Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[paul_e]

If we go up it’s thank you Bruce and goodbye.
The same if we don’t.

It's not though.  No chance whatsoever if we go up and very, doubtful if we don't.

What gives you that opinion?  I'd say there is almost no chance of Bruce staying if we don't win the final, for a number of reasons but the main one being that promotion was his only goal and he's already said that he knows what failure to deliver that means.

[not3bad]

If we go up it’s thank you Bruce and goodbye.
The same if we don’t.

It's not though.  No chance whatsoever if we go up and very, doubtful if we don't.

What gives you that opinion?  I'd say there is almost no chance of Bruce staying if we don't win the final, for a number of reasons but the main one being that promotion was his only goal and he's already said that he knows what failure to deliver that means.

Reckon we might go for Moyes if we don't go up.

If we do go up Bruce will be manager next season, no question.

[mr underhill]

i'd rather have Bruce. Benitez maybe, Dave? Fuck off.

[Chico Hamilton III]

If we go up it’s thank you Bruce and goodbye.
The same if we don’t.

I'm with you. I hate to be hard faced towards him after the season he's had ( although finishing 4th in the second division, 7 points off direct promotion is hardly a triumph) but I reckon we'll be back down again next season or at least scrambling around at Christmas for a new manager to try and keep us up if we retain Bruce. if we go up next week, he'll have done his job and it'll be time to move on. Might sound harsh but the club is bigger than any employee and he's not a Premier League Manager in my book. He's a promotion specialist, just like Warnock, and was just what we needed to do a job.

[Smirker]

If he goes who do we bring in?

[Richard E]

I think if we had not gone up then he would have left "by mutual consent", to retain his dignity and it could have been presented as understandable after the turmoil he has had in his family life in recent months. But we will never know...

[old man villa fan]

I think if we had not gone up then he would have left "by mutual consent", to retain his dignity and it could have been presented as understandable after the turmoil he has had in his family life in recent months. But we will never know...

Are you posting from the future. If so, what are the winning lottery numbers for tonight?

[boozey182]

IF we go up (and that's a big if), I think we're going to have to be ruthless over the summer. We're going to need a massive overhaul of playing staff, and almost start again from scratch. You could look at this two ways; should we bring in a new manager to build a new team in his image, or do we stick with Bruce in the hope that the continuity helps us hit the ground running in August.

If our first team is reliant on Adomah, Hourihane (his value will never be higher than it is right now, so we might get a decent price for him), Terry, Whelan, Jedinak, Hogan, Elmo, Taylor week in week out next year, we're really going to struggle. Then there's the likes of Hutton, Grabban & Snodgrass (should we buy them), Birkir, that would probably be squad players at best. Then you've got Kodjia who is still finding his feet after a long injury and is untested at that level, and Chester will be more dependant on someone will more physicality next to him. Which leaves Jack, who will find it more difficult, but I'm confident he'll rise to that challenge.

That's the scale of the job we might have. It's massive. You don't go from fourth best in the championship to 11th(ish) best in the Premier League without an awful lot of work in between.

Personally, I think it might be best for everyone if Bruce leaves (and it's his choice), should we win at Wembley. It would be a shame to ruin what could be a very good relationship with the fans if we go up and we have to bin him before Christmas. Plus, when you take into account what he's been through the last few months, he might just want a break. And there won't really be time for that if we're promoted.

I guess we have to ask, can we see Bruce still being our manager at the start of the 19/20 season? I really can't, so we need to bring someone in who will build something for the year after a consolidation season.

[AsTallAsLions]

If we go up it’s thank you Bruce and goodbye.
The same if we don’t.

It's not though.  No chance whatsoever if we go up and very, doubtful if we don't.

What gives you that opinion?  I'd say there is almost no chance of Bruce staying if we don't win the final, for a number of reasons but the main one being that promotion was his only goal and he's already said that he knows what failure to deliver that means.

There's no way he stays if we fail to beat Fulham. Tony won't hang about hoping that Bruceball produces different results next year, he's too smart for that and besides that's the definition of madness. And I know what he's said publicly but I highly doubt Steve would be up for another trip around the block next year either after everything that's happened this year. He's got to be emotionally and physically wrecked at this point in the season and defeat will be massively deflating for all involved, not least of all the manager. It'll be a "mutual consent" situation with a decent golden handshake and we'll move on to Dean Smith or whoever.

[Richard E]

I think if we had not gone up then he would have left "by mutual consent", to retain his dignity and it could have been presented as understandable after the turmoil he has had in his family life in recent months. But we will never know...

Are you posting from the future. If so, what are the winning lottery numbers for tonight?

1,2,3,4,5 and 6.

[Allan C]

4th in the Championship with the cost of our squad is no major achievement at all, it's the bare minimum, and in my opinion even something of a failure.  Top 2 should have been achievable with our resources.  We really weren't in a tailspin when Bruce took over, we were stuttering but reasonably stable.  I don't think there was ever any danger we would do a Sunderland.  I firmly believe that if RDM and Clarke had been given the slack and time that Bruce has been granted they would have achieved at least as much as Bruce and possibly more and sooner.   To say Bruce has done a fantastic job in turning us around is something of an exaggeration in my view, and in any case he took his bloody time.  I know he's had his personal traumas and fair play to him for soldiering on,   but that's a separate issue to the job he's done.   I think it's been sub-standard in both achievement and above all entertainment value.  I have honestly never been so bored watching Villa, not even under TSM, with his keep it tight and nick a goal mentality.  We don't deserve to go up because we only finished 4th, and a laboured 4th at that.   Whether we do go up or not, time to be ruthless.  If we stay down he's failed, full stop, and should go.  If we go up, there is no track record to say that he can achieve anything there, and we should look for someone better.   I don't buy that coming 4th in the Championship with the most expensive squad ever to play there, and a fair way behind a tupenny hapenny Cardiff team who will almost certainly come straight back down, earns you a crack at the premier league.  To keep him would be yet another example of the strange tendency for football to reward mediocrity and even failure.   

It is harsh but it’s pretty much my position too. 4th in a poor league is just that, poor. I hope we go up but if we do, Bruce will not be good enough to manage the team at that level as his previous record suggests. I also believe we will need several Premiership class players added to maintain our position and I don’t trust Bruce to get those players

[Ad@m]

I just want a manager who delivers a team that is more than the sum of its parts.  We haven't had that since MON, but even then MON blew ridiculous money on very mediocre players.  The last gaffer to do it properly was Gregory.

[chrisw1]

If we go up it’s thank you Bruce and goodbye.
The same if we don’t.

It's not though.  No chance whatsoever if we go up and very, doubtful if we don't.

What gives you that opinion?  I'd say there is almost no chance of Bruce staying if we don't win the final, for a number of reasons but the main one being that promotion was his only goal and he's already said that he knows what failure to deliver that means.

Because I think Tony will think we are on the right track and give him another year.  I could be wrong, but that is my guess at the moment.

[kippaxvilla2]

He will stay if we don't go up and right now I think he should. 

[not3bad]

If we go up it’s thank you Bruce and goodbye.
The same if we don’t.

It's not though.  No chance whatsoever if we go up and very, doubtful if we don't.

What gives you that opinion?  I'd say there is almost no chance of Bruce staying if we don't win the final, for a number of reasons but the main one being that promotion was his only goal and he's already said that he knows what failure to deliver that means.

Because I think Tony will think we are on the right track and give him another year.  I could be wrong, but that is my guess at the moment.

My feeling is Bruce will still be here next season whatever happens on 26th May.