Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[SoccerHQ]

Amuses me how he had the begging bowl analogy in interviews last week yet here he is picking up the phone and getting another loan player from a top 6 club.

It's not about spending millions, our name in this league means we're still a good draw for up and coming players.

[ciggiesnbeer]

You can watch the whole thing here.

His complaints about managers not getting enough time were fine tbh. More importantly, he did reiterate we are only in for a couple of loans this window.

[garyfouroaks]

 A football genius, and a stable football genius. Keep at it Steve.

[Sexual Ealing]

Fair play to him, whether it's Agnew's influence or whether he's just started believing the evidence of his own eyes, something (hopefully) seems to have clicked. He may look like a cauliflower sculpted out of dripping, but if he gets us up he'll deserve his bonus.

[Archie]

4th place in the table may be a good result or not depending on the strength of the team.
For many seasons the majority of Arsenal fans didn't subscribe the Wenger's point of view that 4th place was a good result for a team that in their opinion (which I share) could do more.   

As far as we are concerned, I believe that only Wolves are superior to Villa in this League, so I can't be totally satisfied for the 4th place in the table, even if I reckon that so many injuries players are a serious alibi for Bruce.
But if the table may be considered discrete, there are three main reasons why I don't rate him:
- Villa don't have a  distinctive style of play, one that you see and say: this is a Bruce's team! We often don't have a gameplan, too;
- I don't like his bizarre tactics and team selection. When we were without Terry, he tried and play  the unwatchable Samba and Jedinak as central defenders when Elphwick and Chester were such a good pair, like the Bristol game proved. For ages he left on the bench Bjarnasson that was one of the revelation of the last European Tournament and can play on the left side but also box to box and in the holding role where is much better than Whelan, as he has demonstrated in the Forest game when he subbed in the 2nd half playing very well;
- I can't forget and neither forgive the humiliation that we suffered against Peterborough.

I would have changed him at the end of last season.
It would be a nonsense to sack him now that we are in a good moment, despite of the FA Cup defeat.
So, I can't help bur support him, thinking that right or wrong he is our manager.
But even if we should be promoted, and it should not be impossibile,  I hope that  we shall appoint  a new more modern, brilliant and cultured manager for the return in Premier League. 
 
 

[chrisw1]

Lets deal with the Jedi at centre back issue.  He had played there previously for us and done a very decent job.  Conversely Tommy had been largely disastrous. 

I'm pretty sure the weight of opinion on here was for playing Jedi there above Tom.  As it happens he made some errors and Tommy came in and did well. 

But let's not pretend playing Jedinak there in the first place was some mad cap idea concocted by Bruce and resisted by the far superior football brains on this internet forum.

[manic-road]

4th place in the table may be a good result or not depending on the strength of the team.
For many seasons the majority of Arsenal fans didn't subscribe the Wenger's point of view that 4th place was a good result for a team that in their opinion (which I share) could do more.   

As far as we are concerned, I believe that only Wolves are superior to Villa in this League, so I can't be totally satisfied for the 4th place in the table, even if I reckon that so many injuries players are a serious alibi for Bruce.
But if the table may be considered discrete, there are three main reasons why I don't rate him:
- Villa don't have a  distinctive style of play, one that you see and say: this is a Bruce's team! We often don't have a gameplan, too;
- I don't like his bizarre tactics and team selection. When we were without Terry, he tried and play  the unwatchable Samba and Jedinak as central defenders when Elphwick and Chester were such a good pair, like the Bristol game proved. For ages he left on the bench Bjarnasson that was one of the revelation of the last European Tournament and can play on the left side but also box to box and in the holding role where is much better than Whelan, as he has demonstrated in the Forest game when he subbed in the 2nd half playing very well;
- I can't forget and neither forgive the humiliation that we suffered against Peterborough.

I would have changed him at the end of last season.
It would be a nonsense to sack him now that we are in a good moment, despite of the FA Cup defeat.
So, I can't help bur support him, thinking that right or wrong he is our manager.
But even if we should be promoted, and it should not be impossibile,  I hope that  we shall appoint  a new more modern, brilliant and cultured manager for the return in Premier League. 
 
 

No game plan bizarre tactics, bizarre team selection, no distinct style of play, really?

[Clampy]

4th place in the table may be a good result or not depending on the strength of the team.
For many seasons the majority of Arsenal fans didn't subscribe the Wenger's point of view that 4th place was a good result for a team that in their opinion (which I share) could do more.   

As far as we are concerned, I believe that only Wolves are superior to Villa in this League, so I can't be totally satisfied for the 4th place in the table, even if I reckon that so many injuries players are a serious alibi for Bruce.
But if the table may be considered discrete, there are three main reasons why I don't rate him:
- Villa don't have a  distinctive style of play, one that you see and say: this is a Bruce's team! We often don't have a gameplan, too;
- I don't like his bizarre tactics and team selection. When we were without Terry, he tried and play  the unwatchable Samba and Jedinak as central defenders when Elphwick and Chester were such a good pair, like the Bristol game proved. For ages he left on the bench Bjarnasson that was one of the revelation of the last European Tournament and can play on the left side but also box to box and in the holding role where is much better than Whelan, as he has demonstrated in the Forest game when he subbed in the 2nd half playing very well;
- I can't forget and neither forgive the humiliation that we suffered against Peterborough.

I would have changed him at the end of last season.
It would be a nonsense to sack him now that we are in a good moment, despite of the FA Cup defeat.
So, I can't help bur support him, thinking that right or wrong he is our manager.
But even if we should be promoted, and it should not be impossibile,  I hope that  we shall appoint  a new more modern, brilliant and cultured manager for the return in Premier League. 
 
 

We could be second place I suppose but it's where we are in May that matters, not now. Sheffield Utd were second at one point. What good has it done them?

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Bruce's crimes against football could be a much longer list than Archie's post. However and hopefully with everything crossed, he may have addressed his and his coaching staff's shortcomings with the appointment of Steve Agnew. It was a bold decision to demote his existing staff and bring in Agnew as First Team Coach. I applaud him for that and believe we will see an improvement between now and the end of the season not only in results but performances too.

Obviously it's a shame it's taken him so long and I have next to no faith in him as a football tactician but it's his job to 'manage' the club and recruit the best people available. He has the tools he just needs somebody to show him how to use them. If he surrounds himself with the best hopefully both he and the team can improve. Well that's my straw and I'm clinging to it.

[wittonwarrior]

Don’t worry Steve if lambert continues to find work well . .

[Archie]

Just out of curiosity mates: those who rate his work good or quite good, will confirm him in case of promotion?
As far as i am concerned, whatever is the opinion about his managerial skills in the Championship, I think that he has proved no to be at Premier League level.
It is well known that the level of English managers  is  considered pretty average in this period, this is the reason why (quite incredibly) all the big English teams have all foreign managers, with some remarkable exceptions like Dyche and Hodgson.  And infact old style managers like Sam Allardyce  or Steve Bruce himself don't seem to be able to compete wiuth the likes of Guardiola, Mourinho, Conte, Wenger (ok, Wenger is even worse), Pochettino, etc.
One  of the few young but experienced, cultured  English managers that could be good for the job imho could be Eddie Howe.     

[ChicagoLion]

Archie, professionals run clubs look for the best managers regardless of Nationality, it’s the clubs who succumb to the British Football old boy network that end up with Lambert Bruce Allardyce and Pullis.

[Toronto Villa]

For every Pep or Wenger or Mourinho, there's a long, long list of foreign managers that have failed in the English game. The fact that Bruce specifically has failed in the PL has nothing to do with him being English. It has all to do with him not being being good enough at that level. And I fully expect sometime in the first season, latest second he will be gone. But he's more than proved himself at the level he's at now.

On the whole, English football still struggles to develop technically skilled coaches and they rarely venture away from home to get experience. English coaches/managers need to be more open to those moves at an early age.

[ciggiesnbeer]

To be fair to Bruce , given the basket case*  messed up clubs he managed in the Premier League, he didnt do so bad.

If we go up (big if) he will have earnt the right to manage us there. My prediction is he will leave us to join Newcastle once Rafa moves on. Whether we , or they, or both are in the Premier league at that point I dunno.

*eww I looked up the meaning of that term. Thats awful. I wont be using it again.

[olaftab]

Don’t worry Steve if lambert continues to find work well . .

Yes. If Lambo can get a gig at Stoke there will always be work for likes of Bruce.