Steve Bruce - officially confirmed (as Sheffield Wednesday boss)

[itbrvilla]

i have no problem with selling Gestede when we did especially for that sort of money,
 he made little difference when he was here, I very much doubt he would have been a game changer on Saturday

I think he would have scored that header that Mcormack missed so that would have changed the match

Agreed

yeah because everything would have gone exactly the same way with Gestede doing exactly the same thing as Mcormack and thus being in exactly the same spot when the ball was crossed by exactly the same player at exactly the same time so yeah he would have defo headed it in because that's how it works

Made me laugh.

[BOB MANSFIELD]

Sarcasm ...said to be the lowest form of wit. But don'cha just luv it ! Very observationalist of you.

[footyskillz]

i have no problem with selling Gestede when we did especially for that sort of money,
 he made little difference when he was here, I very much doubt he would have been a game changer on Saturday

I think he would have scored that header that Mcormack missed so that would have changed the match

Agreed

yeah because everything would have gone exactly the same way with Gestede doing exactly the same thing as Mcormack and thus being in exactly the same spot when the ball was crossed by exactly the same player at exactly the same time so yeah he would have defo headed it in because that's how it works

John Carew. Jon Kodjia. Christian Benteke and Darren Bent would have scored too. Even Heskey. So yeah a player who is taller would get his head over it and score.

[footyskillz]

 . I'm not sure why you're trying to dig me out it's not nice please don't do that to my again . Thanks
Just ignore them

[Axl Rose]

i have no problem with selling Gestede when we did especially for that sort of money,
 he made little difference when he was here, I very much doubt he would have been a game changer on Saturday

I think he would have scored that header that Mcormack missed so that would have changed the match

Agreed

yeah because everything would have gone exactly the same way with Gestede doing exactly the same thing as Mcormack and thus being in exactly the same spot when the ball was crossed by exactly the same player at exactly the same time so yeah he would have defo headed it in because that's how it works

Made me laugh.

Probably coz you can relate  if it's not funny to be sarcasm towards my post.
Is it  funny that someone who can't express his annoyance at Ross McCormack missing and masks his expression of frustration in a passive agressive manner by sarcasm. Not aware of his underlying emotions so will try and joke and belittle my post ather than contribute an alternative argument -nothing funny about that.  I will fight any bully boy tactics that attempt to diminish my post and opinion I should be as respected as next person John E . I'm not sure why you're trying to dig me out it's not nice please don't do that to my again . Thanks

I think you've been a little oversensitive recently, footy.

First the whole odd flavoured lollypop thing. Now this.

[pbavfckuwait]

From Jimbo's post page 119.
And I know it's not all about fighting. But part of the battle is preparation, and too many players look unfit, unmotivated and not very well drilled. I don't believe Bruce is failing on those fronts, but I think the players need to take it upon themselves to get in shape and to learn their roles, and a lot of them don't appear to be doing that.

I state the below as someone who is not a Brucey Hater, just a concerned Villa fan.

To say that players look unfit, unmotivated and not very well drilled, surely is the responsibility of the Manager and the support team he puts together, the other excuse that gets rolled out for god knows how many of our consistently failing managers, is that they are not his players, his squad, to my mind in modern football the only two managers that have probably had that pleasure are Fergie and Wenger, so managers have to work with players bought by previous regimes full stop add and adjust overtime, but to state unmotivated, unfit and undrilled and then not point the finger of blame at the current manager is amazing.

Bruces first job should have been to identify where the source of the energy sapping, brain removing, could not give a shit attitude remover is at Bodymoor Heath, that turns what were so called professional footballers at previous clubs, goal scorers to could not hit a barn door experts, manic centre half leaders into bambi on ice defenders, midfield generals that look like they led the Taliban into battle, into blowing out of my arse after 60 minutes, could not find a password never mind a pass to a team mate expert, remove and replace it with a "Lets be a professional footballer machine again". If the manager is not going to do that, who the hell is.

[Jimbo]

The point is, going by everything I know about Steve Bruce, a lack of thoroughness has never been one of his shortcomings, either as a player or manager. Him and his teams were always fit, well drilled and alert to the task. I think he's walked into a different culture here - personified by a certain G Agbonlahor - where hoodwinkery, complacency and getting by with the bare minimum of commitment is the thing. I mean, look at the last few years. The poster boy for that lack of engagement is still our main striker.

[pbavfckuwait]

Jimbo could not agree more, but then is it not Bruceys fault that he then places that good for nothing, lazy arsehole back in as a main striker, appreciated it is because of the missing players in Africa and yes Gobshiteahor has signed his contract at the Villa park retirement home, but RHM who we have been told, is not getting a look in as he has not signed his new deal, is still being paid by AVFC, but not getting used,surely examples such as that allows the culture to continue.

I appreciate he has a hard job, but I am not seeing any major signs of improvement (after initial bounce), we still seem to be a rudder less ship, all that has changed is we have a new Captain at the helm. We are still unfit, unmotivated and still have no movement, cant beat the first man at most corners, have a major problem passing a ball anyway other than sideways and apart from Kodj and Chester fill the rest of the team with adequate triers (Baker) inadequate triers (Hutton) and the rest that fill the shirts each week, that we found out last year are not good enough fro the prem and are finding out now that they are not good enough for the Chumpainship either. There is not one player that was here last year that has improved under Bruce, including and most definitely Jack.

[chrisw1]

There's no doubt that over the last 2 seasons Gabby has been poor and at times over weight.  His lack of application in our hour of need was unforgivable.  But people are now trying to blame him for everything from the lack of development of our youngsters to other players deciding to also be fat and shit.  Don't you realise how ridiculous this sounds?

Any players lack of condition in the current squad is either down to RDMs fitness coach or maybe for some players injuries we may not have been aware of.

By all means have a go at Gaby for being shit, but get some perspective here.

[ozzjim]

Or simply not v being that fit anymore.  Jedinak is 33 and likely to tire during a game.  Westwood has never been dynamic so to speak. Hutton and Amavi look fit enough. Even Gabby and McCormack put a shift in at Wolves. Fitness is an easy blame when there is a lack of a coherent style of play.

[oldhill_avfc]

Lack of ability is the main problem.  Not lack of style or fitness.

[pbavfckuwait]

Agree about the fitness being an overused excuse, but does that address the still lack of an identifiable style, the lack of being able to put 90 minutes of consistency into practice, the lack of the manager playing forwards that need a certain type of service and not being able to drill that type of service into the team over a number of weeks, that includes lets say crosses for Justhead when he was here, or allowing McCormack the type of pass that he can convert, because we bought a player that has a proven record at this level over a number of years and turned him into a mini Heskey.
I want Bruce to succeed, because if he does it means Villa have and maybe it will take time, at the moment I would like to see some shoots of recovery, not more of the horse shit we have had for 7 years and still seem to be content to settle for.

[brian green]

I very much agree that all of our failings, and they are many, can't be laid at Gabby's door.  However, like it or not he has come to embody everything wrong on the pitch and in the dressing room.  He is the manager breaker.  Stanley Collymore was the same. Other players see what he is getting away with week after week and become demoralised.  Young players probably on little more than £500 a week see him on £55,000 a week being given endless chances to redeem himself while they can't even get on the bench.  They are bound to get pissed off about it.  It is not Gabriel Agbonlahor individually that is the problem.  It is what he has come to represent.  The old "go again" order.

[chrisw1]

I very much agree that all of our failings, and they are many, can't be laid at Gabby's door.  However, like it or not he has come to embody everything wrong on the pitch and in the dressing room.  He is the manager breaker.  Stanley Collymore was the same. Other players see what he is getting away with week after week and become demoralised.  Young players probably on little more than £500 a week see him on £55,000 a week being given endless chances to redeem himself while they can't even get on the bench.  They are bound to get pissed off about it.  It is not Gabriel Agbonlahor individually that is the problem.  It is what he has come to represent.  The old "go again" order.

No he isn't Brian.  He's just a player well past his best and probably without enough motivation to make a valid contribution.  There are many reasons we have been poor this season, but given Gabby was marginalised for the first part and has played a small role in the second, continuing to blame him for all our failings is just ridiculous.

[Hookeysmith]

The poster boy for that lack of engagement is still our main striker.

Who Bruce was very quick to state he had a clean slate and shoehorned him straight back in - is this his doing or is it a directive from above that we are paying the twats wages so he should earn them?
Either way from a promising start his inclusion on the bench then escalating to first team starter has coincided with us going back to being shit - whichever way you look at it