Aston Villa 1-0 Wigan Post Match Thread

[olaftab]

Maybe Bruce will go left field and go for Conor McGregor

I think we should hire him as the personal coach for Ayew. He  should get him fit and focussed.

[olaftab]

The sooner Baker is back the better. We need another centre back in January as I'm not convinced by Elphick.

Hi welcome!

[Mossie Hennebry]

thanks very much to those who encouraged and contributed to the radio show this afternoon, i was happy to be your stooge. here's a brief write up https://stoneygolf.blogspot.co.uk/

It's good to be part of the Villa family even when shivering in a northern Scottish outpost. Thanks everyone.

Had to laugh when I saw this. Keep up the good work mate!

I really enjoyed it. It provided a brilliant soundtrack to the match thread, which is generally my only way of following a game. Russon's Radio is the new Orange Dot!

[The Edge]

thanks very much to those who encouraged and contributed to the radio show this afternoon, i was happy to be your stooge. here's a brief write up https://stoneygolf.blogspot.co.uk/

It's good to be part of the Villa family even when shivering in a northern Scottish outpost. Thanks everyone.

Had to laugh when I saw this. Keep up the good work mate!

I really enjoyed it. It provided a brilliant soundtrack to the match thread, which is generally my only way of following a game. Russon's Radio is the new Orange Dot!

Fair play to ya👍

[sirlordbaltimore]

Well that one went the full Di Matteo mental. 4-1-5 by my reckoning. We really must sort our midfield out next month, and right back of course

[Deano's Mullet]

Seemed to me no one wanted to burst through the middle like an Ian Taylor or a David Platt. Everything goes wide.

[olaftab]

Seemed to me no one wanted to burst through the middle like an Ian Taylor or a David Platt. Everything goes wide.

Yes that was the recurring theme in my head. No Rioch or  Sir Dennis type who can pick the ball up and drive forward through the centre but I guess we don't have that sort of player.

[Neil Hawkes]

We made hard work of it but that was down in part to Wigan putting 10 men behind the ball for most of the game and us struggling to break them down which made it frustrating to watch.

Agreed, but we have to learn to cope with these tactics and we need midfielders who can produce the killer pass. How many decisive passes did we see from midfield?  Perhaps 2 or 3 in the whole game.

If memory serves, this is not a recent problem I seem to remember we never quite managed it when we were a top 6 side in the early Lerner days

[VillaAlways]

All in all, an awful game but the Notts Forest game at home was really entertaining.  How many would prefer todays result though?

That's it for me. We made a pact with the devil when we went with Bruce.

You can't appoint Steve Bruce and then complain when his team plays like a Steve Bruce side.

Bit unfair. Its  not like Bruce did a Paul Lambert saying we were  excellent. He acknowledged we weren't very good In the post match interview

[aev]

The ref kept killing the momentum of the game.

[ciggiesnbeer]

All in all, an awful game but the Notts Forest game at home was really entertaining.  How many would prefer todays result though?

That's it for me. We made a pact with the devil when we went with Bruce.

You can't appoint Steve Bruce and then complain when his team plays like a Steve Bruce side.

Bit unfair. Its  not like Bruce did a Paul Lambert saying we were  excellent. He acknowledged we weren't very good In the post match interview

Which is part of the reason I am enjoying him being manager. He is the first one for a long tme who seems to watch the same game I do. That feeling of a shared reality with our manager gives me confidence.

[Richard E]

All in all, an awful game but the Notts Forest game at home was really entertaining.  How many would prefer todays result though?

That's it for me. We made a pact with the devil when we went with Bruce.

You can't appoint Steve Bruce and then complain when his team plays like a Steve Bruce side.

Bit unfair. Its  not like Bruce did a Paul Lambert saying we were  excellent. He acknowledged we weren't very good In the post match interview

Which is part of the reason I am enjoying him being manager. He is the first one for a long tme who seems to watch the same game I do. That feeling of a shared reality with our manager gives me confidence.

Listening to WM (yes, I know) on the way home last night the contrast between his post match interview and TSM II's was striking.

[robbo1874]

I'm really starting to like what Bruce is doing at Villa.

I think if we go up this season it will have to be by winning at Wembley. I think we've got the quality to prevail in the playoffs, if not finish second.

What does anyone think our progress will be like if/when we go up with Bruce in charge? It's a big question and will hopefully need to be addressed at some stage.

Personally I think there are sufficient safeguards in place to let him have a crack at the Prem. And I think any manager who gets promotion deserves a gig the following season. For me though, he just doesn't have the track record for the top flight.

It's a difficult one for sure. Made all the harder by him being such a genuine bloke.

[passitsideways]

I'm really starting to like what Bruce is doing at Villa.

I think if we go up this season it will have to be by winning at Wembley. I think we've got the quality to prevail in the playoffs, if not finish second.

What does anyone think our progress will be like if/when we go up with Bruce in charge? It's a big question and will hopefully need to be addressed at some stage.

Personally I think there are sufficient safeguards in place to let him have a crack at the Prem. And I think any manager who gets promotion deserves a gig the following season. For me though, he just doesn't have the track record for the top flight.

It's a difficult one for sure. Made all the harder by him being such a genuine bloke.

Get promoted, reasonable lower mid-table finish in the first season back in the Prem, and we'll happy let him go off to manage England on the back of another group stage exit in the World Cup. Easy-peasy.

[martin o`who??]

I've not actually got the record books out and done the maths on this but it feels like we've won more points in the last 10 Minutes since Bruce took over than we have in the last 10 Seasons.