Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[West Derby Villan]

We've tried changing managers every five minutes, it didn't work. Bruce has taken over someone else's team and has now bought some new additions (generally liked until this run). Common sense must dictate that these players will need time to bed in. We all love this club. We have been dire for a number of seasons and we have introduced a number of inexperienced managers, to no long term effect. What is really the point of replacing Bruce, for the "new manager bounce?" This is a combination of new division, new team and new manager.  Stability is required because, yes, even if we go down, which we won't, swapping and changing isn't the answer.  We need to build. There is nothing wrong with the players, they need to get the "understanding" in the team. We did it in the seventies and we will do it again. Keep the faith, UTV

[PeterWithesShin]

I've said before, stability is fine if you are heading in the right direction even if results are inconsistent. We're consistently getting shite results against utter dross. Yet again tonight Bruce waited ages to make a substitution. 10 minutes after we went 3-1 down at home and the subs were still warming up. I want Bruce to succeed, I also wouldn't give a shit if he got binned tomorrow.

[adrenachrome]

Personally I think he,or whoever, bought the wrong players in the window, too many or the wrong fit, who knows?
Its a FUCK OFF from me.

The players we almost unanimously said were great signings just a few weeks ago ?

The ones that were doing exactly what we wanted them to do for us for their old clubs ?

Talk about a swift rethink

I don't know what the answer is but signing better players than we had seemed fairly logical to me

Your earlier post implied that the problem might be the fragmented and sometimes poisonous support. So the answer would be to tell those supporters to stay away and the zealous remnants would see us rise again. Hallelujah! 

[tomd2103]

Part of Bruce's problem, for me, is that he's as paralysed by fear as his squad. Lose last week? Change formation. Overrun in midfield? Hoof it long. It's as if we have to win it in ten minutes before we shit ourselves, and then when we don't score, we run out or adrenalin and start to panic. Ironically I thought this would be the thing Bruce ironed out first. But I'll say one thing: Kodjia, Hourihane, Lansbury and Hogan were bloody good for their clubs, despite some people's attempts at revisionism. The common denominator in their form is Steve Bruce and his coaching staff.

The main problem before the window was that we didn't have the midfielders to play in a two man midfield to give us more options up front and conversely, we didn't really have a striker to play up top on his own to allow us to play three in midfield.  I'm not really sure the players he has bought will solve that problem (though I thought Lansbury looked decent at times tonight). 

[olaftab]

I've said before, stability is fine if you are heading in the right direction even if results are inconsistent. We're consistently getting shite results against utter dross. Yet again tonight Bruce waited ages to make a substitution. 10 minutes after we went 3-1 down at home and the subs were still warming up. I want Bruce to succeed, I also wouldn't give a shit if he got binned tomorrow.

And when he did sub he removed the two best Villa players on the pitch.

[tomd2103]

Hardly a ringing endorsement, but I would keep Bruce as I think we could do without the upheaval of another new manager and dread to imagine the kind of candidates we would be looking at.

[SoccerHQ]

Is he really going on about players lacking fitness now?!

His post match comments have the air of a man who knows his time is nearly up, Sherwood was saying the same in the final few weeks.

[Louzie0]

I thought we'd have got more goals by now, but the finishing seems to go awry rather a lot and then if / when the other lot score we're in trouble.
I don't know that Bruce and the coaches can do more, other than knock the goals in themselves, which they must feel like doing, sometimes.

[SoccerHQ]

Just had a quick look at the fixture list...it's not pretty for the next few weeks and really I can't see him surviving if we get less than 4 points from the Bristol City- Rotherham double header. Can't see us getting anything at Newcastle and Derby looks like a draw so it could be an even worse run than RDM came up with.

[PeterWithesShin]

When you're in division 2 and closer to the relegation zone than you are to 11th then you have to be worried as a manager of Aston Villa.

[AV82EC]

No.

[myf]

Just had a quick look at the fixture list...it's not pretty for the next few weeks and really I can't see him surviving if we get less than 4 points from the Bristol City- Rotherham double header. Can't see us getting anything at Newcastle and Derby looks like a draw so it could be an even worse run than RDM came up with.

I can see Rotherham being his last match. Difficult to see how he is going to turn it around now. A total mess

[VinnieChase84]

Just had a quick look at the fixture list...it's not pretty for the next few weeks and really I can't see him surviving if we get less than 4 points from the Bristol City- Rotherham double header. Can't see us getting anything at Newcastle and Derby looks like a draw so it could be an even worse run than RDM came up with.

I can see Rotherham being his last match. Difficult to see how he is going to turn it around now. A total mess

He won't make it till then
At this moment I can't see him making Bristol city

[garyfouroaks]

A truly bizarre thread. We don't need a managerial change in response to years of managerial change

[PeterWithesShin]

What we need is more of W0 D2 L7 F5 A16. Which is our current run including Spurs reserves in the cup.