Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[Brassneck]

i'm happy and chilled with the new owners

i can understand why they have made the decision to keep Bruce on

the big disappointment for me is every day is a wasted day while he is in charge and has been for the last two years, the longer it continues the further away from actually doing something better it becomes

i can see him doing just enough (as always) to keep people thinking that good times are just around the corner, yet when you look closely its all built on sand
he could very well stumble on grinding it out to the end of the season and we will be here again

hope not but who knows he seems to have charmed the new guys up well, i just hope they don't give him funds to buy any players or the hill will become even steeper to climb when they eventually do the right thing

Like nearly every decision made in football (both on and off the pitch), there is no right or wrong decision, only a decision that an individual believes to be right at that moment in time.

Personally, I wanted Bruce gone and would happily have accepted the gamble of Henry.

However, I see the merits of keeping Bruce and go into the new season with optimism and faith.  If I have one little niggle, it is the thought of another transfer window of Bruce signings.  Still, if we can keep our existing stars, we're half way there.

I wonder whether Jack may go to free up funds?

[dave.woodhall]

 When Tony Barton took over as caretaker he was strong enough to leave well alone the things that didn't need fixing immediately rather than changing just for the sake of showing that he was in charge.

The situation is similar now. We may need a new manager in two months time but by then we should have a structure in place that will be able to choose the right man, rather than trusting to luck and blind faith.

[Bad English]

But sincerely point taken .

Up the Villa . Have a good weekend!!

Up the Villa! Keep on posting footy!

Even with Bruce. Mumble, grumble.

[Brassneck]

When Tony Barton took over as caretaker he was strong enough to leave well alone the things that didn't need fixing immediately rather than changing just for the sake of showing that he was in charge.

The situation is similar now. We may need a new manager in two months time but by then we should have a structure in place that will be able to choose the right man, rather than trusting to luck and blind faith.

I'm not sure the situation is similar Dave.

Barton took over a team who were in the quarter final of the European Cup - It would have been difficult to change things, even if he had the ability to do so.

The situation we are in currently is that we are going into a new season with a manager who nobody has faith in him breaching the top 2 positions.

Barton stepped in because there was a need for stability at a crucial point of the season. Yes, stability helps now but at what cost?

[tomd2103]

The dilemma as I see it

I can see why they have left him in charge, I don't agree with it, but I do understand it, If we are to make a change sooner rather than later then we have to expect that he is to be his usual self and results will be poor.

If the opposite is true and we set off like a train then it is a lot harder to justify dropping him (which long term we would have to as if we get up anytime soon he cannot be the future)

As highly intelligent as our new owners must be to amass that much wealth they cannot instantly put everything wrong right again so the first thing we need is the creation of a proper infrastructure to take us forward - first of all a progressive, experienced CEO with a footballing background of some sort.

Agree with this.   

[ChicagoLion]

Brian, I can appreciate your sentiments.
I do not think that they believed that timing and resources were in alignment to make radical changes at this time.
There are times when you have to slash and burn because you have no choice.
There are other times when you assess, plan and act.
I sincerely hope we are attempting the latter as I like you want this failure gone.

[clash city rocker]

I wanted Bruce gone but looking at it now I think the new investors have made a sensible choice from their point of view. With the money they have already invested they probably need a period now where they can get to the bottom of things and hopefully find people with good knowledge of football to come on board. I am fairly confident Bruce won't be in the dugout for the first game of next season.

[Allan C]

Anybody who has taken over a failing business, a failing school, a failing barracks room a failing enterprise of any kind will appreciate my view of the current situation, those who have not will think I propose impulsive, knee jerk solutions.  I can live with that.

The most important time by far are the first hours, the first days.

We have allowed those precious hours to be sacrificed on the altar of stability where so much Villa blood has already flowed.

We needed to send a message loud and clear to the whole world of football, to the media who have rejoiced in our downfall, the James Nurseys and the Tom Rosss, the Agbonlahors, N'Zogbias, Richardss, Lescotts and all the blood sucking under performers that things have changed at Villa Park.  No more jammed gates, magic trouserphones, Mayfair hotel slappers, alleged youth team bullying, no more inscrutable Twitter messages from the owner, no more touchline chewing gum spitting contests, no more snakery by departing players being urged to leave by other Villa players, no more big screen Secret Santa mocking of our French players or player Christmas parties from which the French players were excluded, no more taking on new managers denying them funding to strengthen the tem then sacking them.

All those disgraceful episodes of our recent past dumped in the garbage bin of history.  A new start.  A new broom sweeping clean was what was needed.

The retention of Bruce which has been trumpeted by his friends in the game and in the media as a vote of confidence and that it is business as usual at Villa Park.  It may not be business as usual but that is the way it is being spun.  That is what is being believed.

The appointment of an interim manager or a deferred decision about Bruce may or may not have cost us a lower points yield from the first dozen games of the season until the right manager is found but it would be a price worth paying to tell the world of football that it was not going to be business as usual at Aston Villa, not more of the same old shambolic destruction of the club.

Excuse the critique
This is a fantastic write up !
Really can get what you're saying on  Villa recent goings onand opportunity to move forward and change . However it's a risk averse move approach and think stability was one of the decsions

Bruce has a seemed love in and support for him by those in the game.

What's annoying is their seems to be little acknowledgement that Bruce is quite set in his ways and that a more exciting brand of football and dynamic play could be achieved but a squad was mainly created to get the job done by just being better players and team

What's good is how respected he is in the game and this must be one reason why he's being kept on.

As ever Guys, great posts. For me, Bruce is a bottle neck for our development and that development won't really start till he's gone. Bruce won't change his footballing philosophy and the so called pressure to do so from above won't matter cos this is what he knows

[dave.woodhall]

When Tony Barton took over as caretaker he was strong enough to leave well alone the things that didn't need fixing immediately rather than changing just for the sake of showing that he was in charge.

The situation is similar now. We may need a new manager in two months time but by then we should have a structure in place that will be able to choose the right man, rather than trusting to luck and blind faith.

I'm not sure the situation is similar Dave.

Barton took over a team who were in the quarter final of the European Cup - It would have been difficult to change things, even if he had the ability to do so.

The situation we are in currently is that we are going into a new season with a manager who nobody has faith in him breaching the top 2 positions.

Barton stepped in because there was a need for stability at a crucial point of the season. Yes, stability helps now but at what cost?

Different situation, similar decision. Don't change for the sake of it, change when you know you can improve.

[Drummond]

That last sentence is the best summary so far.

[Risso]

Don’t stick with somebody who has failed, and will in all likelihood fail again.  It’s a huge waste of time and money.  If they think FFP problems are bad now, wait until the parachute payments have completely run out next year, and Bruce is still on the hook for £2m.

[Brassneck]

That last sentence is the best summary so far.

Changing a dinosaur is not changing for the sake of it.  It is changing for the sake (and good) of Aston Villa.

If we can change him in 2 months time, we can change him now.  If we want to write this season off with a change of manager in September (like we did 2 years ago) why not write it off now and give the next manager more time and also the remainder of this window?

[clash city rocker]

I think our new investors have amassed their wealth by taking a long term balanced view rather that by taking a short term knee jerk short term view.

[paul_e]

That last sentence is the best summary so far.

Changing a dinosaur is not changing for the sake of it.  It is changing for the sake (and good) of Aston Villa.

If we can change him in 2 months time, we can change him now.  If we want to write this season off with a change of manager in September (like we did 2 years ago) why not write it off now and give the next manager more time and also the remainder of this window?

The issue is, who picks the replacement today? In 2-3 months I suspect the board will be in place and that question is much easier to answer.  I want Bruce gone (I think everyone on here must be aware of that) but I want the next manager to be the right manager rather than 'not Bruce'. Bruce, like Lambert, RDM, Sherwood and McLeish, is a consequence of the board having no idea how to achieve it's aims and my concern was that we could be repeating that mistake.  As I said about Henry if he was a recommendation from someone who is in talks to join the board and they decided not getting him in asap was a risk then I was ok with it, but if, as it seems, that's not the case then I'd rather we wait for a few months.

[hilts_coolerking]

Different situation, similar decision. Don't change for the sake of it, change when you know you can improve.

I would say we already know we can improve but in two or three months we might have a wider set of choices.