Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[olaftab]

This NET spending argument is always bunk. When Spurs sold Gareth Bale their net spending that season was about £15M from a total spend of approx. £105M however about £100M of it was wasted on players who played only a handful of games for them. Defending a manager on net spend argument is never a very good idea. Actual spend is a better stat to judge someone.

[pauliewalnuts]

Are people surprised his son is sticking up for him?

[Toronto Villa]

This NET spending argument is always bunk. When Spurs sold Gareth Bale their net spending that season was about £15M from a total spend of approx. £105M however about £100M of it was wasted on players who played only a handful of games for them. Defending a manager on net spend argument is never a very good idea. Actual spend is a better stat to judge someone.

I completely agree with that. It’s like arguing when our net spend is low mahbe we should have spent more than we did in the utter dross that we bought in. It’s not about net spend, it’s about where we spent what we had or more specifically on who.

[Toronto Villa]

Are people surprised his son is sticking up for him?

Not at all. But when he’s defending his dad’s professional record as some sort of success finishing 4th despite having 90+ games to get us promoted and a budget every team bar Wolves would have killed for he’s fair game for criticism.

[ozzjim]

We were struggling badly when he came though, and whatever we are critical of, and I am a big critic of his, he got us 4th in a season I never expected top 2, his loans were good, his main signings hit and miss but all managers are. He's galvanised the playing side, which no one else has managed for a long old time. With all the uncertainty of the pitch, we could be lucky to have him next season. I'd love us to be tactically more aware and play better football, and were all stable at the top yeah, relaxed him, but the way things are we need him I fear.

[Monty]

I don't disagree with any of the positives being out forward, really. The trouble is, if you look at our situation next season, does Bruce look like the guy to make the most of it? This season just gone had his ideal situation in it, and we fell short.

[Toronto Villa]

The irony of it all is that now that we are limited in what we can spend, something Bruce won't be unfamiliar with given his stints at Blues, Wigan and Hull are we now actually a better fit for him?

[sickbeggar]

We were struggling badly when he came though, and whatever we are critical of, and I am a big critic of his, he got us 4th in a season I never expected top 2, his loans were good, his main signings hit and miss but all managers are. He's galvanised the playing side, which no one else has managed for a long old time. With all the uncertainty of the pitch, we could be lucky to have him next season. I'd love us to be tactically more aware and play better football, and were all stable at the top yeah, relaxed him, but the way things are we need him I fear.

I get your point, but if you don't think we can get promoted next season (i don't), then does his CV coincide with our needs? I'm pretty sure he can leave us next week and get another championship team promoted or save a PL league team from relegation but does that mean we're missing out? If we're operating on a shoestring budget and need to develop youth players then i just don't think Bruce is the man.

[ozzjim]

We were struggling badly when he came though, and whatever we are critical of, and I am a big critic of his, he got us 4th in a season I never expected top 2, his loans were good, his main signings hit and miss but all managers are. He's galvanised the playing side, which no one else has managed for a long old time. With all the uncertainty of the pitch, we could be lucky to have him next season. I'd love us to be tactically more aware and play better football, and were all stable at the top yeah, relaxed him, but the way things are we need him I fear.

I get your point, but if you don't think we can get promoted next season (i don't), then does his CV coincide with our needs? I'm pretty sure he can leave us next week and get another championship team promoted or save a PL league team from relegation but does that mean we're missing out? If we're operating on a shoestring budget and need to develop youth players then i just don't think Bruce is the man.

Trouble is, sell too many to balance the books this summer and its not far to be Sunderland. Take the one bit of stability out and the youngsters will be taking us to league 1. I agree, hes not renowned for bringing them through, but has done very well with Grealish and Green was playing well before the injury. Now he will have to use more of them.

[SoccerHQ]

I might have wrote about 20 pages ago so I appologise if I have....

I always ask myself what I would have accepted at the start of the season. We are away scheme members and so have missed a game or 2 in 8 years so have seen so terrible years.... If you would have offered me the playoffs at the start of the season and most I speak to they would have bitten your hand off. I think he has done a really good job and should at least have another year. He has spent no money worked with the resources we had was able to on the whole bring in players on loan that have improved us and so why would we change and most importantly to who..... Change is not always a good thing as we have known for the best part of the last 8 years or so. All the vitriol is the same cycle every time and where has it on the whole got us. The FFP issues are pre him and he has worked for the last 12 months with that senerio. He cannot be blamed for long term contracts to players pre his time

Here are the stats on managers  http://www.managerstats.co.uk/clubs/aston-villa/  . Why do we need another saviour to come and then 10 games later we decide he is no longer the saviour we thought he was.  Most of the managers people are saying are under-contract we have been paying old managers off in at least 4 of the last 5 years accounts.

I wouldn't totally dismiss all that.

I agree too quickly we think a new manager will just solve all things, we appoint them and either it's an underwhelming appointment with people putting a brave face to it or they have many weaknesses themselves which quickly came to the surface.

Surprised at the amount you were talking to who willingly were just happy with play offs. My target at start of the season was top 2 and I was still hopeful of that going into January. John Terry's target was to win the league.

Not sure how any can dress finishing in the play offs as anything but a failure seeing as we didn't go up.

I think we need a change as with the restrictions we now have I don't think SB is the right fit for that. If these takeover rumours have truth to them SB is going to be potted anyway.

[Drummond]

I wonder sometimes if he talks himself and the team into losing games.

He's failed, we are still shit, but there is plenty to be hopeful about for next season.

He's the best we've had for quite a while. Do we really want to twist again? Like we did the summer before last?

[sickbeggar]

We were struggling badly when he came though, and whatever we are critical of, and I am a big critic of his, he got us 4th in a season I never expected top 2, his loans were good, his main signings hit and miss but all managers are. He's galvanised the playing side, which no one else has managed for a long old time. With all the uncertainty of the pitch, we could be lucky to have him next season. I'd love us to be tactically more aware and play better football, and were all stable at the top yeah, relaxed him, but the way things are we need him I fear.

I get your point, but if you don't think we can get promoted next season (i don't), then does his CV coincide with our needs? I'm pretty sure he can leave us next week and get another championship team promoted or save a PL league team from relegation but does that mean we're missing out? If we're operating on a shoestring budget and need to develop youth players then i just don't think Bruce is the man.

Trouble is, sell too many to balance the books this summer and its not far to be Sunderland. Take the one bit of stability out and the youngsters will be taking us to league 1. I agree, hes not renowned for bringing them through, but has done very well with Grealish and Green was playing well before the injury. Now he will have to use more of them.

Well we better hope he can get a tune out of them if he stays. I mean he built a large part of our play-off squad this season on premier level loans and free transfers successfully. My fear is we'll now get the budget version, so a Huth instead of a Terry, Crouch bought in to cover Kodjia or as a replacement, some reserve winger from Huddersfield etc..

[Sexual Ealing]

Bruce is basically a cut-price MON. The arguments for and against on here are pretty similar to the ones we had when the hasn't-even-got-a-law-degree one was in charge.

Plus ca change and all that.

[Toronto Villa]

We were struggling badly when he came though, and whatever we are critical of, and I am a big critic of his, he got us 4th in a season I never expected top 2, his loans were good, his main signings hit and miss but all managers are. He's galvanised the playing side, which no one else has managed for a long old time. With all the uncertainty of the pitch, we could be lucky to have him next season. I'd love us to be tactically more aware and play better football, and were all stable at the top yeah, relaxed him, but the way things are we need him I fear.

I get your point, but if you don't think we can get promoted next season (i don't), then does his CV coincide with our needs? I'm pretty sure he can leave us next week and get another championship team promoted or save a PL league team from relegation but does that mean we're missing out? If we're operating on a shoestring budget and need to develop youth players then i just don't think Bruce is the man.

Trouble is, sell too many to balance the books this summer and its not far to be Sunderland. Take the one bit of stability out and the youngsters will be taking us to league 1. I agree, hes not renowned for bringing them through, but has done very well with Grealish and Green was playing well before the injury. Now he will have to use more of them.

Well we better hope he can get a tune out of them if he stays. I mean he built a large part of our play-off squad this season on premier level loans and free transfers successfully. My fear is we'll now get the budget version, so a Huth instead of a Terry, Crouch bought in to cover Kodjia or as a replacement, some reserve winger from Huddersfield etc..

At this level Huth instead of Terry isn’t a massive drop off. Curtis Davies on a free would have done just as well and formed a great partnership bay Derby with Keogh. It’s the difference makers used in the right system to maximize their worth which is key. I just don’t know if Bruce is the man to do it and I’m certainly not convinced he’s the best to get the most out of our academy.

[ChicagoLion]

The Play off Final demonstrated his limitations and those limitations were on display through out the season.
The only reason for keeping Bruce is because we are unable to get any one better than him and based on our current position that might be not be that easy.