Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[Brend'Watkins]

Bruce has steadied the ship but we’re now treading water. Dean Smith would be a very good fit for us to move us up playing the game they way it should be.

[PaulWinch again]

Again I’m not sure on the steadying the ship question. He had a plan to ensure promotion at one of two attempts, he failed with that plan. Now we appear to be very unsteady, it’s not like the team he’s used can be carried forward. You’re looking at a minimum of 5 or 6 players changing. He (and the Club) have built something without much, if any, foundation.

[sickbeggar]

Again I’m not sure on the steadying the ship question. He had a plan to ensure promotion at one of two attempts, he failed with that plan. Now we appear to be very unsteady, it’s not like the team he’s used can be carried forward. You’re looking at a minimum of 5 or 6 players changing. He (and the Club) have built something without much, if any, foundation.

yep, new keeper. erm the defence as a whole is a total mess with the expected departures. We have Kodjia, Hogan, Mccormack up front - 2 of them useless. Midfield we can probably cope with the departures, but jedinak and whelan are at the veteran stage.

I agree, there is very little foundations there at all.

[robleflaneur]

I want to see better football, so Bruce has to go. Simple equation for me.

Not only would it be better football but more successful football.
The glaring difference yesterday was in the 2 philosophies of football.Play out from the back and through midfield v welly it upfield or switch it wide as quickly as possible ,it's an easy outball,as playing through central midfield and movement off the ball is a mystery to Bruce..And for me that was the biggest difference,the movement off the ball,witness the goal,not the individual skills.Going out wide and keeping the pitch wide and stretching teams is great in theory.Villa have Adomah and Snodgrass,fine players,but both because of stronger foot bias like to come back inside and cross.This means Villa don't turn defences enough and pull crosses back against an out of shape defence and easier for smaller forwards like Grabban,Hogan,Kodjia or midfielders to score.Likewise,how often do Villa play in straight lines along the touch line.Yesterday in one move ,Grealish,Adomah and Hutton were about 5 yards apart,all within a yard or 2 of the line.
Could you imagine our season under Fulham's Serbian warlord or how effective Grealish would have been playing for Fulham ?

[Risso]

For the entire first half we passed the ball back to the keeper, who punted it up field and lost possession every single time. It was hopeless and we got what we deserved - beaten.

[Rudy65]

Has to be Dean Smith for me

On the basis of what? I don’t get the love in for this guy. Where is his track record of achievement?

[Ad@m]

Credit where it's due, Dean Smith has done a fantastic job at Brentford, where the budget is miniscule.

Whether he could translate that to the Villa though is a massive question.

[Chris Jameson]

If he wasn’t supposedly a Villa supporter I doubt he’d ever get a mention.

[frank black]

If he wasn’t supposedly a Villa supporter I doubt he’d ever get a mention.

No supposedly about it, massive Villa fan. Would be an interesting appointment not without it’s risks.

[SheffieldVillain]

Has to be Dean Smith for me

On the basis of what? I don’t get the love in for this guy. Where is his track record of achievement?

Where was Nuno Santos's or Silva's or Howe's or Jokanovic's prior to Watford? We've been down the road of track record and it's failed. Maybe it's time to pick someone who has a vision for how to do the job which fits what we need and if that means rolling the dice a little, why not?

[Risso]

If he wasn’t supposedly a Villa supporter I doubt he’d ever get a mention.

Why wouldn’t he? His team plays good football, and he got them close to the play offs on a miniscule budget.

[berneboy]

I really hope Steve decides to take time out or  is 'helped' to decide thus.

We need a manager with imagination ready to use younger footballers. Jack can be captain now he's almost grown up ...

[Richard E]

I hate to depress people any further, but Ian Holloway, Alan Pardew, Sam Allardyce and Mick McCarthy are all available for an immediate start.

[HK Villan]

I think we need a change.  It's a shame, I like Bruce, and (of course) wish he had succeeded with promotion at Villa.  But yesterday's game highlighted the poor tactics which have been too evident throughout many games this season.  Just by shifting the team 15 yards up the pitch in the second half yesterday the performance was turned around, but it came too late.  Why couldn't they play more on the front foot in the first half?  Why can he only change the approach at half time, when it was obvious it wasn't working?  There have been too many terrible performance, like in the first half yesterday, and in quite a few games during the season, which have cost us points and ultimately promotion.     

[Nunkin1965]

My thinking about Dean Smith is seeing him produce decent teams and performances after having his best players regularly sold. and he seems to be able to get his side up to a competitive level.

Would it work? How the fuck should I know because sadly there aren't any guarantees.