Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[old man villa fan]

Bruce instead of investing time and effort in developing and introducing more youth players as part of the overall squad mix lazily invested in older players. He then convinced Wyness and co that this was the right approach who then lazily went long with it. The approach came at a huge premium so the potential reward also came with a huge risk. He failed at his lazy approach and so that should be enough to fire him. Wyness is gone or close to it, Bruce should be next out of the door. I don't trust him to be the man to now take and succeed using the opposite route to the one he spectacularly failed at.

Are you going to pay for all this ?

No. Thought not.

He's going nowhere unless he quits.

He's on £3m a year.  Pay off the one year, get somebody in on much less, and over two years you're better off.  I bet Dean Smith isn't on as much as £1m a year.

Give notice now on his contract and say we might end it at Xmas and pay him off.  He might even quit and save us money.

[SheffieldVillain]

Bruce instead of investing time and effort in developing and introducing more youth players as part of the overall squad mix lazily invested in older players. He then convinced Wyness and co that this was the right approach who then lazily went long with it. The approach came at a huge premium so the potential reward also came with a huge risk. He failed at his lazy approach and so that should be enough to fire him. Wyness is gone or close to it, Bruce should be next out of the door. I don't trust him to be the man to now take and succeed using the opposite route to the one he spectacularly failed at.

Are you going to pay for all this ?

No. Thought not.

He's going nowhere unless he quits.

The same argument would have applied to Keith Wyness a short time ago.

[kippaxvilla2]

 
Aston Villa: Steve Bruce ready to walk away from club amid administration crisis
STEVE BRUCE is on the brink of a sensational exit from crisis club Aston Villa.

Aston Villa: Steve Bruce could be set to leave the club
If the club’s Chinese owner Tony Xia decides not to sack the 57-year-old, sources close to the club say Bruce could be ready to walk out of his own accord.

And he could end up at Leeds having been strongly linked with the vacant position after Paul Heckingbottom was sacked last week.

Villa missed out on promotion back to the Premier League last month when they lost the play-off final against Fulham.

Now the club is teetering on the brink of administration as the full impact of missing out on the big money bites.

Bruce knows his squad is about to disintegrate

Tony Xia
Former England star John Terry has already gone and they could be helpless to stave off bids for star players Jack Grealish and James Chester.

Loan deals have expired for goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, Robert Snodgrass and Lewis Grabban.

The impact of missing out on a £200m bonanza could be catastrophic as Villa pay the price of a losing gamble on paying high fees and wages to get promotion.

A section of Villa fans want Bruce out, and even if Xia decides to stick with his man and save a £1.5m pay off it may not be enough to make the manager stay.

He has had to endure a torrid time of things with both of his parents dying within a couple of months of each other.

Steve Bruce-Aston VillaGETTY
Aston Villa: Steve Bruce led the club to the final of the Championship play-offs last season
The heavy emotional burden of that, plus having to face up to a season where he will have to work under crippling financial restraints, may be too much to bear.

Close sources say they wouldn’t be surprised if Bruce decided enough was enough and walked away without cashing in on his 12-month rolling deal.


He has previously quit Sheffield United, Crystal Palace and Hull for various reasons.

Villa have also been rocked by the news that suspended Chief Executive Keith Wyness will launch a £5m constructive dismissal claim against the club.

The 60-year-old was suspended by Xia on Tuesday but is now believed to have left.

Bruce and Jokanovic preview Aston Villa vs Fulham
Play Video
 
Sources close to the club say Wyness will not be returning and intends to pursue compensation through the courts.

Wyness and Xia clashed for the final time when the former Aberdeen and Everton chief executive sought advice from insolvency experts over the prospect of administration.

Chinese tycoon Xia brought Wyness in when he completed his £76m purchase of the club two years ago.

But their relationship is believed to have been strained since the start of last season when it became clear that the financial situation at the club was reaching crisis proportions.

This month’s salary bill of £4.5m is due shortly and if Xia can’t come up with the cash then Villa could face another winding up order.

[Toronto Villa]

Fecking hell Kippax reduce that mate.

Edit: ta

[Toronto Villa]

I hope he does walk. I want rid of Bruce ball grind it out subservient football.

[Louzie0]

I would be very sad if he did.

This is the first manager for years who has got the team spirit back and whose matches, a lot anyway, have been fun to watch.
The most recent history showed us a man who, wracked with personal grief, nevertheless led the team to playoffs and the final.

Speaking of which, the players had more than half the bloody game to overcome a 1-goal lead; they could and should have done that, they had the capacity, skills and the leadership.  I’m still very angry with them. The failure of Aston Villa to achieve PL status ultimately does not rest solely with Steve Bruce.

I would criticise and have been pissed off about dodgy runs after overwhelming wins, but I come back to the players, who have to take responsibility as well. This was a good season following a ‘rescue’ one.  He has brought the heart back to the club.

When Bruce arrived he took over a complete basket case of a club following Lambert (lots of fun), and Sherwood, DiMatteo and Garde all within the following 20 months.  Before that...suffice it to say, Villa fans hadn’t been smiling since about 2009 ( based on finishing 6th again).

The club management and ownership when he started was untried. They’ve done better than immediately before them. Or so we believed, until revelations after the bloody final. But that’s not Steve Bruce’s fault.

I will understand if he feels he wants to move on after missing the promotion but I would prefer him to stay and for the club and the team to get the best from his experience to have another go.

That does rather depend on there being some resources to draw on, but he’s been in less er flamboyant clubs in this situation in the past and succeeded. Perhaps this is a 3 season project.

[Steve67]

Dear Doctor Tony,

I have helped to spend all of the money and have failed you as I said we'd get promoted. Now that the money is gone, I don't really see the point in hanging around. I quite like leaving clubs in a bit of a mess, in fact it's one of the things that I am really good at. Thanks for believing in me, but I don't believe in you any more, so I quit.

Yours,

Big fat potato head.

[ktvillan]

Fucking Hell Louzie you seriously think Bruce ball has been fun to watch?  I genuinely can't fathom how.

As for blaming the players, they were, for the most part, Bruce's players, and Bruce's team.  On the playing side the buck stops with Bruce, it was his job to prepare, coach and motivate them appropriately.  He failed, plain and simple, and from where I was looking  it was about as entertaining as having deep root canal work. 

[Louzie0]

I thought it was better and going by comments on here it was better, too.
You haven’t cheered this season just gone??

[ChicagoLion]

Better than the extremely low bar that was set before him.
And failing to achieve his objective with the most expensive squad ever assembled in the championship.
If the first half did not tell you everything about his limitations, nothing will.

[WarszaVillan]

I agree with all about his limitations and that he ultimately failed and also that if it were possible to afford to offload him and attract a young progressive manager I'd be all for it. But in terms of the style of football and entertainment I enjoyed it most of the time. I was a hard working team, with a good streak of flair in it and many games I really enjoyed watching. But as I say he ultimately failed.

[kippaxvilla2]

Based purely on the circumstances we now find ourselves in I really fear for us if he leaves now.

[Deano's Mullet]

I think we truly are fucked if Bruce goes - and I think he will. What a mess. Possibly six million to Wyness and the next tax bill is  due too? What a goddamn mess.

[jwarry]

I would be very sad if he did.

This is the first manager for years who has got the team spirit back and whose matches, a lot anyway, have been fun to watch.
The most recent history showed us a man who, wracked with personal grief, nevertheless led the team to playoffs and the final.

Speaking of which, the players had more than half the bloody game to overcome a 1-goal lead; they could and should have done that, they had the capacity, skills and the leadership.  I’m still very angry with them. The failure of Aston Villa to achieve PL status ultimately does not rest solely with Steve Bruce.

I would criticise and have been pissed off about dodgy runs after overwhelming wins, but I come back to the players, who have to take responsibility as well. This was a good season following a ‘rescue’ one.  He has brought the heart back to the club.

When Bruce arrived he took over a complete basket case of a club following Lambert (lots of fun), and Sherwood, DiMatteo and Garde all within the following 20 months.  Before that...suffice it to say, Villa fans hadn’t been smiling since about 2009 ( based on finishing 6th again).

The club management and ownership when he started was untried. They’ve done better than immediately before them. Or so we believed, until revelations after the bloody final. But that’s not Steve Bruce’s fault.

I will understand if he feels he wants to move on after missing the promotion but I would prefer him to stay and for the club and the team to get the best from his experience to have another go.

That does rather depend on there being some resources to draw on, but he’s been in less er flamboyant clubs in this situation in the past and succeeded. Perhaps this is a 3 season project.

I agree

[Rigadon]

I think we truly are fucked if Bruce goes - and I think he will. What a mess. Possibly six million to Wyness and the next tax bill is  due too? What a goddamn mess.

Yep, me too.  Anybody expecting a young progressive coach to come in while we're in such a mess might be disappointed.  Next season could well be about scraping along until the club has stabilised.