Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[tomd2103]

I think bruce's style will, at any club that has serious promotion ambitions, get them there or thereabout because the extra quality in the team coupled with his defensive mentality will see you win more than you lose.  The problems come when you have must win games because sometimes you need to play on the front foot in those and by not doing that he gives away the momentum too readily.  I think the 'despite Bruce' bit is going too far but I do think that any manager from the top half of the championship would've got us into the playoffs as a minimum and many of them are just as average as he is.  He almost did the job he was employed to do, I think that's something plenty of people could achieve.

The stat brought up on TV the other week about how many games we have won after going a goal up compared to how many we have won when we have gone a goal down says it all really. 

[paul_e]

The key is away from home.

Too many games we set up not to lose when instead we have the ability to impose ourselves onto others.

It certainly happened away more regularly, where it felt like he'd decided a point would be a decent result and set out to get exactly that, but there were some home games as well where we just had to win and his route to achieve that was to not concede and try to nick one at the other end.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

What about if Smith came in and played O'Hare, Grealish and Albert behind Kodjia and we passed the fuck out of everybody at the start of the season and sat top?

Why does it have to be he comes in and does poorly?

Because this is Villa and we can’t have nice things.

Can't have or don't want?

[Toronto Villa]

Allegedly we're talking to this fella Stramaccioni. Allegedly.

Isn't he the fella with 3 nipples?

You’re thinking of Krusty the Clown

[VinnieChase84]

I think bruce's style will, at any club that has serious promotion ambitions, get them there or thereabout because the extra quality in the team coupled with his defensive mentality will see you win more than you lose.  The problems come when you have must win games because sometimes you need to play on the front foot in those and by not doing that he gives away the momentum too readily.  I think the 'despite Bruce' bit is going too far but I do think that any manager from the top half of the championship would've got us into the playoffs as a minimum and many of them are just as average as he is.  He almost did the job he was employed to do, I think that's something plenty of people could achieve.

The stat brought up on TV the other week about how many games we have won after going a goal up compared to how many we have won when we have gone a goal down says it all really. 

Summed Bruce and us up perfectly. First goal always so vital and when scored Saturday I knew it was over

[robleflaneur]

Dean Smith does seem the safest bet as he's well established in the league and ticks the most boxes.  But the thought of unearthing the next Wagner, Nuno or Jokanović is very appealing.

Dean Smith will be hounded out as the next Steve Bruce by those clamouring for him to be the next manager. 100% guaranteed. He'll come in, do alright and we'll be nowhere near the promotion spot and they'll turn on him quicker than they did Bruce.

Apparently his teams play lovely football (although i'm pretty sure Brentford had that style of play in place before he went there) but his win ratio is still less than 40% at both of his clubs so far and he also has absolutely zero experience of the HUGE pressure managing a club the size of ours would bring on his shoulders.

So, Bruce a manager with a wealth of experience in this league including numerous actual promotions and with a win percentage of 47% isn't the right man but this man could be. The same Bruce who's just got us to the play off final, and only lost 1-0 to a team that are apparently considered the next Barcelona despite only making the exact same play off final we did.

I honestly don't get it

You don't get promoted on win percentages,it's points gathered.As others have said ,Smith has had to manage Walsall and Brentford.He started at Walsall with them nine points adrift at the bottom,they survived.
When he left,they were 4th.They haven't got near that since then .If Lambert or Sherwood had a similar win percentage at Villa,they would still be our manager.
You pick out Bruce's promotions that's what got him the job.Do you consider his Premiership record,relegations with Hull and Blues and leaving Sunderland in 16th ? Can those not indicate his limitations
which have become clearer over the past 2 seasons.
We lost to a side who were better coached,played better football,who got promoted with a much smaller budget. Go on their forum and read about how Fulham's parachute money disappeared and they had to play young,inexperienced players.It's their style of play that invokes Barcelona .
The previous season it was Wagner at Huddersfield.

[He wears a magic hat]

I must admit I have found Bruce does send the team out with what appears to be a negative attitude but what has really surprised me is that we have our best goals per game ratio since we won the league with the exception on the 2007/8 season under MON.

Now that would imply we should be quite entertaining. Confused.com

[robleflaneur]

I must admit I have found Bruce does send the team out with what appears to be a negative attitude but what has really surprised me is that we have our best goals per game ratio since we won the league with the exception on the 2007/8 season under MON.

Now that would imply we should be quite entertaining. Confused.com

Our best positions since 81 were in 90 and 93.If you look at the goals scored now compared to then,there has been a significant increase in the leagues.The most significant factor is probably the lighter ball.More goals go in from 25 yards out or more,closer in the ball flies in faster..Also the referees are stricter,more penalties,more free kicks close in and more sendings off,plus teams in general adopt a more positive approach.Defending a lead or going for a 0-0 away is more difficult with no backpass to the keeper and shots being more effective with the lighter ball.

[sirlordbaltimore]

What about if Smith came in and played O'Hare, Grealish and Albert behind Kodjia and we passed the fuck out of everybody at the start of the season and sat top?

Why does it have to be he comes in and does poorly?

What if Bruce does that knowing he no longer had our top assist maker Snodgrass as an option?

He may well do exactly that next season if he feels O'Hare is up to it, he clearly wasn't ready to step up last season.

We may also get our arse torn to shreds by fielding such a defensively weak front four of course. Not to mention i can't be the only one who already fears Kodjia is broken and never likely to ever get back to those previous heights

[mr underhill]

i really feel for Kodjia - he looks a shadow of his former self. Not surprising given two back to back ankle injuries . Maybe a full pre season will make the difference - here's hoping.

[Matt Collins]

I also worry about the pressure that some of these kids will face. From what I've seen, only Green is possibly ready to come straight into the team and I've got questions about him too

[Toronto Villa]

They have to be given time to grow into professional players. Not just thrown into games. It’s a long season.

[Risso]

We saw what happened when the likes of Albrighton and Bannan went from promising kids to being chucked in as first team regulars, it didn't end well.  Whoever is our boss next season is going to have the mother of all tasks on their hands, but Bruce doesn't deserve another chance, for fucking it up this year and last, with his dinosaur bravery-free tactics.

[Monty]

We saw what happened when the likes of Albrighton and Bannan went from promising kids to being chucked in as first team regulars, it didn't end well.  Whoever is our boss next season is going to have the mother of all tasks on their hands, but Bruce doesn't deserve another chance, for fucking it up this year and last, with his dinosaur bravery-free tactics.

Dare say those two would both improve our team now.

[tomd2103]

We saw what happened when the likes of Albrighton and Bannan went from promising kids to being chucked in as first team regulars, it didn't end well.  Whoever is our boss next season is going to have the mother of all tasks on their hands, but Bruce doesn't deserve another chance, for fucking it up this year and last, with his dinosaur bravery-free tactics.

Dare say those two would both improve our team now.

Having seen him play against us the last couple of seasons, I'm still not sold on Bannan to be honest, but Albrighton would be exactly the kind of player we could do with.