Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[Risso]

Admoah is and always has been much better than Clarke.

I don't know much [anything] about Clarke, but the impression I get from a quick scan of the net is that all of the fans of the other clubs he's played for can't believe how a shit player like him has hit such a rich vein of form.  I can only imagine it's similar to how we'd feel if say, Tonev was suddenly top scorer in the Championship.

[Drummond]

Admoah is and always has been much better than Clarke.

I don't know much [anything] about Clarke, but the impression I get from a quick scan of the net is that all of the fans of the other clubs he's played for can't believe how a shit player like him has hit such a rich vein of form.  I can only imagine it's similar to how we'd feel if say, Tonev was suddenly top scorer in the Championship.

I think it's a momentum thing and with a good manager like Wilder. He knows how to get the best out of his players. Even when you watch Clarke he's not convincing but just has a knack right now. Blades fans don't care at the moment, they are just enjoying him doing well and preparing for their inevitable collapse.

[Clampy]

We're 5 points off with 27 games to go and Cardiff, Wolves and Sheffield United all to come to Villa Park.

Yes, and it's also possible a couple of the teams above us could fall away. If at the end of December we're in similar position to where we are now, I'd be more than happy.

If by 'similar position' you mean 5 points off second place, 9 off Wolves, I agree. We need to keep it tight at the top. Let the rest worry about play off places.

Yes, that's what I meant. If we can be within a few points of the top two going into January, then it's a pretty decent first half of the season.

[Hookeysmith]

I'm greedy - I want to be IN the top 2 by January

[Drummond]

I'm greedy - I want to be IN the top 2 by January

I don't there's any one of us that wouldn't.

[paul_e]

So we 'ignore' a question that you have said was only a side question and you decided to patronise us.

What a pleasant fellow you are.

As for your bollocks about not looking like a top 2 side, if you ignored the first two games we'd be in the top two (of course they play a part in the season and can't be ignored overall but those games have only resulted in us dropping two places). So, over a run of the last 17 games this season we're in Automatic promotion form. With the three sides above us to come, including Sheffield United twice, we're well set. With the squad we have at our disposal, and the depth thereof, I'd say we're looking pretty good. The depth of our squad could be shown to be good and our current position to be argued to be quite good given that our talisman from last season is still injured (Kodjia in case you didn't know), our new captain and widely argued to be the best defender/player in the division (yes, John Terry) is out injured and we've lost numerous midfielders, including Grealish (who many feel is an exceptional talent).

It's good to know you'll consistently moan and whinge about how crap we and our manager are until we've a buffer in the Top 2 places. Just so that I understand fully, what with me really not seeming to be intelligent enough to understand your cerebral posts, what sort of buffer do we need to have?

What you're saying boils down to "Ignore the first 2 games (including a defeat against a current top 2 side) and we'd be in the top 2" and that really isn't much of an argument.  I've said before, and someone else said more recently, holding pace with the top 2 for 17 games is good in that it's stopping us falling further behind but the truth is we were 7 points shy of the top 2 after 5 games and in the 14 matches since where we've been in good form we've only managed to claw 2 of them back, if we want to break into the top 2, which has to be our target then we need to be better still, not amount of repeating the stats changes that.

Which leads to the bold bit, we're only in a good place if we beat them and so far we've lost in both of the games we've played against the top 3. If you want to assume that it's just a case of getting the inevitable results in those games we'll be where we want then you can do just that but I disagree in the same way that I disagree with writing Sheffield Utd off because of 1 injury. That's why I think we need a buffer because we've not done well in the '6-pointers' since Bruce arrived and until I see something that changes that I'll still be nervous that we're going to fall short in the key games.

If you think that's moaning and whinging then I won't argue but given the stick Lambert got for the 'I just do' comments I think criticising anyone who doesn't just show blind faith is a bit rich.

[darren woolley]

We will win games and we will lose games we are not Barcelona or Man City et al and wont be for a long time we all want to play football like those teams but we are challenging to get out of the Championship and I think we will get out of it and I will back Bruce 110% I think he's doing a good job we all need to pull together and get behind him and the team.

[Ads]

Its a two game turn around, 1 if we beat Cardiff.

[Ad@m]

We will win games and we will lose games we are not Barcelona or Man City et al and wont be for a long time we all want to play football like those teams but we are challenging to get out of the Championship and I think we will get out of it and I will back Bruce 110% I think he's doing a good job we all need to pull together and get behind him and the team.

Too right we're not.  I've been listening to the Radio WM phone ins and it turns out Wolves are!

[Drummond]

So we 'ignore' a question that you have said was only a side question and you decided to patronise us.

What a pleasant fellow you are.

As for your bollocks about not looking like a top 2 side, if you ignored the first two games we'd be in the top two (of course they play a part in the season and can't be ignored overall but those games have only resulted in us dropping two places). So, over a run of the last 17 games this season we're in Automatic promotion form. With the three sides above us to come, including Sheffield United twice, we're well set. With the squad we have at our disposal, and the depth thereof, I'd say we're looking pretty good. The depth of our squad could be shown to be good and our current position to be argued to be quite good given that our talisman from last season is still injured (Kodjia in case you didn't know), our new captain and widely argued to be the best defender/player in the division (yes, John Terry) is out injured and we've lost numerous midfielders, including Grealish (who many feel is an exceptional talent).

It's good to know you'll consistently moan and whinge about how crap we and our manager are until we've a buffer in the Top 2 places. Just so that I understand fully, what with me really not seeming to be intelligent enough to understand your cerebral posts, what sort of buffer do we need to have?

What you're saying boils down to "Ignore the first 2 games (including a defeat against a current top 2 side) and we'd be in the top 2" and that really isn't much of an argument.  I've said before, and someone else said more recently, holding pace with the top 2 for 17 games is good in that it's stopping us falling further behind but the truth is we were 7 points shy of the top 2 after 5 games and in the 14 matches since where we've been in good form we've only managed to claw 2 of them back, if we want to break into the top 2, which has to be our target then we need to be better still, not amount of repeating the stats changes that.

Which leads to the bold bit, we're only in a good place if we beat them and so far we've lost in both of the games we've played against the top 3. If you want to assume that it's just a case of getting the inevitable results in those games we'll be where we want then you can do just that but I disagree in the same way that I disagree with writing Sheffield Utd off because of 1 injury. That's why I think we need a buffer because we've not done well in the '6-pointers' since Bruce arrived and until I see something that changes that I'll still be nervous that we're going to fall short in the key games.

If you think that's moaning and whinging then I won't argue but given the stick Lambert got for the 'I just do' comments I think criticising anyone who doesn't just show blind faith is a bit rich.

Ignore the bits that challenge you if you like.

So, in the last 14 matches we've clawed back 2 points on the Top 2. Yet in the same period we've been in the Top 2 performers (and even in the last 17 games). Cardiff, now in 2nd, were top and 10 points ahead at the time you mention. So we've clawed 5 points back on them in 14 games.

So repeat our form, we'd gain 9 or 10 points and finish above them. Wolves are the only team that have done better over the same period, which largely comes down to their victory over us.

So, we're currently the second best team in the league and have been for some time.

Have you watched Sheffield United, not wishing to insult you but unless you have, or live with a season ticket holder and have in-laws and friends that are season ticket holders, you won't know.

By all means though, if you want to be nervous, and don't want to accept that we're considerably better than most teams and second only to Wolves on form going back over 3 months, or that we're more set-up to deal with injuries to key players than the rest, go ahead.

As for blind faith, I'd suggest just being blind.

[paul_e]

Its a two game turn around, 1 if we beat Cardiff.

I could take 2 games, that's true, but catching 2 points in 14 games suggests it's likely to be a lot more unless we have another gear to go up to.  I said 2 months ago that the key to getting back into it was to have a run of 8-9 wins in 10 or similar and I still think that's the case, if we win every game between now and the new year we'll be in the top 2, if we don't I suspect we'll go into January still 4-5 points adrift and needing a run of wins to bridge the gap.  That's been my point all along  If you're aiming for 90+ points any run of draws or defeats, even with a win mixed in (such as us in August) has to be offset by a long run of wins, it's very unforgiving in that way.  The issue is we've got our form up to the point where over an entire season it would have us right in the mix but we haven't yet counteracted the run where we were a lot worse than that.

I'm not saying this to moan or have a go or suggest that Bruce should go, I've said that this form is what was expected of him all along and as long as he's delivering it he's doing the job he was given and is perfectly safe but he still needs to find another step up at some point and he needs to avoid a bad run, any draw or defeat has to be followed up by a victory right now, dropping points 2 games running would cripple our progress right now.

[Toronto Villa]

I'm greedy - I want to be IN the top 2 by January

Me too. Beyond that I think it will depend on players coming back and he we are able to bring in. Getting Terry back for the last 3 months of the season would be massive. And getting in a player to give Davis a breather will be critical. Our midfield has been great chipping in with goals but it’s unrealistic to expect the likes of Adomah to keep that up. We need goals from our strikers to ensure promotion.

[Tony Erdington]

Dropping points right now?

doesn't dropping imply teams around us are not going to, and in the same argument about Barcelona and Citeh I don't see them in our division of course excluding the mighty Wolves etal barca citeh.

[paul_e]

Dropping points right now?

doesn't dropping imply teams around us are not going to, and in the same argument about Barcelona and Citeh I don't see them in our division of course excluding the mighty Wolves etal barca citeh.

of course they are, currently they're dropping points at about the same rate as we are, which is why we're not really closing the gap on them.  The problem is cardiff have a 5 point buffer over us, if they lose 2 games in a row we need to win both to get ahead of them, if we lose 2 games in a row any points they pick up widens the gap and they're averaging over 2 points a game right now so it's a reasonable bet that 2 defeats (or 2 draws even) would see us 7-8 points behind again.

Brighton certainly weren't Barce/Man C standard last season either but they got 93 points and that's what we should be aiming to replicate if we want to get top 2 and getting there means avoiding winless runs and not even long ones, 3-4 games without a win can take months to recover from at the top of this league.  We've already gone 3 without a win twice (in the first 7 games) and it's had us playing catchup all season.

[KevinGage]

I'm greedy - I want to be IN the top 2 by January

With our current injuries, we are doing well to be where we are.

Still involved with a genuine shout at automatic promotion by the time we get a few more bodies in (or back) by mid-end Jan will do for me.