive pairing but worry that we play 4-1-4-1, isolating Kodjia, Abrahams or whoever.
McGinn is the class act of the midfield this season so far, I want him (with Hourihane) to allow Grealish and whoever to hurt teams further forward. Last year we couldn’t hurt teams with pace, this year we have it to burn but play to a design suited to Snodgrass et al.
Very frustrating, another nail in Bruce’s coffin and, sadly 4-4-2 (or 4-1-4-1 in my view) on Tuesday.
Analogue manager in a digital world.
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44 fucking 2 at home Tuesday.
Wow, that's an optimistic scoreline prediction :)
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44 fucking 2 at home Tuesday.
Wow, that's an optimistic scoreline prediction :)
I thought Ads meant he was going to swerve the game to watch 'gangbang' porn instead. ;)
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I don't think we do.
A Man United game sticks in my head for the they played 442 and their full backs were so high that Evra was often starting 15 yards inside our own half and him and Valencia were absolutely hemming us in.
If you keep most of the ball and have pace to burn then I don't think you need anybody occupying that zone 10-15 yards in front of the back four. Instead you're reliant upon dominating territory and really using the press to smother the ball higher up. Hourihane played as a defensive player for Barnsley and as a box to box one. McGinn rats after the ball. Both are so much more mobile than Jedinak and both offer more of a threat going the other way.
We need some attacking intent.
And that’s the problem with what’s going on summed up. Bruce has the players to dominate sides such as Blackburn by setting the agenda on the pitch. Instead he sets us up to counter the oppositions tactics too often.
I couldn’t go yesterday as sorting out family stuff but when I saw the team my view was it was set up to match Blackburn at their game not play them at ours.
I was pleased to see the central defensive pairing but worry that we play 4-1-4-1, isolating Kodjia, Abrahams or whoever.
McGinn is the class act of the midfield this season so far, I want him (with Hourihane) to allow Grealish and whoever to hurt teams further forward. Last year we couldn’t hurt teams with pace, this year we have it to burn but play to a design suited to Snodgrass et al.
Very frustrating, another nail in Bruce’s coffin and, sadly 4-4-2 (or 4-1-4-1 in my view) on Tuesday.
Analogue manager in a digital world.
I totally agree that Bruce consistently sets the side up to counter the opposition as opposed to going out on the front foot. However, I think that the more pressure he is under to save his job then the more it will just resort in him becoming even more focused on not losing as opposed trying to win.
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Quite enjoyed the first 5 minutes or so of the game yesterday and then found myself reading the paper and looking at my phone as the match went on and hearing the commentators saying what an enjoyable match it was between two good sides. I have no idea what constitutes a good match or what good teams look like these days in that case.
Me too, except it was my kindle instead of a newspaper.
I could only find a fairly Shiite local pub which had one screen showing us. One of the few remaining pubs where the old time Irish fellas gather in Shepherd’s Bush.
Had the benefit of the wisdom of a Hibs fan telling me how McGinn would run the game and a 66year old nutter who told me that different Villa managers allowed McGrath to have 4 pints before a game. I was almost pining for the sky commentary to be audible.
I thought it was an awful game and we again had no pattern to our play. Too many players below par and nobody shone. Unlike many on here I thought Jedinak’s defensive work was decent.
At one point the cameras panned in on Tore Andre Flo who apparently is technical coach to Chelsea’s loan players. I imagine Abraham will have him on speed dial after that.
Which pub was that Pat?
The Coningham Arms on Uxbridge Road, more or less opposite the Adelaide
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Quite enjoyed the first 5 minutes or so of the game yesterday and then found myself reading the paper and looking at my phone as the match went on and hearing the commentators saying what an enjoyable match it was between two good sides. I have no idea what constitutes a good match or what good teams look like these days in that case.
Me too, except it was my kindle instead of a newspaper.
I could only find a fairly Shiite local pub which had one screen showing us. One of the few remaining pubs where the old time Irish fellas gather in Shepherd’s Bush.
Had the benefit of the wisdom of a Hibs fan telling me how McGinn would run the game and a 66year old nutter who told me that different Villa managers allowed McGrath to have 4 pints before a game. I was almost pining for the sky commentary to be audible.
I thought it was an awful game and we again had no pattern to our play. Too many players below par and nobody shone. Unlike many on here I thought Jedinak’s defensive work was decent.
At one point the cameras panned in on Tore Andre Flo who apparently is technical coach to Chelsea’s loan players. I imagine Abraham will have him on speed dial after that.
Which pub was that Pat?
The Coningham Arms on Uxbridge Road, more or less opposite the Adelaide
Ah, thanks. I thought I recognised your description but it turns out that there's more than one shite pub with old Irish fellas in Shepherds Bush! Not that I have anything against old Irish fellas - I'm related to most of them.
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Quite enjoyed the first 5 minutes or so of the game yesterday and then found myself reading the paper and looking at my phone as the match went on and hearing the commentators saying what an enjoyable match it was between two good sides. I have no idea what constitutes a good match or what good teams look like these days in that case.
Me too, except it was my kindle instead of a newspaper.
I could only find a fairly Shiite local pub which had one screen showing us. One of the few remaining pubs where the old time Irish fellas gather in Shepherd’s Bush.
Had the benefit of the wisdom of a Hibs fan telling me how McGinn would run the game and a 66year old nutter who told me that different Villa managers allowed McGrath to have 4 pints before a game. I was almost pining for the sky commentary to be audible.
I thought it was an awful game and we again had no pattern to our play. Too many players below par and nobody shone. Unlike many on here I thought Jedinak’s defensive work was decent.
At one point the cameras panned in on Tore Andre Flo who apparently is technical coach to Chelsea’s loan players. I imagine Abraham will have him on speed dial after that.
Which pub was that Pat?
The Coningham Arms on Uxbridge Road, more or less opposite the Adelaide
Ah, thanks. I thought I recognised your description but it turns out that there's more than one shite pub with old Irish fellas in Shepherds Bush! Not that I have anything against old Irish fellas - I'm related to most of them.
Me too!
Were you thinking of the White Horse or the Shepherds Flock? I use the Coningham as it is closest pub to me showing Sky so not been in the other 2 for a long time. Weirdly I have never seen us lose there
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I don't think we do.
A Man United game sticks in my head for the they played 442 and their full backs were so high that Evra was often starting 15 yards inside our own half and him and Valencia were absolutely hemming us in.
If you keep most of the ball and have pace to burn then I don't think you need anybody occupying that zone 10-15 yards in front of the back four. Instead you're reliant upon dominating territory and really using the press to smother the ball higher up. Hourihane played as a defensive player for Barnsley and as a box to box one. McGinn rats after the ball. Both are so much more mobile than Jedinak and both offer more of a threat going the other way.
We need some attacking intent.
And that’s the problem with what’s going on summed up. Bruce has the players to dominate sides such as Blackburn by setting the agenda on the pitch. Instead he sets us up to counter the oppositions tactics too often.
I couldn’t go yesterday as sorting out family stuff but when I saw the team my view was it was set up to match Blackburn at their game not play them at ours.
I was pleased to see the central defensive pairing but worry that we play 4-1-4-1, isolating Kodjia, Abrahams or whoever.
McGinn is the class act of the midfield this season so far, I want him (with Hourihane) to allow Grealish and whoever to hurt teams further forward. Last year we couldn’t hurt teams with pace, this year we have it to burn but play to a design suited to Snodgrass et al.
Very frustrating, another nail in Bruce’s coffin and, sadly 4-4-2 (or 4-1-4-1 in my view) on Tuesday.
Analogue manager in a digital world.
I totally agree that Bruce consistently sets the side up to counter the opposition as opposed to going out on the front foot. However, I think that the more pressure he is under to save his job then the more it will just resort in him becoming even more focused on not losing as opposed trying to win.
I completely disagree with the last bit, he's been doing this since he arrived but once he had Whelan it stepped up another level. It involves, at it's heart, the shittiest flow chart ever made, if the opposition have a centre forward who's good in the air or a midfielder who scores for fun then Jedi plays in front of the centre backs, if not then Whelan plays. A few times it's been disrupted and he's played Thor but that, in a nutshell, is all of the prep he does for most games. With the ball we never do anything different, it's always 'get it wide, get crosses in' with 1 striker, no one getting in th box to help him and wingers who are either on the wrong side and have to cut back or who can't cross.
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As well as the "finding a system" he still bangs on about losing six players from last year and needing time to gel. Conveniently forgetting that it was him who built much of the spine of last year's side on expensive loan players that we knew were unlikely to be here this year. It's almost as if he doesn't know that if you want continuity you need to plan for it.
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What is slightly annoying here is everyone who slated Hourihane previously have not given any credit to bruce for bringing him on and getting us a point. I am not happy with how we are playing. But before bruce arrived we were in the bottom 3 and in free fall. The Holte were booing our players for fun. We were a joke. Last season we missed promotion by 90 minutes. Support `our`manager our team. VTID
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You can support our team without supporting Steve Bruce.
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I don't find it annoying as it's their prerogative but I do find it surprising that anyone is still defending Bruce after failing to promote us twice, admitting he doesn't know what system to use after nearly 2 years at the club, has won 6 of the last 17 league games in division 2, has us mid-table this season and for scraping an injury time draw against a side full of players that were playing in division 3 last season.
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What is slightly annoying here is everyone who slated Hourihane previously have not given any credit to bruce for bringing him on and getting us a point. I am not happy with how we are playing. But before bruce arrived we were in the bottom 3 and in free fall. The Holte were booing our players for fun. We were a joke. Last season we missed promotion by 90 minutes. Support `our`manager our team. VTID
My view [criticised on here] is that for the 90 minutes of the game, at the ground, we should support the team and get behind the club. However for the rest of the time whatever views people want to express, they should express them and argue about it.
Some idiot on twatter criticised Ian Taylor for celebrating Hourihine's goal, suggesting that celebrating a draw was pretty pathetic. Taylor pointed out that he was celebrating the player's ability, a great goal and the fact that he supported Aston Villa [not Bruce] who had just scored a goal, any fan who wants their team to lose is really an A1 muppet.
I have to say i hold my head in my hands when i read "supporters" saying they want us to lose. Even in the darkest days we have been through [and these are nowhere near] I have never cheered when we lose or ever wanted us to lose. If I did i would go and support Man City or the Rags.
Criticise the team shape, the way we are set up, the fact that Bruce doesn't really have a clue tactically, that the chairman hasn't invested enough, that the shirts lack enough blue but don't want us to lose just to prove a point.
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Why do some people feel it is their right to tell other people how they should support their team? I haven't seen anyone say they want to see us lose just to prove a point. Some like me would take a defeat or two in the short term if that's what it takes to rid ourselves of a failed and failing manager who is holding us back in the longer term. It's counter-intuitive in some ways but it's a pragmatic view. It seems to me some people would eat a shit sandwich every day if it was served in a Villa shirt.
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Why do some people feel it is their right to tell other people how they should support?.... It seems to me some people would eat a shit sandwich every day if it was served in a Villa shirt.
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So, every time you [or I] disagree with the manager and/or the club to any deep degree you want us to lose so things change?
I don't care that you express such opinions for 166.5 hours a week, you may have a valid view and I don't want Bruce to stay long term probably anymore than you do. However, i thought it was fans of other teams want to see us lose on the field.
Docherty once said that if you put 11 claret and blue shirts out on a line 10,000 would turn up to support them, seems that's not true unless it's the right manager/chair/cheif exec.
I apologise and will change my attitude. Come on Rotherham/Sheffield Wednesday/Bristol City whoever, stuff us 6-0 at home every game, because we want our manager gone. Do you recommend we all turn up in their shirts as well?
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What is slightly annoying here is everyone who slated Hourihane previously have not given any credit to bruce for bringing him on and getting us a point. I am not happy with how we are playing. But before bruce arrived we were in the bottom 3 and in free fall. The Holte were booing our players for fun. We were a joke. Last season we missed promotion by 90 minutes. Support `our`manager our team. VTID
Were we in the bottom 3?
Are you sure or are you accepting ‘alternative facts’ ?
Steve says we were bottom, then in the bottom 2.
You now say bottom 3 whereas the general consensus is that we were 19th.
Someone knows the truth, or maybe everyone is wrong ?
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Why do some people feel it is their right to tell other people how they should support their team? I haven't seen anyone say they want to see us lose just to prove a point.
There were a few people on here before saturday's match saying they wanted us to lose.
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What is slightly annoying here is everyone who slated Hourihane previously have not given any credit to bruce for bringing him on and getting us a point. I am not happy with how we are playing. But before bruce arrived we were in the bottom 3 and in free fall. The Holte were booing our players for fun. We were a joke. Last season we missed promotion by 90 minutes. Support `our`manager our team. VTID
Were we in the bottom 3?
Are you sure or are you accepting ‘alternative facts’ ?
Steve says we were bottom, then in the bottom 2.
You now say bottom 3 whereas the general consensus is that we were 19th.
Someone knows the truth, or maybe everyone is wrong ?
When he was announced we were 19th. That was the Thursday.
On the Friday Cardiff beat Forest to go above us pushing us into 20th.
On the Saturday, in the 3pm kickoffs Derby won and went above us and Wigan drew and went above us on goals scored meaning we kicked off against Wolves in 22nd.
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Why do some people feel it is their right to tell other people how they should support their team? I haven't seen anyone say they want to see us lose just to prove a point.
There were a few people on here before saturday's match saying they wanted us to lose.
I'm not one of them (but I did say I find it difficult to not see an equaliser and feel the joy of the goal and getting something out of the game mixed with a slight disappointment that Bruce has been saved by a moment of brilliance again) but I'd argue that anyone who said that wasn't doing it to prove a point but rather it's a bit like ripping a plaster off in one go, they just want it done with.
I think most people now accept that Bruce is fucked and his days are numbered but that means there's a 'end of term' feeling to everything where we're all just stuck in limbo until the owners get on with it. If ew delay it, he might win the next couple and maybe have a run of 7-8 unbeaten, but at some point there's going to be another run of 5-6 games without a win and we'll be right back here again, there's nothing in his entire career to suggest he knows how to stop those cycles repeating, it's a freakishly regular pattern everywhere he's been.
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Warnock, Smith and Wilder.
Look at their squads and the money they have spent and you think, "They are over-achieving with what they've got to work with."
Look at Bruce, and guess what?