Steve Bruce - officially confirmed (as Sheffield Wednesday boss)

[paul_e]

delights = flights I think.

[aj2k77]

Not huge delights, huge flights. Bacuna does look like he's had a huge delight though.

[sickbeggar]

Disappointed he's fallen back on the old "unfit players" line. The first excuse that any new manager comes up with when a result is bad. You don't need to be fit to pass to a teammate...

[Toronto Villa]

His comments or non comments on fitness are so revealing. And nothing we don't already know. I thought we had that task master from Inter Milan. What's happened to him?

[brian green]

TV you seem to be deliberately attributing things to me I have not said.  I have never said I am not a fan of Steve Bruce nor have I ever said I am a fan of Steve Bruce.  I accept him as a necessity.  Nor can you lecture me about getting behind the manager.  I was getting behind Villa managers probably before your father was born.  He will be mercilessly pilloried if we fail as badly with him as we have with his immediate predecessors.  He has not failed.  I do not think he will fail.  I am simply stating the obvious of what will happen if he does while also stating that he will be revered if he succeeds, and like Joe Mercer another manager who dragged us from the brink, will probably have a road named after him, like Mercer did at Manchester City.

[aj2k77]

Disappointed he's fallen back on the old "unfit players" line. The first excuse that any new manager comes up with when a result is bad. You don't need to be fit to pass to a teammate...

What have you seen from them this season that makes you think any of them are fit?

[Toronto Villa]

Disappointed he's fallen back on the old "unfit players" line. The first excuse that any new manager comes up with when a result is bad. You don't need to be fit to pass to a teammate...

How's he fallen back on it? He's saying what is obvious and pointing out a contributory factor to the performance. He's hardly said it's why we played badly, just one of the reasons.

[Walmley_Villa]

The fitness or lack of has been evident for a couple of years and does contribute to the performances tailing off. RDM and his staff have to take the blame for the current team's lack of fitness.

[VILLA MOLE]

Disappointed he's fallen back on the old "unfit players" line. The first excuse that any new manager comes up with when a result is bad. You don't need to be fit to pass to a teammate...

How's he fallen back on it? He's saying what is obvious and pointing out a contributory factor to the performance. He's hardly said it's why we played badly, just one of the reasons.

yes there were a few just walking around by the end as they could not run anymore

[sickbeggar]

Disappointed he's fallen back on the old "unfit players" line. The first excuse that any new manager comes up with when a result is bad. You don't need to be fit to pass to a teammate...

How's he fallen back on it? He's saying what is obvious and pointing out a contributory factor to the performance. He's hardly said it's why we played badly, just one of the reasons.

i don't think we're unfit compared to anyone else. and the point is did RDM only buy unfit players to join us because lets face it, the likes of all our summer signings should have been fit from their other clubs when they joined

[AvFc4eVeR]

Not huge delights, huge flights. Bacuna does look like he's had a huge delight though.

This is surely going to be the next, "why didn't Barry take that penalty at Arsenal?"

Years from now we will look back at Bruce's first game in charge and laugh about how absent players had such big delights!

[Toronto Villa]

I just want to point out in the article that it's not delights. It should read flights.

[VILLA MOLE]

i now want an  angel delight

[paul_e]

I won't go as far as sickbeggar but it is an excuse, it's something you hear from pretty much every new manager if they don't get a win in their first game because fans will all accept that it takes time to get a team fit and they'll let him have a honeymoon period to sort it.

Now that's not saying he's wrong but Jedinak got back from Australia on Friday morning, he should never have started because there was no chance he'd last 90, that's 1 sub lost before kick off.  Richards hasn't played for 2 months it was always a big ask for him to last 90 so again, that's a 2nd sub taken up before kick off.  Elphick going off is unlucky but Bruce put himself in that position with his selection choices which meant he only had 1 spare sub.

Before anyone accuses me of anything I'm not looking for things to complain about I'm just pointing out that he made mistakes today and they played a part in an awful performance in the 2nd half.

[OzVilla]

Disappointed he's fallen back on the old "unfit players" line. The first excuse that any new manager comes up with when a result is bad. You don't need to be fit to pass to a teammate...

Steve Waugh always used to say that in sport, if you're not fit enough, the first sign of it is making poor decisions.

I've no doubt were not physically fit enough in this league and it manifests itself in poor decision making a lot.  I'm just glad it's finally being acknowledged by someone managing the club. It's been this way for years.