Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[David_Nab]

As incandescent as I was and somewhat remain about that first half at Wembley, heaping the continued existence of a football club on one performance seems a tad unfair.

But that is what the "most lucrative game in world football" effectively means to clubs that put all their stake-money on it; it's been created by the TV companies and is a "winner-takes-all" situation.
I posted a link on here recently to a Grauniad article that analysed the fate of the losers of the Championship play-off final: most have a serious following-season dip in form. So, not only are we not in money-heaven; we are also facing a significant challenge in playing standard next season. This last point is exactly why Fistface has to go. Regardless of the finances, we need a new manager, bringing in new blood, new ideas and a new vision for the squad. And, we need a tangible, aspirational and achievable plan to develop the Villa Way for future squads.

Wolves would have been in trouble if they hadn't gone up

Cardiff and Fulham had gotten to the end of their parachute money , the latter would certainly have lost Sessegnon and Cairney , the lost Fredricks to West Ham even though they did go up. You can bet that both Derby and Boro will be making cut backs this season after not going up

Reality is Wolves got just under £8mil in price money /tv cash for winning league take out Prem League parachute payments and no one in this league is spending double digit in millions on transfer fee's and no one can survive paying 30k a week to a whole team of players like we are ...

[tomd2103]

At the moment the absolute last thing we need is to be worrying about or trying to change the one stable position at the club.

It'd be utter madness to try and put a new managerial and coaching staff together right now.

Leave well alone.

I just pray he doesn't want out.

The one stable position at the club that shouldn't be changed is Steve Round's position.  He is the one who should be overseeing the necessary changes, including the manager if needs be. 

[Mister E]

At the moment the absolute last thing we need is to be worrying about or trying to change the one stable position at the club.

It'd be utter madness to try and put a new managerial and coaching staff together right now.

Leave well alone.

I just pray he doesn't want out.

The one stable position at the club that shouldn't be changed is Steve Round's position.  He is the one who should be overseeing the necessary changes, including the manager if needs be. 

Correct.

[itbrvilla]

At the moment the absolute last thing we need is to be worrying about or trying to change the one stable position at the club.

It'd be utter madness to try and put a new managerial and coaching staff together right now.

Leave well alone.

I just pray he doesn't want out.

The one stable position at the club that shouldn't be changed is Steve Round's position.  He is the one who should be overseeing the necessary changes, including the manager if needs be. 

Correct.

Was he responsible for our transfers at all?

[Clampy]

In the current circumstances, Bruce sticking around is for the best I think, at least while Doctor Tony is here.

[paul_e]

I disagree, there are 2 scenarios from here:

a new owner (or investor) comes in, sorts out the cashflow but, by the time things are settled we're on the verge of the new season.  In this circumstance any signings we make would, pretty much, have to come from Europe due to the transfer window changes.  That's not a market Bruce has used much in his career and the fall back of relying on kids is something he's also shown reluctance to do. If this is the likely path I'd want a new manager in soon so they can work with whatever squad we have during pre-season.  In this case we're probably going to either ignore the ffp situation (to an extent) or bypass it with new owner clauses (that someone posted on one of the threads) but will potentially make 1-2 sales to help short term cashflow.

the alternative is that we're fucked and we have a complete firesale to get funds in quick and avoid the FFP fines that would fuck us further. In that case we'd be in full on young and hungry mode and would be totally reliant on improved coaching to give us any sort of light at the end of the tunnel. In that situation Bruce is an awful choice because he offers almost no training ground presence.

If we'd been financially steady and able to throw money at 2-3 snodgrass level loans again then I can understand the argument to keep him even though I disagree with it but given just how bad the finances seem to be he is, in my opinion, completely the wrong man for the club now. Lets not forget he's does ok in promotion chases but he's really shit in a relegation scrap (if the worst comes to the worst).

[robleflaneur]

I disagree, there are 2 scenarios from here:

a new owner (or investor) comes in, sorts out the cashflow but, by the time things are settled we're on the verge of the new season.  In this circumstance any signings we make would, pretty much, have to come from Europe due to the transfer window changes.  That's not a market Bruce has used much in his career and the fall back of relying on kids is something he's also shown reluctance to do. If this is the likely path I'd want a new manager in soon so they can work with whatever squad we have during pre-season.  In this case we're probably going to either ignore the ffp situation (to an extent) or bypass it with new owner clauses (that someone posted on one of the threads) but will potentially make 1-2 sales to help short term cashflow.

the alternative is that we're fucked and we have a complete firesale to get funds in quick and avoid the FFP fines that would fuck us further. In that case we'd be in full on young and hungry mode and would be totally reliant on improved coaching to give us any sort of light at the end of the tunnel. In that situation Bruce is an awful choice because he offers almost no training ground presence.

If we'd been financially steady and able to throw money at 2-3 snodgrass level loans again then I can understand the argument to keep him even though I disagree with it but given just how bad the finances seem to be he is, in my opinion, completely the wrong man for the club now. Lets not forget he's does ok in promotion chases but he's really shit in a relegation scrap (if the worst comes to the worst).

In total agreement.

[Risso]

Steve Bruce is an integral part of the clusterfuck and should be gone already.

[mattjpa]

heres a sobering thought: If you were Steve Bruce, would you want to stay? Financial ruin on the horizon, No money to sign anyone or bring in players on loan on decent contracts, The guts of the squad he has built potentially about to be ripped out. The best playing assets potentially being sold and a portion of the fan base wanting you out despite working through the deaths of both parents, many of which will be on his back after 3 games unless we have a flying start. Add to that the suspension and probable sacking of your biggest advocate at the club and the grim realization that you are probably not going to be given the tools to better last seasons position.

He always said it would take 3years to turn this club around and he got us to the brink of the premier league after 2 years.  What a fantastic open goal opportunity to walk away with your head held high and reputation firmly intact, citing "powers out of my control have made it impossible to achieve more than we did last year" Lest we not forget, he did the same thing at Hull.

[Mister E]

heres a sobering thought: If you were Steve Bruce, would you want to stay? Financial ruin on the horizon, No money to sign anyone or bring in players on loan on decent contracts, The guts of the squad he has built potentially about to be ripped out. The best playing assets potentially being sold and a portion of the fan base wanting you out despite working through the deaths of both parents, many of which will be on his back after 3 games unless we have a flying start. Add to that the suspension and probable sacking of your biggest advocate at the club and the grim realization that you are probably not going to be given the tools to better last seasons position.

He always said it would take 3years to turn this club around and he got us to the brink of the premier league after 2 years.  What a fantastic open goal opportunity to walk away with your head held high and reputation firmly intact, citing "powers out of my control have made it impossible to achieve more than we did last year" Lest we not forget, he did the same thing at Hull.

I don't think it's a sobering thought at all: it's what will happen, IMHO!

[Clampy]

I just think that seeing as no-one as a clue what is going on, what will happen or the kind of state we are in, being managerless would just add to the mess.

[tomd2103]

heres a sobering thought: If you were Steve Bruce, would you want to stay? Financial ruin on the horizon, No money to sign anyone or bring in players on loan on decent contracts, The guts of the squad he has built potentially about to be ripped out. The best playing assets potentially being sold and a portion of the fan base wanting you out despite working through the deaths of both parents, many of which will be on his back after 3 games unless we have a flying start. Add to that the suspension and probable sacking of your biggest advocate at the club and the grim realization that you are probably not going to be given the tools to better last seasons position.

He always said it would take 3years to turn this club around and he got us to the brink of the premier league after 2 years.  What a fantastic open goal opportunity to walk away with your head held high and reputation firmly intact, citing "powers out of my control have made it impossible to achieve more than we did last year" Lest we not forget, he did the same thing at Hull.

Absolutely.  Can't see him wanting to stay around if things take a turn for the worse.  Probably got just about enough managerial credit in the bank to get a decent Championship or even a lower Premier League gig if he spins the line that he did a great job getting us to the play off final considering what was going on behind the scenes at the club.  He should speak to Paul Lambert  to get tips on revisionism.   

[tomd2103]

I just think that seeing as no-one as a clue what is going on, what will happen or the kind of state we are in, being managerless would just add to the mess.

I can't think that we would be able to pay the compensation for him and his backroom staff if we were to sack them as things stand, so would think it is unlikely that he will go.

[Des Little]

Round, Bruce & Wyness are all thick as thieves - if one goes, you can wager that the others will too.  Today's board meeting had better come up with a fooking plan otherwise we had better brace ourselves for a stinker of a season.

[Clampy]

I just think that seeing as no-one as a clue what is going on, what will happen or the kind of state we are in, being managerless would just add to the mess.

I can't think that we would be able to pay the compensation for him and his backroom staff if we were to sack them as things stand, so would think it is unlikely that he will go.

There is that as well.