Steve Bruce - officially confirmed (as Sheffield Wednesday boss)

[Clampy]

I think the words "rant" and "rave" hardly describe the vast majority of us who, while very loyal to Steve Bruce, reserve the right to comment on things we see as mistakes.

Oh, absolutely and I think I fall into that category.

Maybe rant and rave were a bad choice of words. My point was there are some who say they don't want Bruce sacked but seem to go out of their way on a daily basis to tell us what a terrible job he's doing. That was the point I was originally trying to make.

[saunders_heroes]

I think the words "rant" and "rave" hardly describe the vast majority of us who, while very loyal to Steve Bruce, reserve the right to comment on things we see as mistakes.

Oh, absolutely and I think I fall into that category.

Maybe rant and rave were a bad choice of words. My point was there are some who say they don't want Bruce sacked but seem to go out of their way on a daily basis to tell us what a terrible job he's doing. That was the point I was originally trying to make.

Well he's hardly gonna be praised on a daily basis considering the team is bottom half of the Championship is he? What do you expect?

[brian green]

In fairness, I think we agree about much more than we disagree.  The more I meet the people on here in the flesh the more I realise how much we have in common. Like some fans tick off grounds visited, I tick off H and V ers met.

[Clark W Griswold]

Who should we bring in to replace him then?

Well, for a start, any of the Managers of the 13 clubs above us in the second tier of English football are currently doing a better job than he is. In all but 1 case, I'd guess for considerably lower salaries too.

Besides, I haven't suggested sacking him at this stage, and am not doing. However, the idea that there isn't a long list of potential improvements doesn't currently carry much weight.

Sure.
But who specifically do you, or does anyone else for that matter think is the man to take us forward if we're taking it that Bruce is likely to not be that man?

Not having a go at you in particular but I'd suggest at the moment (and for a long time now) we're going around in circles manager wise and I'm interested in people's views on this.

I'm also not suggesting that anyone is hoping he fails any more than anyone who is critical of Grealish hopes he fails as I think that type of thing is just being silly. We're all genuine Villa fans here and people are entitled to their opinions.

[Richard E]

Who should we bring in to replace him then?

Well, for a start, any of the Managers of the 13 clubs above us in the second tier of English football are currently doing a better job than he is.

Zola it is, then 😮

[Nastylee]

Yes, the season's a right off. But what will we do? Sack another manager? Have another squad turnover? What we need is some stability as the above will never solve our situation. This season's aim should be finishing above the shite and trying to find a system that we can start next season with and run away with the league. Yes, it's not great but did anyone really think signing some players was going to result in the 15 straight wins needed to get near the play offs?

[paul_e]

I think the words "rant" and "rave" hardly describe the vast majority of us who, while very loyal to Steve Bruce, reserve the right to comment on things we see as mistakes.

Oh, absolutely and I think I fall into that category.

Maybe rant and rave were a bad choice of words. My point was there are some who say they don't want Bruce sacked but seem to go out of their way on a daily basis to tell us what a terrible job he's doing. That was the point I was originally trying to make.

I assume I'm near the top of that list and I accept it but I honestly don't want him sacked, I just want him to do the job he was supposed to be an expert at and I genuinely think the playoffs should've been possible this season.  I don't know why we aren't as organised at the back as I expected but something isn't right and I think if we get to him having been here for 30 games or so with no evidence that he can fix it then he'll have no excuses.  My other big problem is that I don't think Bruce is being judged to the same standards as any of previous 4-5 managers.  A run like our last 6-7 games should be alarming for anyone, we've seen a realistic chance of a playoff spot slip away and lots of posters seem to have the attitude that they didn't want to go back up this year anyway.  It's all a little bit like being dumped by the girl of your dreams and telling everyone you were going to dump her anyway because her tits were too big.  That's the bit that really gets to me, seeing someone like Chris Smith defend him is fine, I'd expect nothing less, but other people who were calling for RDM to be sacked after about 6-7 games doing it is just strange.

I'm generally a positive person and my history on here will back that up (other than in the rugby threads where Lancaster got both barrels from me regularly) I just think the only reason to make a change as quickly as we did with RDM is if you want the new guy to get you promotion at the first shot so my expectation was to be going into the last 4-5 games with a realistic chance of the playoffs.  For that reason this idea that he went into the play offs getting the work done early for next season and we shouldn't be judging him until Christmas just doesn't fit with my view of why he's here.  I was quite clear when he joined that I expected the playoffs, I understood that people disagreed with me over it but I'm not enough of a hypocrite to not be critical when he seems to be missing my expectation by quite a distance.

[paul_e]

Yes, the season's a right off. But what will we do? Sack another manager? Have another squad turnover? What we need is some stability as the above will never solve our situation. This season's aim should be finishing above the shite and trying to find a system that we can start next season with and run away with the league. Yes, it's not great but did anyone really think signing some players was going to result in the 15 straight wins needed to get near the play offs?

but we didn't need 15 straight wins and suggesting that was the requirement is just being silly.  We were 6 points behind 6th after the win against Burton.  6th place went up by 9 points over the next 6 games, we got 2, that run (even if we stop it now) will have as big a bearing on our season as the RDM games.

[Nastylee]

But the squad was not good enough to cope with the loss of our only scoring striker. We were relying on a contract rebel, a washed up Gabby and a player that couldn't be arsed to train. You could argue Bruce did well to get us that close in the first place with such a woefully unbalanced squad.

[Nastylee]

Yes, the season's a right off. But what will we do? Sack another manager? Have another squad turnover? What we need is some stability as the above will never solve our situation. This season's aim should be finishing above the shite and trying to find a system that we can start next season with and run away with the league. Yes, it's not great but did anyone really think signing some players was going to result in the 15 straight wins needed to get near the play offs?

but we didn't need 15 straight wins and suggesting that was the requirement is just being silly.

By the time the reinforcements arrived it wasn't that silly to suggest that is what was needed.

[Meanwood Villa]

From Di Matteo's 11 league games he got 10 points. We also went out of the cup at the first hurdle to a League Two side. Bruce's last 11 league games have yielded 11 points and we went out of a cup at the first hurdle to a Premier League side. So he's definitely doing better.

[four fornicholl]

I think the words "rant" and "rave" hardly describe the vast majority of us who, while very loyal to Steve Bruce, reserve the right to comment on things we see as mistakes.

Oh, absolutely and I think I fall into that category.

Maybe rant and rave were a bad choice of words. My point was there are some who say they don't want Bruce sacked but seem to go out of their way on a daily basis to tell us what a terrible job he's doing. That was the point I was originally trying to make.

With the resources he has at his disposal I think he is doing a terrible job.

[SoccerHQ]

There's no reason why we can't go on a run. Looking at our remaining fixtures, only the Barcodes, Hudders and Fulham away look like games where we might drop points, all the others are very winnable.

Not to be billy big bollocks, but all of our games should be winnable.  We've got just about the most expensively assembled squad in the division (possibly with the exception of Newcastle), a manager with lots of promotions under his belt, a supportive new owner and and a huge (for the division) following home and away.  Yet we've just been played off the park by Brentford and beaten by Forest.  We haven't played well under Bruce for more than a couple of halves of football.  We can't score away, or keep a clean sheet, so I think any talk of going on a run is hugely premature.  We SHOULD be capable of it, but we're not, and we won't.  I think we'll bumble along for the rest of the season winning maybe one game in 4, and finish lower mid table.

Yep. Unpalatable though it is there is no quick fix in football if you're planning for the long term. Yes Bruce could be doing more but it takes time. Can you imagine the internet reaction to scoring 1 goal in 10 games a la Big Ron in 91-92.

It hasn't taken Jaap Stam or Garry Monk very long to turn things around.  Even the likes of Wagner hasn't been in place for much more than a year.


Also, I think the internet reaction to that scenario would have been one of bewilderment in 91/91, seeing as that never happened!

Didn't Wagner take over Huddersfield last season at a similar stage to SB did this year and Huddersfield's results weren't great?

Jaap Stam's done a brilliant job though, that Reading squad is nothing special looking at it,

Monk should still be managing in the premier league.

[john e]

Steve Bruce is one of a small group of managers that I never wanted at the club
the others would be Alardyce, Pulis, Warnock, Mcliesh, I realise Pulis is the manager of a team in the top half of the prem but I still don't want him

so I'm not going to lie and say i will be sorry to see Bruce go whenever that may be

it doesn't matter if we were in the top 6 or the bottom 6 i just don't like the football those mangers play and the old fashioned British up and at em throw a load of cash around and hope for the best type of systems they all play, i recognise that they can all do a job, but its not the sort of job i want to see at Villa

i accept other people see things very different to me, but asking me to accept Bruce and give him a chance is like asking a demorcrat to give Trump a go, and it would be exactly the same with the other managers mentioned

the problem is i still support Villa so i still want us to win every game and still get pissed of when we lose (Saturday being the latest example) because of the above its probably harder for me than most on here who can throw their wholehearted support behind Bruce,

but i cant be a hypocrite and pretend i want him to be given more time because i don't,
 i want him away, if that means taking another risk on another manager then so be it,
 sometimes you've got to keep taking the risk until it comes right and not keep on prevailing with something that in my humble opinion will not work long term for Aston Villa

i was the last man standing on here with Lambert, i also supported Houlier, Garde and Sherwood so i haven't got a track record of any sort of wanting managers out,

but many of you can remember what it was like having Mcliesh in charge, you wanted Villa to do well and supported the team whilst the whole time thinking the managers appointment was a big mistake, well its exactly like that for me now

i respect all the views of posters calling for stability and stating his promotional record,
but he is not an unknown quantity where we can see how he develops we know what he is and what he can do, and for me i'd rather go with someone else

[Dave]

I think the words "rant" and "rave" hardly describe the vast majority of us who, while very loyal to Steve Bruce, reserve the right to comment on things we see as mistakes.

Oh, absolutely and I think I fall into that category.

Maybe rant and rave were a bad choice of words. My point was there are some who say they don't want Bruce sacked but seem to go out of their way on a daily basis to tell us what a terrible job he's doing. That was the point I was originally trying to make.

He is doing a terrible job. Saying that, yet wishing that he weren't and hoping that he stops doing a terrible job aren't really strange viewpoints to have.