Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[OCD]

Clubs who talk about a 'Way' tend to be the ones who massively underachieve. Spurs, Stripeys, Everton come to mind.

West Ham

Barcelona

[Sexual Ealing]

Clubs who talk about a 'Way' tend to be the ones who massively underachieve. Spurs, Stripeys, Everton come to mind.

West Ham

Barcelona

Ajax.

[Ads]

When was the last time they won at Villa Park never mind the FA Cup.

[old man villa fan]

We sometimes have to remind ourselves that football is a team game if you want success. A bunch of good individuals rarely makes a good team. The best 'team' in my lifetime was the 80/81 league title team. The complemented each other all over the pitch. We may have had better individuals but we have never reproduced a team like that.

At Championship level, Bruce ought to have been able to build a better team than he has. I do not think it is in his thinking.

[Clampy]

So our chance is as good as the other top six except Wolves. I see.

Yes, indeed it is.  What of it?

Steve Bruce.

What?

What, what.

Bruce.

He's not fit for purpose.

What purpose is that?

Entertainment and the purpose of getting our club promoted.

We'll see of course.  Win, win, win, draw, win,loss loss, draw, win, loss, loss, loss and win.
We have the players to top this league.

He has got four previous promotions under his belt and yes, we do have the players to do it so we will indeed see.

[olaftab]

Clubs who talk about a 'Way' tend to be the ones who massively underachieve. Spurs, Stripeys, Everton come to mind.

West Ham

Barcelona

Ajax.

Borussia Dortmund.

[ciggiesnbeer]

I dont know where else to put this but.. I am enjoying this season. Its exciting. Its fun. I like our players again.

Much more fun to be arguing over who is best for us to chase promotion versus who is best to keep us up.

[Malandro]

We sometimes have to remind ourselves that football is a team game if you want success. A bunch of good individuals rarely makes a good team. The best 'team' in my lifetime was the 80/81 league title team. The complemented each other all over the pitch. We may have had better individuals but we have never reproduced a team like that.

At Championship level, Bruce ought to have been able to build a better team than he has. I do not think it is in his thinking.

Brian Little understood that, he built a great team.

[Mister E]

What of it?  Well I disagree that the top six are an equal group and that we are part of that group.  The points totals do not lie.  I can endure Bruce because I am a committed life long Villa fan.  What I find very hard to swallow is the fudging of the reality of our situation.

Yes. Agree.

[Mister E]

I dont know where else to put this but.. I am enjoying this season. Its exciting. Its fun. I like our players again ...

Depends what game you see, Cigs. Generally, at home, we've been pretty piss-poor - with occasional shafts of light through the gloom (Naaarrrich, Brissol). It was at Derby that I realised that  - despite "having the players" - we weren't very good. And, the Villa fans knew it, as the noise level in the 2nd half dropped away completely. As OMVF said above, we do not have a high-performing team, despite the apparent quality in the squad.
And yet, as Ads and Clampy keep saying, we're accumulating points and remain in the play-off zone.

I wouldn't describe it as fun

[paul_e]

He has got four previous promotions under his belt and yes, we do have the players to do it so we will indeed see.

That he has other promotions is undeniable, that we have a squad capable of promotion is clear.  Where the arguments arise is whether this squad and manager are right for each other and whether they can, together, deliver promotion this season.

The evidence so far is that Bruce has struggled to play a way that suits the squad and has had to rely on patches of brilliant form from Kodjia and Adomah to put together and sort of promotion standard form (and on the basis of the last couple of games Grealish or Snodgrass might be added to that list soon).  That's not meant as a criticism, I think he's planned around one of 3-4 attacking players being the spark and he's just worrying about getting the defence right.  I don't like it and think it shows why he's struggled in the premier league but it may well be enough, my concern is that if it isn't we're fucked next year and if we're taking that sort of gamble I'd rather we were betting everything on someone who can figure out how to use the squad properly.

[ciggiesnbeer]

I dont know where else to put this but.. I am enjoying this season. Its exciting. Its fun. I like our players again ...

Depends what game you see, Cigs. Generally, at home, we've been pretty piss-poor - with occasional shafts of light through the gloom (Naaarrrich, Brissol). It was at Derby that I realised that  - despite "having the players" - we weren't very good. And, the Villa fans knew it, as the noise level in the 2nd half dropped away completely. As OMVF said above, we do not have a high-performing team, despite the apparent quality in the squad.
And yet, as Ads and Clampy keep saying, we're accumulating points and remain in the play-off zone.

I wouldn't describe it as fun

Fair man, fair. I guess what I am saying is its nice to be thinking "oohh can we go up?" versus "will we stay up?" you know? It feels like the slide has stopped. Whether we go up or not we just feel a bit more stable you know? I dont think the football is always entertaining, sadly it isnt . But I think we have likeable players and good reasons to look forward to each game instead of dreading it.

[chrisw1]

What of it?  Well I disagree that the top six are an equal group and that we are part of that group.  The points totals do not lie.  I can endure Bruce because I am a committed life long Villa fan.  What I find very hard to swallow is the fudging of the reality of our situation.

Yes. Agree.

Well I disagree.  Other than Wolves there in not much between us.  We've seen Sheffield and Cardiff stutter and I suspect there will be several twists and turns before the season is over.  We probably have the strongest squad of the 5 fighting for second place and notwithstanding the 5 point gap I think we have just as much chance as any other team to secure that spot.

[The Edge]

I dont know where else to put this but.. I am enjoying this season. Its exciting. Its fun. I like our players again ...

Depends what game you see, Cigs. Generally, at home, we've been pretty piss-poor - with occasional shafts of light through the gloom (Naaarrrich, Brissol). It was at Derby that I realised that  - despite "having the players" - we weren't very good. And, the Villa fans knew it, as the noise level in the 2nd half dropped away completely. As OMVF said above, we do not have a high-performing team, despite the apparent quality in the squad.
And yet, as Ads and Clampy keep saying, we're accumulating points and remain in the play-off zone.

I wouldn't describe it as fun

Fair man, fair. I guess what I am saying is its nice to be thinking "oohh can we go up?" versus "will we stay up?" you know? It feels like the slide has stopped. Whether we go up or not we just feel a bit more stable you know? I dont think the football is always entertaining, sadly it isnt . But I think we have likeable players and good reasons to look forward to each game instead of dreading it.

I know what you mean man.

[mr underhill]

you feel me?