Steve Bruce - officially confirmed (as Sheffield Wednesday boss)

[Hookeysmith]

Bruce has had 14 games

I agree the players in the main are pretty poor individually and collectively even worse.
Bruce is not a miracle worker - but  after 14 games I would expect to see

1/ Players fitness better than it was - this is not evident
2/ A level of consistency in the formation and tactics - it is different every game
3/ The defensive attitude of the team - this has to be down to manager
4/ The lack of ability to pass 10 yards to each other
5/ The agreement to sell before any likely recruits on the horizon

He has to take responsibility

1/ Are the players unfit? If so who?
2/ He's chopped around trying find something/anything that works - none will when the midfield is so piss poor, and the forward options dysfunctional
3/ I thought you wanted a consistency of approach - SB's method of getting a result is to stop the opposition scoring - because he knows we ain't ever going to be banging them in at the other end
4/ See (2) - midfield is poor and the forwards run around without realising there's anyone else on the pitch
5/ Is that right and if it is, is it SB's fault?

Look, I'm not saying that SB shouldn't be expected to make progress - he actually has made progress in terms of points per game.  But, he can't work miracles and what you're levelling at him ain't even his fault and makes no sense.

Look at what Monk has done at the basket case of a club as Leeds.  You can Polish a turd if you are good enough.

[footyskillz]

Bruce has had 14 games

I agree the players in the main are pretty poor individually and collectively even worse.
Bruce is not a miracle worker - but  after 14 games I would expect to see

1/ Players fitness better than it was - this is not evident
2/ A level of consistency in the formation and tactics - it is different every game
3/ The defensive attitude of the team - this has to be down to manager
4/ The lack of ability to pass 10 yards to each other
5/ The agreement to sell before any likely recruits on the horizon

He has to take responsibility

1/ Are the players unfit? If so who?
2/ He's chopped around trying find something/anything that works - none will when the midfield is so piss poor, and the forward options dysfunctional
3/ I thought you wanted a consistency of approach - SB's method of getting a result is to stop the opposition scoring - because he knows we ain't ever going to be banging them in at the other end
4/ See (2) - midfield is poor and the forwards run around without realising there's anyone else on the pitch
5/ Is that right and if it is, is it SB's fault?

Look, I'm not saying that SB shouldn't be expected to make progress - he actually has made progress in terms of points per game.  But, he can't work miracles and what you're levelling at him ain't even his fault and makes no sense.

Look at what Monk has done at the basket case of a club as Leeds.  You can Polish a turd if you are good enough.

And Steve Mcclaren who took over after start of season -similar  To situation with Bruce and have had several wins a row. Villa need that sort of momentum and winning run . At least we don't have zola

[Havencheese]

For those who think Bruce should get the arse, that'll mean.........I've lost count of how many managers and caretakers Villa has had over the past two years. Seriously.

[paul_e]

It's not qabout wantig him sacked, literally no one is saying that, people are saying that he needs to get more out of the squad because the performances aren't good enough and in the last month the results have started to drop off as well.

[supertom]

For those who think Bruce should get the arse, that'll mean.........I've lost count of how many managers and caretakers Villa has had over the past two years. Seriously.

No way should he get fired, because frankly Steve Bruce is the absolute epitomy of the manager we needed this season. He's pretty much the perfect choice. There's no one out there, who would come to us, who is likely to do better.
Which leads me to believe that no matter who is in charge, we've just got the wretched stink of failure ingrained within us from the last 6 years and ineptitude just spread like a virus, one of which we've not found the antibiotics to cure.
If Steve "Mr Championship" Bruce can't sort us out, who the fuck can?

We're not going to go up this season, but he's got to steady the ship and get us moving forward. Something in the air at Villa seems to make managers make the most shit-brained tactical and managerial decisions possible. He needs to cut that out sharpish.

[BOB MANSFIELD]

Steve Bruce won't get fired this year, as he has Wyness and Little on his side too. But he may only get this window and the next to get this mess sorted out. It is an even bigger job than he thought when he said it was a big, big job.
It's actually a VERY BIG, Big Big job.

[oldhill_avfc]

Bruce has had 14 games

I agree the players in the main are pretty poor individually and collectively even worse.
Bruce is not a miracle worker - but  after 14 games I would expect to see

1/ Players fitness better than it was - this is not evident
2/ A level of consistency in the formation and tactics - it is different every game
3/ The defensive attitude of the team - this has to be down to manager
4/ The lack of ability to pass 10 yards to each other
5/ The agreement to sell before any likely recruits on the horizon

He has to take responsibility

1/ Are the players unfit? If so who?
2/ He's chopped around trying find something/anything that works - none will when the midfield is so piss poor, and the forward options dysfunctional
3/ I thought you wanted a consistency of approach - SB's method of getting a result is to stop the opposition scoring - because he knows we ain't ever going to be banging them in at the other end
4/ See (2) - midfield is poor and the forwards run around without realising there's anyone else on the pitch
5/ Is that right and if it is, is it SB's fault?

Look, I'm not saying that SB shouldn't be expected to make progress - he actually has made progress in terms of points per game.  But, he can't work miracles and what you're levelling at him ain't even his fault and makes no sense.

Look at what Monk has done at the basket case of a club as Leeds.  You can Polish a turd if you are good enough.

Monk's had a close season and nigh on 40 games to sort them out - and was a gnat's knacker away from being sacked.

[BOB MANSFIELD]

Does anyone really care about dirty Leeds anyway ?

[Sexual Ealing]

I mostly agree.  But we are missing a few key pieces of the jigsaw - primarily a in midfield.  It's down to this, together with coaching and tactics.  My general point is however poor Gabby is, blaming it all on him is nonsensical

My reading of all of this is this:
Flabby has come to represent all that's been bad over the last 2-3 seasons (as has Richards). It appears - from what we know as dressing-room outsiders - that there has been a rubbish culture around the club and a stench of mediocrity and complacency combined with an absence of meaningful commitment to the club's well-being. When the Dr came in with Wyness and others, there was a sense that a cultural shift would be made and that the club would return to a place where hard work, skill and teamwork (bound together by a strong managerial ethos and effective game tactics) would prevail. This did not happen under RdM and Clark - surprisingly, really, since both appeared to have the credentials and attitude.
We now have Bruce and his team of coaches in and we are not seeing immediate returns on a more productive culture: in fact, with Flabby reinstated, it appears that we are almost regressing. In reality the regression comes because many of the Summer signings - combined with the failed players of the past (Flabby, Westie, GG, Bacuna, Bunn) - have failed to deliver.
We're back to the stage of having to overhaul the squad, whcih means that promotion is a very outside possibility this season. SB is going to have to offload the dross (Exhibit A: Rudy) before being able to bring in the players that will actually make a difference. The challenge is to hang on to those we want to keep whilst not being able to immediately rejoin the ranks of the obscenely paid in the PL.

Flabby is not the problem, merely the symptom.

Not a bog fan of the lack of paragraphs.

But what you say is bang on.

There are paragraphs.

[chrisw1]

For those who think Bruce should get the arse, that'll mean.........I've lost count of how many managers and caretakers Villa has had over the past two years. Seriously.

No way should he get fired, because frankly Steve Bruce is the absolute epitomy of the manager we needed this season. He's pretty much the perfect choice. There's no one out there, who would come to us, who is likely to do better.
Which leads me to believe that no matter who is in charge, we've just got the wretched stink of failure ingrained within us from the last 6 years and ineptitude just spread like a virus, one of which we've not found the antibiotics to cure.
If Steve "Mr Championship" Bruce can't sort us out, who the fuck can?

We're not going to go up this season, but he's got to steady the ship and get us moving forward. Something in the air at Villa seems to make managers make the most shit-brained tactical and managerial decisions possible. He needs to cut that out sharpish.

Oh FFS don't start all this bollocks again.  We've just got an imbalanced team with a few glaring weaknesses (primarily midfield) and yes, the players are naturally short of confidence.

[JJ-AV]

He deserves a transfer window before anyone judges him. We've got no striker, a very weak central midfield, an overall imbalanced squad and a mentality of losing running throughout.

And re. the Monk comparison, Monk had a Summer to rebuild and was close to the sack around September/October time before turning it around.

[Hookeysmith]

I am not suggesting he is sacked - far from it

My point was I would have expected better than what we have. It seems the initial momentum we had has started to go backwards and the tactics are becoming harder to fathom and the performances more and more negative and dire to watch

Only a Manager can change that - its not just about spunking another 30 - 40 million on new players.

If we could see what his strategy / formation of playing was then we then could all focus on the players he buys to fit into it - at present its all over the shop

[Hoppo]

If Steve Bruce thinks Gabby is the answer then he is actually the problem
I in good faith believed him to be the fresh manager we needed, he hasn't done anything of note yet, all I've wanted was progress and a pattern of play that was exciting.
Promotion this season isn't a priority at all.

[mattjpa]

Hold your nerve gentlemen, Rome wasnt built in a day. Our home form is fine since Bruce came in, He has Baker and Chester working well together, Has Jedinak playing well and has identified weak goalkeeping straight away and dealt with it.

Dr T fucked with Di Matteo, we all know that. Regardless of what Bruce does/has done, that is the reason we wont go up. We didnt lose too many but hardly ever won under him. All we can hope from a young, enthusiastic new owner is that he runs us with the best intentions and when he drops a bollock, he sorts it out. Both boxes ticked for me.

I hop Bruce is here for another 4 1/2 years, we need stability and he needs the chance to see the seeds of recovery being planted now come to fruition. Best managerial appointment we have made since Brian Little for me.

[fredm]

As has been said before, the Villa are like one of those huge tankers you see out at sea.  Over the last few years it has left port and gradually been gaining steam as it ploughs across the ocean.  Unfortunately it has been heading in the wrong direction and, now that has been realised, steps are being taken to slow it down, turn it around and get it to start travelling in the right direction. This takes time, it is not like a motor car where you can slam on the brakes and do a 180 degree turn. SB needs this window plus the summer to a) get rid of those who are not up to standard; b) bring in those who will improve the team and c) get his ideas across to the team and get them playing together and with a degree of confidence in their own and the others ability.