Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Equally, definition of madness - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Sums up our manager selections this century apart from the emergency stop gaps. We're just missing out on Pullis and Warnock for the full set.

[curiousorange]

Well, he's here for the Derby game. If he was going to be given the flick we'd have heard a rumour at the very least by now.

[cdbearsfan]

I doubt it. We've never sacked a manager on his way back from a game on a coach full of players, so far as I know.

Not that I'm suggesting for one second that he will be sacked. Just that, if he were, it's unlikely we would have any suggestion of it so soon after a game, particularly one hundreds of miles away.

[CT Villan]

How can the team spirit be so bad when we have Micah as such a strong influence around the dressing room ?

For me, he still has two more games to save his job, sadly I'm not sure Xia agrees. I suspect they looked at the boost we got when Bruce started and thought let's buy everybody we want now and use this written-off season to build a platform as at that time nobody thought we were relegation candidates.

[PeterWithesShin]

Our next 3 games are Derby (2 wins in 8 league games), Bristol C (W1 D2 L9 last 12 league games) and that win was against Rotherham (W1 D1 L8 last 10 league games).

If we don't pick up some decent points from those 3 then I reckon he'll be gone.

[olaftab]

29th December: Aston Villa 9th with 35 points.

20th February: Aston Villa 17th with 36 points.

One point from eight games surely he must be thinking about walking out?

[stubbsyandy]

Ok experts...what is your strategy, in full for every part of the club now?
It's bad on the pitch but not impossibly bad, and we need to se the whole club needs turning around so yes, masses to be done.
You really think this can be done in three or four months?
In all my days supporting this club I have complained yes, but really the negativity to people who have only just joined the villa Is appalling. Have any of you run a business or a team, because if you have and are successful get out now because you have been lucky to get as far as you have.

[ROBBO]

As Barnsley's manager said they know what a big club Villa are so they pulled together as a team and fought it out, that's what Villa are lacking... fight. Apart from Hutton who really gives the impression that he does give a shit there doesn't seem to be any team ethic and no on pitch leader to give bollockings to team mates. Again we have bought gentlemen players not one nasty bugger amongst them.

[villadelph]

29th December: Aston Villa 9th with 35 points.

20th February: Aston Villa 17th with 36 points.

One point from eight games surely he must be thinking about walking out?

my god that is painful.

[dave17]

29th December: Aston Villa 9th with 35 points.

20th February: Aston Villa 17th with 36 points.

One point from eight games surely he must be thinking about walking out?

All that money spent and we have three options at centre back and two strikers plus gabby. Sobering thought

[robbo1874]

It's almost surreal now, how shit we've gone.

I honestly, truly believed that Bruce would come in and turn it around. For a while it looked like he would. Things are as bad now as at any time in the last 5 years. How much worse does it get before it starts to get better? Is there another club that has had a shitter run of form than Villa? We look to be completely fucked. Where will the next Ron Saunders / Graham Taylor come from? I can't think of anyone out there now who we could realistically bring in to sort this mess out. Anyone got any ideas?

[KRS]

Ok experts...what is your strategy, in full for every part of the club now?
It's bad on the pitch but not impossibly bad, and we need to se the whole club needs turning around so yes, masses to be done.
You really think this can be done in three or four months?
In all my days supporting this club I have complained yes, but really the negativity to people who have only just joined the villa Is appalling. Have any of you run a business or a team, because if you have and are successful get out now because you have been lucky to get as far as you have.

What a load of bolx.

Bruce has managed to secure 1pt out of 27 in the 9 games played so far this year (whilst only scoring 4 goals yet conceding 17), and that happens to be the worst record in the top 4 divisions of English football. How bad does it need to get? No one is expecting Bruce to turn around the whole club (that's the job of others behind the scenes), but it is fair to expect Bruce to put a few results on the table.

The club has been run badly for a few years but the problems on the pitch (performances and results) aren't directly related to other things that go on behind the scenes...the issues that need to be rectified are with the players on the training ground and carried over to match days. Despite having some of the best talent in this league at his disposal, Bruce is failing to resolve these issues with very little to show in terms of improvement.

There are new players at the club but it is also not beyond the realms of possibility that these professional footballers that were signed by Bruce should be sent out with instructions, a game plan and utilised in a formation to enable them to get results. Football is a results game and if he isn't up to the Villa job, and there is very little evidence to suggest he is, then he should be replaced by someone who is...and the only question that should be asked by a business is who is the right manager for the team if the current manager is underperforming or incapable of utilising the resources at his disposal.

edit: it's actually 9 games not 8:

PLD: 9
W: 0
D: 1
L: 8
GS: 4
GC: 17
GD: -13

[pbavfckuwait]

The concern of the 3 teams coming up, our record is worse than theirs, they've got wins in there.

If we are to get rid, I hope they do a nose trick and have someone lined up to come in the next day, we have not got time to have a caretaker in there.

[old man villa fan]

Many relatively successful teams (outside of the PL top 10) have just one or two players that everything revolves around.  I cannot see any one of our so called top players that Bruce is trying to do that with.

[mr underhill]

well he has by buying Ange, Hurricane and Hogan - and look how that's played out.