Steve Bruce - officially confirmed (as Sheffield Wednesday boss)

[brian green]

Agree with all of that very well written post Jimbo but it still leaves me suspecting that incoming managers also eat the fruit of the lotus in B6.  Eric Black wrote out one team sheet that he had photocopied before each game, Remi Garde having disciplined Gabby allowed him back in the fold to further destabilise the dressing room, RDM made Richards captain and played him at centre back against Luton, Steve Bruce persists with the belief that Westwood and Gardner deserve selection and that Gabby can rise again like Lazarus.  The Villa malaise of self indulgent laziness seems to spread beyond the players.

[tony scott]

It has been observed that playing Westwood and Gardner in the same team never works to lightweight we have all seen it maybe we should think out of the block, possibly used Elphink in the middle he's slow but he can tackle and surely he can passbetter than Jed, bet he wouldn't have been predictably bullied by Cardiff

[chrisw1]

The miasma of underachievement still hangs thick in the dank corners of Villa Park, and it looks like Steve Bruce walked straight into a cloud of it.

The giant soft-play area that is VP and Bodymoor Heath has lulled many a player into a kind of fugue state, which dulls his wits and gives him the pleasant sensation that all his needs are now taken care of come what may. This dreamlike stasis makes players believe they can coast along in an untouchable state of blissful wellbeing until such time as their multi-million pound contract finally runs out (or until they are inexplicably offered a new one). They know it will never get better than this, and they're determined to kick back and enjoy it. After all, they've made it now.

Ross McCormack is the latest to succumb to this strange malady. He looks more suited to a teddy bear onesie and a settee than a Villa kit and a football pitch. The days of hard graft are now behind him. He knows it will never get any better than this.

Too many players, it seems, have believed it possible to make the club work for them, rather than the other way around. And so it has been for the likes of Stephen Ireland, Charles N'Zogbia, Gabby Agbonlahor...

With all that comes an arrogance - still - that makes a few players believe they are somehow above having to compete, fight and scrap for every available point. To learn their role in the team and stick to it. To function as a footballer. And any manager - whether he looks like Antonio Conte, or a man with a potato for a head - will have his work cut out eradicating the disease.

Give the poor bastard a break.   

I'm sorry but this post is just full of utter bollocks and hyperbole.  We have had several shit players and a few bad eggs, but mainly a shit owner and a few shit managers. 

How do you know how hard McCormack is working?  Wasn't he set back by injury?

There is no mystery disease, gypsy curse or cancer.  Just some terrible management decisions and catastrophic loss of form and confidence which Bruce is slowly trying to sort out.

I agree he should be given a break.  The rest of the post is just melodramatic nonsense.

Can you give me a few moments while I think about what's wrong with fat Ross McCormack, and I'll get back to you.

You're suggesting in a flowery way that there is something about Villa that makes players want to be fat, lazy and shit.  I just don't buy it. 

The reasons are abundantly clear and no amount of hand wringing flouncy prose inferring some kind of conspiracy will change that.

[Jimbo]

I do think football clubs can be like a bubble, and Villa has become a very comfortable bubble. It's like a separate reality. What is apparent to many of us in the real world appears quite differently to those within the bubble.

Bruce might see Westwood in training and think "he's a canny lad, always turns up on time, prepared to run all day, great attitude, looks like he cares." But he doesn't know Westwood is a hoodwinker, like an office clockwatcher on a Friday afternoon, endlessly shuffling papers on his desk, waiting for 5 o'clock. Bruce might see things differently after Monday's debacle, but he's got there via a different route to most of us.

The difference between Villa and the real big clubs is that they come under intense scrutiny by the media, whereas Villa don't really matter that much on a national, or as we've seen more recently, on a local media level. Gabby gets a relatively free pass, whereas if he'd done similar at Liverpool or Man Utd he'd have been dubbed a national outrage and hounded out of the club. At Villa you're visible enough to be a 'star' of sorts, but you can always hide your shitness away behind a lack of any real expectation or scrutiny. It's only Villa.

Steve Bruce isn't cut from that cloth, so even though it might take him a bit of time to suss things out, I'm sure he'll see it eventually.     

[maigrait]

I do think football clubs can be like a bubble, and Villa has become a very comfortable bubble. It's like a separate reality. What is apparent to many of us in the real world appears quite differently to those within the bubble.

Bruce might see Westwood in training and think "he's a canny lad, always turns up on time, prepared to run all day, great attitude, looks like he cares." But he doesn't know Westwood is a hoodwinker, like an office clockwatcher on a Friday afternoon, endlessly shuffling papers on his desk, waiting for 5 o'clock. Bruce might see things differently after Monday's debacle, but he's got there via a different route to most of us.

The difference between Villa and the real big clubs is that they come under intense scrutiny by the media, whereas Villa don't really matter that much on a national, or as we've seen more recently, on a local media level. Gabby gets a relatively free pass, whereas if he'd done similar at Liverpool or Man Utd he'd have been dubbed a national outrage and hounded out of the club. At Villa you're visible enough to be a 'star' of sorts, but you can always hide your shitness away behind a lack of any real expectation or scrutiny. It's only Villa.

Steve Bruce isn't cut from that cloth, so even though it might take him a bit of time to suss things out, I'm sure he'll see it eventually.   

Agree with Jimbo - I'd say also the good Dr X will also not stand for these kind of clowns that have dogged us for years... He actually wants results rather than "Lerner bobbling along and not caring type of results"...

[chrisw1]

I do think football clubs can be like a bubble, and Villa has become a very comfortable bubble. It's like a separate reality. What is apparent to many of us in the real world appears quite differently to those within the bubble.

Bruce might see Westwood in training and think "he's a canny lad, always turns up on time, prepared to run all day, great attitude, looks like he cares." But he doesn't know Westwood is a hoodwinker, like an office clockwatcher on a Friday afternoon, endlessly shuffling papers on his desk, waiting for 5 o'clock. Bruce might see things differently after Monday's debacle, but he's got there via a different route to most of us.

The difference between Villa and the real big clubs is that they come under intense scrutiny by the media, whereas Villa don't really matter that much on a national, or as we've seen more recently, on a local media level. Gabby gets a relatively free pass, whereas if he'd done similar at Liverpool or Man Utd he'd have been dubbed a national outrage and hounded out of the club. At Villa you're visible enough to be a 'star' of sorts, but you can always hide your shitness away behind a lack of any real expectation or scrutiny. It's only Villa.

Steve Bruce isn't cut from that cloth, so even though it might take him a bit of time to suss things out, I'm sure he'll see it eventually.     

You see, this is the sort of shite I'm talking about.  Westwood may not be good enough, but he is a hard working player.  He is not deliberately shit or lazy.  He isn't trying to hoodwink anyone, he's just working hard and doing his best, which unfortunately isn't good enough for what we want. 

There is nothing special or fundamentally wrong with our club - we just have a lot of crap players left over from the Lerner era and of course pretty fragile confidence.

I agree Bruce has a difficult job, but no different to turning around any other shit team, albeit he has to cope with the expectation that comes along with the club of this size.

[Jimbo]

I've had the misfortune to watch Westwood for the best part of five years. I know exactly what he's about.

[Bad English]

Westwood is a lovely bunch of lad Chris, yes. However, in a world where a replica football shirt costs £55, a ticket to see the Villa costs 3-4 times the price of a ticket to see a fantastic film, players like him playing for us will get stick on online forums, however irrational, however unfair. Tough tit! He will get over it when he reads his bank statement.

[Des Little]

The bottom line is footballers do not give a shit about what fans think or say, they really don't.  They're richer than we can ever dream of being, and to them it's a job and nothing more.

[chrisw1]

I've had the misfortune to watch Westwood for the best part of five years. I know exactly what he's about.

So you're privy to how hard he trains?  His fitness stats?  The mileage he covers on the pitch?

As I said, he may not be good enough but your inference is that he's lazy and I just don't see that.  Your earlier suggestion is there is some special aura at the club that makes players want to be fat lazy and shit.  Come on, get a grip.

[Clampy]

I do think football clubs can be like a bubble, and Villa has become a very comfortable bubble. It's like a separate reality. What is apparent to many of us in the real world appears quite differently to those within the bubble.

Bruce might see Westwood in training and think "he's a canny lad, always turns up on time, prepared to run all day, great attitude, looks like he cares." But he doesn't know Westwood is a hoodwinker, like an office clockwatcher on a Friday afternoon, endlessly shuffling papers on his desk, waiting for 5 o'clock. Bruce might see things differently after Monday's debacle, but he's got there via a different route to most of us.

The difference between Villa and the real big clubs is that they come under intense scrutiny by the media, whereas Villa don't really matter that much on a national, or as we've seen more recently, on a local media level. Gabby gets a relatively free pass, whereas if he'd done similar at Liverpool or Man Utd he'd have been dubbed a national outrage and hounded out of the club. At Villa you're visible enough to be a 'star' of sorts, but you can always hide your shitness away behind a lack of any real expectation or scrutiny. It's only Villa.

Steve Bruce isn't cut from that cloth, so even though it might take him a bit of time to suss things out, I'm sure he'll see it eventually.     

You see, this is the sort of shite I'm talking about.  Westwood may not be good enough, but he is a hard working player.  He is not deliberately shit or lazy.  He isn't trying to hoodwink anyone, he's just working hard and doing his best, which unfortunately isn't good enough for what we want. 

Totally agree. What Jimbo wrote might be him thinking it's a clever thing to write but it's just over the top nonsense. Westwood is just not good enough and never has been. That's basically it.

[brian green]

Managers too Des.

[Ads]

McCormack struggled on Saturday as he was isolated for large periods. The only limited service was balls over the top and into the channel, which he gamely chased, but couldn't do a whole lot with.

His partner has left him hasn't she? That's likely to have an impact.

[Jimbo]

I've had the misfortune to watch Westwood for the best part of five years. I know exactly what he's about.

So you're privy to how hard he trains?  His fitness stats?  The mileage he covers on the pitch?

As I said, he may not be good enough but your inference is that he's lazy and I just don't see that.  Your earlier suggestion is there is some special aura at the club that makes players want to be fat lazy and shit.  Come on, get a grip.

If I'm talking shite, you're definitely thinking shite. I didn't say he was lazy, I said he was a hoodwinker. They are two different things. I agree he isn't good enough. You got that bit correct. I think he tries to hide his shortcomings by running around a lot and making it look like he's doing something. But he really does do very little. Some things - like tackling, passing forwards, heading, etc. he won't even try. He'll make it look like he's trying them, though. More out of covering up his inadequacies, rather than laziness. But by doing that, he's hoodwinking. 

Westwood, very early in his career, decided that he was the type of midfielder that people don't really notice, one that moves the ball on to other players. But the job requires so much more than that. If I were a postman, and I decided I'd be the type of postman nobody notices, the type who moves the letters on to other postmen, the type that would rather not get involved in the sorting, walking, climbing of steps, carrying of lots of parcels and letters, I'd be given the - wait for it - sack.

[LeeB]

I thought you get given the sack every day as a postman?