Steve Bruce - officially confirmed (as Sheffield Wednesday boss)

[LeeB]

Has this changed from a Bruce to Westwood subject all of a sudden?

It's the Bruce thread but the Westwood thread's gone missing.

Anybody want to tap this one in?

Thanks for pointing that out.

[LeeB]

And whilst I'm here, I'm firmly in Jimbos camp

[Risso]

Has this changed from a Bruce to Westwood subject all of a sudden?

It's the Bruce thread but the Westwood thread's gone missing.

Anybody want to tap this one in?

Thanks for pointing that out.

I knew Lee would be on hand to assist.  He's not afraid to get stuck in and tackle the big issues.

[kippaxvilla2]

Has this changed from a Bruce to Westwood subject all of a sudden?

It's the Bruce thread but the Westwood thread's gone missing.

Anybody want to tap this one in?

Thanks for pointing that out.

I knew Lee would be on hand to assist.  He's not afraid to get stuck in and tackle the big issues.

Another great read Risso.

[peter w]

Why didn't Westwood take the penalty? Oh, and, erm, I like him. He's going through a rough patch and I doubt he'll show any worth in a Villa shirt again but he was the hod carrier and did the donkey work well enough for what we would afford to pay for. Not so this season but he's the whipping boy for RDM not buying a decent enough midfield in the summer. Cheer up Ashley son you're not as bad as we, and probably you now, believe.

[Sexual Ealing]

SE - Did you get your radiators to work?

Not yet. In the spirit of Paul Lambert I think I'm just going to put them all on at once and hope they work it out themselves.

[aj2k77]

Why didn't Westwood take the penalty?

Because he would have floated it over the bar.

[The Edge]

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.

Maybe a bit fanciful in places but for me some of the points he makes are pretty salient. As for Ross Mac I know personally several people that have seen him out and about round Solihull and he has a taste for the champagne lifestyle.Maybe it's nothing new I don't know but it doesn't lend itself to a top class striker who is determined to show everyone at B6 what he is capable of.

[CT]

I'm not saying Ross and Micah Richards are overweight, but my lads calendar fell off the wall - and they're both January!

[Steve67]

I'm not saying Ross and Micah Richards are overweight, but my lads calendar fell off the wall - and they're both January!

Ha ha, brilliant! Well done sir.

[passitsideways]

I don't understand the defense of Westwood, and in my opinion Jimbo is spot on in his summing up of him.  He's an utterly anonymous little coward who actively goes out of his way to avoid getting involved.

I couldn't put it any better myself. After the weekend, and the stats thrown around, I will no longer take anyone defending him seriously. Out.

Agreed.

The comment earlier that it is isn't his fault he's no good (paraphrasing).  So he has managed to hoodwink to use a word every single football coach he has ever encountered and somehow jammed his way to being signed off as a professional footballer?  Or could it be that, in fact, yes he does all the right things and makes all the right noises in training only to turn in absolutely God awful, anonymous, non-accountable performances week in, week out.  Either atrocious, or atrocious dereliction of duty in a vital area.  Either way.  Get rid.

Wait, so why wouldn't the manager also observe that particular phenomenon and promptly bomb him out accordingly, for "dereliction of duty"?

See, I'm highly skeptical that all these managers we've had would've been willing to pick a player who they assessed, having considered everything, (yes, including how they played in matches) to be a coward or otherwise incapable of taking any responsibility, unless they were genuinely interested in getting themselves fired (Lambert's final few months is the only time applicable there.)

People seem to equate taking responsibility or "not being a coward" on a football pitch with running around looking mad busy or attempting something well beyond one's talent level just to look like they're trying to make things happen, even though unsuccessfully doing so probably hurts the team.

[olaftab]

Well surely after subbing them both at HT Bruce will think twice about starting with either again?

[passitsideways]

I'd hope so, though fingers crossed we do get at least one midfielder in and ready to start before the next league game, if not two.

[Des Little]

Well surely after subbing them both at HT Bruce will think twice about starting with either again?

I'm surprised he allowed them back on the coach. I'd have left them there, like the unsold shit when you leave a car boot sale.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Well surely after subbing them both at HT Bruce will think twice about starting with either again?

I'm surprised he allowed them back on the coach. I'd have left them there, like the unsold shit when you leave a car boot sale.

Very good.