Steve Bruce - officially confirmed (as Sheffield Wednesday boss)

[Chris Jameson]

I've asked this before and I know Westwood and Gardner aren't great etc but of the very little I've seen of Tshibola I couldn't see what persuaded Villa to spend a decent sum of money on a player who played 13 matches in 3 years for Reading and I suspect nobody on here had heard of until the day he signed for us.

He might turn out to be a great player but why are people so convinced he's any better than the admittedly piss poor options we already have?

[john e]

I've asked this before and I know Westwood and Gardner aren't great etc but of the very little I've seen of Tshibola I couldn't see what persuaded Villa to spend a decent sum of money on a player who played 13 matches in 3 years for Reading and I suspect nobody on here had heard of until the day he signed for us.

He might turn out to be a great player but why are people so convinced he's any better than the admittedly piss poor options we already have?

its that unwritten law of football that players always become a lot better when they don't play

[Dave]

Those were of course the days when we were big premier league spenders and finishing in the top 6, so a much bigger gulf than there is now between the two teams.

The gulf should be bigger now if anything. The £4m or so we spent on Jedinak in the summer is about the same as they have cumulatively spend on transfers in the last six years.

It's further testament to the outstanding job Rowett has done there.

[paul_e]

I like the look of Tish, he's very mobile, looks strong and I think he has the right idea of how to play the game, unfortunately he's still very raw and not ready to be a regular starter.

[brontebilly]

its a similar scenario to Sherwood for me, not that I'm comparing the two as managers because Bruce is obviously far more experienced, just the feelings about the appointment

 when Timbo joined there were quite a lot of high profile posters who were dead against it, for some very good reasons,
however he turned the team around very quickly and got us playing probably the most exciting football we have seen in the last 5 years, kept us up and took us to Wembley twice

so what did those who were set against him do during that time, well they enjoyed the ride, got excited when we won and supported the team, loved the trips, but I dare say they never changed their opinion on Sherwood,

the following season their fears were realised and I suppose they were proved right, for what its worth I still think Sherwood is harshly treated by many on the site but that's just my personal opinion on him
I had a massive argument with VTID when he argued that anyone with a nounce of talent could have kept us up that season, when I thought he performed a miracle, but again that's just differing opinions
I actually feel that Sherwoods job keeping us up was a lot harder than Bruces job getting us up in the play offs with this squad but there you go

now we have Bruce, I have the same feelings as many did about Sherwood, for different reasons but never the less I never wanted him
so we go 4 games undefeated, we become difficult to beat, we win two on the trot and he stops the rot,
what do I and those who don't want him do, we love the wins and support the team, we get excited when we score and enjoy the turnaround

does it change my mind on Bruce... no

I still don't think he's good enough to manage Villa,
 if he gets us up and I admit that's a possibility with the squad and resources he has but he will do it playing the same football Hull city and Blues played, because that's what he does,
 if we do get to the prem we will be playing the same football as Hull City and Blues did, that might be good enough for some but not for me, and he hasn't even done it yet
I understand beggars cant be choosers but I think we could have done better

like Sherwood, we will look back (in anger) when we have gone to square one again and wish we had made a better appointment for the long term rather than a quick Sherwood type fix

I will support the Villa love it when we win and hope that Bruce can get us up,

 but I don't like his Neanderthal football, his tactics are on par with Sherwoods, he's no football genius, but maybe can get things done by improving the basics and grinding out results, I think that's as good as it gets and that might (a big might) well be enough for some

 but for those thinking he will change I think you will be extremely disappointed to find he cant

Bruce like Sherwood will ultimately prove to be a mistaken appointment that will set us back even further
but in the short term like those who disliked Sherwood as manager I will enjoy the ride

Bruce has a very good track record for where we are at. Appreciate your concerns for his limitations and the style of play but he has made up hard to beat already. If he got Villa promoted back up he would be always respected at the club.

Sherwood arguably earned his pay off for keeping us up for another year and getting us to the cup final. Lamberts last game at Hull we looked certs for relegation so he did well to turn around the team. But he was without doubt the biggest charlatan we have ever had in charge of the club.

Bar the new manager bounce arm around the shoulder lark he had nothing else and quickly turned into a poisonous influence at the club. Spurs fans repeatedly warned of this happening when he first joined. The fact he hasn't got a job since is fairly telling.

[LukeJames]

He's been in charge for about 20 days, had 4 games and we've take 2 points per game. Won am away game after about 15 months.

 Forget the performances and enjoy the run. Seems to me like there's good team spirit under Bruce which has led to the results. Is that luck? No its good management.

Certainly feels like a positive change to me.

Can you get promoted hardly touching the ball and scoring on the break?

We finished 6th in the Premier League for 3 years running with that tactic.

[Sexual Ealing]

its a similar scenario to Sherwood for me, not that I'm comparing the two as managers because Bruce is obviously far more experienced, just the feelings about the appointment

 when Timbo joined there were quite a lot of high profile posters who were dead against it, for some very good reasons,
however he turned the team around very quickly and got us playing probably the most exciting football we have seen in the last 5 years, kept us up and took us to Wembley twice

so what did those who were set against him do during that time, well they enjoyed the ride, got excited when we won and supported the team, loved the trips, but I dare say they never changed their opinion on Sherwood,

the following season their fears were realised and I suppose they were proved right, for what its worth I still think Sherwood is harshly treated by many on the site but that's just my personal opinion on him
I had a massive argument with VID when he argued that anyone with a nounce of talent could have kept us up that season, when I thought he performed a miracle, but again that's just differing opinions
I actually feel that Sherwoods job keeping us up was a lot harder than Bruces job getting us up in the play offs with this squad but there you go

now we have Bruce, I have the same feelings as many did about Sherwood, for different reasons but never the less I never wanted him
so we go 4 games undefeated, we become difficult to beat, we win two on the trot and he stops the rot,
what do I and those who don't want him do, we love the wins and support the team, we get excited when we score and enjoy the turnaround

does it change my mind on Bruce... no

I still don't think he's good enough to manage Villa,
 if he gets us up and I admit that's a possibility with the squad and resources he has but he will do it playing the same football Hull city and Blues played, because that's what he does,
 if we do get to the prem we will be playing the same football as Hull City and Blues did, that might be good enough for some but not for me, and he hasn't even done it yet
I understand beggars cant be choosers but I think we could have done better

like Sherwood, we will look back (in anger) when we have gone to square one again and wish we had made a better appointment for the long term rather than a quick Sherwood type fix

I will support the Villa love it when we win and hope that Bruce can get us up,

 but I don't like his Neanderthal football, his tactics are on par with Sherwoods, he's no football genius, but maybe can get things done by improving the basics and grinding out results, I think that's as good as it gets and that might (a big might) well be enough for some

 but for those thinking he will change I think you will be extremely disappointed to find he cant

Bruce like Sherwood will ultimately prove to be a mistaken appointment that will set us back even further
but in the short term like those who disliked Sherwood as manager I will enjoy the ride

When will the nounce arrive?!

[Clampy]

I'm reasonably happy with how things are going under Bruce so far. A win next week would put us in a better position than we were in going into the last international break. We look organised at least, which is a good sign. I think it's been a good move so far.

[Chris Jameson]

He's been in charge for about 20 days, had 4 games and we've take 2 points per game. Won am away game after about 15 months.

 Forget the performances and enjoy the run. Seems to me like there's good team spirit under Bruce which has led to the results. Is that luck? No its good management.

Certainly feels like a positive change to me.

Can you get promoted hardly touching the ball and scoring on the break?

We finished 6th in the Premier League for 3 years running with that tactic.

Leicester seemed to alright with a similar tactic.

[rob_bridge]

He's been in charge for about 20 days, had 4 games and we've take 2 points per game. Won am away game after about 15 months.

 Forget the performances and enjoy the run. Seems to me like there's good team spirit under Bruce which has led to the results. Is that luck? No its good management.

Certainly feels like a positive change to me.

Can you get promoted hardly touching the ball and scoring on the break?

We finished 6th in the Premier League for 3 years running with that tactic.

Leicester seemed to alright with a similar tactic.

Forest won 2 European Cups often playing like that.

In fact I'd argue all English clubs who won 78-84 used that as a tactic in the competition.

[paul_e]

Once you go back about 20 years you're into a very different era for football and comparisons are a little meaningless. On that basis how many major trophies have been won this millenium by teams that have regularly (to the point where you'd call it a style rather than a one off occurance) had less than 45% possession?Leicester last year and the greeks winning the euros but can you think of any others, feel free to include foreign leagues as well.

Examples like Leicester show that it can be done but I'd say it requires a fairly special set of circumstances, For last season you have Man U still not adjusted to post Fergie, Man City appointed a new manager whilst the current one still had 4-5 months in the job and their results dropped, arsenal did what they do, Liverpool didn't get Klopp in early enough to be a threat and Chelsea utterly imploded.

All that meant that Leicester and Tottenham with given a bit of a thousand to one chance to go for the league and Leicester added to all of the above by having a remarkable run of luck with injuries whereby they never lost an important player for more than a match or 2 all season.  To go a premier league season with only 12 players starting more than 10 games is truly remarkable and gave them a consistency which is almost impossible to replicate.

[LukeJames]

We're not attempting to win a major trophy (Although I won't be compalining should we land the FA Cup) we're attempting to get out of the 2nd tier.

[Chico Hamilton III]

We're not attempting to win a major trophy (Although I won't be compalining should we land the FA Cup) we're attempting to get out of the 2nd tier.

Yes - and I don't really care whether we kick our way out of this league or play our way out of it a long as we get out of it - in an upwardly direction, of course. And we'd have lost yesterday's game if it had been played a month earlier. I'm not too proud to see us play agricultural football if it get's us back to the top table. And some of the tackles flying in yesterday were fantastic. Proper local derby non-puff stuff.

[oldhill_avfc]

Can't really see what some are getting uptight about.  Of course, you don't win anything by continuously playing badly, but Bruce is averaging 2 points a game with a team that's got a poor midfield, iffy back 4 and strikers that don't score that often. 

That doesn't sound like tactical naievety and it never does any harm at all to get something out of a game when you're second best.

[Chris Jameson]

Leicester's Premier League win was based on luck then?