Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[mike]

What does 'stabilise the club' even mean though? People keep using the term stability but what stability has he given us?  We've had, I reckon, the highest churn of players I've ever seen at the club over the last 3 summers and Bruce was no exception. We're also looking at yet another summer of massive changes on the playing side because of his choices last year so where's the stability he brings?  The club as a whole isn't going to get any either if we have a 'villa engine' playing 1 way at all levels below the first team but with no meaningful effort to bring that style at the highest level, that in itself is instability because everyone acknowledges that it needs to be addressed eventually but we want to kick it down the road over and over again so we can be 'stable'.  It's nonsense, we only get stability by setting a mid-long term plan and working towards it, Bruce isn't the person to do that.  The board needs to be sorted out but we haven't got time to let things on the playing side drift for weeks whilst we sort that out.

Paul, I would have agreed with you about the whole stability thing being bollocks until a week ago. Now it actually means something. We've got no money, an owner who has fucked us over and we have no idea whether we are heading swiftly for division 3 or the safety of mid table next year. We are close to, if not actually in, an existential crisis and Steve Bruce has gone from being the cause of the problem to nigh on irrelevant.

[paul_e]

What does 'stabilise the club' even mean though? People keep using the term stability but what stability has he given us?  We've had, I reckon, the highest churn of players I've ever seen at the club over the last 3 summers and Bruce was no exception. We're also looking at yet another summer of massive changes on the playing side because of his choices last year so where's the stability he brings?  The club as a whole isn't going to get any either if we have a 'villa engine' playing 1 way at all levels below the first team but with no meaningful effort to bring that style at the highest level, that in itself is instability because everyone acknowledges that it needs to be addressed eventually but we want to kick it down the road over and over again so we can be 'stable'.  It's nonsense, we only get stability by setting a mid-long term plan and working towards it, Bruce isn't the person to do that.  The board needs to be sorted out but we haven't got time to let things on the playing side drift for weeks whilst we sort that out.

Paul, I would have agreed with you about the whole stability thing being bollocks until a week ago. Now it actually means something. We've got no money, an owner who has fucked us over and we have no idea whether we are heading swiftly for division 3 or the safety of mid table next year. We are close to, if not actually in, an existential crisis and Steve Bruce has gone from being the cause of the problem to nigh on irrelevant.

I don't disagree with most of that but if we're fucked anyway and, right now, are viewing staying in the championship as a meaningful target then why give such a low bar to a manager who doesn't help us move forward from here? If we willing to have a shit season whilst the off pitch shit is being sorted out then why not take advantage of that and let a manager with a long-term plan have 12 months to bed the kids in, work on the basic technical skills, and get is into a better state ahead of 19/20.  That's the stability that we can aim for here, not clinging on to a failure who played a big part in getting us here.

[ktvillan]

Third highest scorers in the Second Division.  Perhaps we should add to the list of our honours.

All he is saying is lack of goals can't be used as a barometer as to whether the football was entertaining or not, given we were amongst the highest scorers in the league.

There's loads to beat the team up about from last season, but a below average goal count isn't one of them.

The fact that 1.56 goals per game was well above average for the division is more an indictment of the desperately poor quality of the division than evidence that we played decent football.  And all the more reason why our expensive squad should have been able to achieve promotion.

[ktvillan]

What does 'stabilise the club' even mean though? People keep using the term stability but what stability has he given us?  We've had, I reckon, the highest churn of players I've ever seen at the club over the last 3 summers and Bruce was no exception. We're also looking at yet another summer of massive changes on the playing side because of his choices last year so where's the stability he brings?  The club as a whole isn't going to get any either if we have a 'villa engine' playing 1 way at all levels below the first team but with no meaningful effort to bring that style at the highest level, that in itself is instability because everyone acknowledges that it needs to be addressed eventually but we want to kick it down the road over and over again so we can be 'stable'.  It's nonsense, we only get stability by setting a mid-long term plan and working towards it, Bruce isn't the person to do that.  The board needs to be sorted out but we haven't got time to let things on the playing side drift for weeks whilst we sort that out.

Exaccerly

[john e]

Big Sam, Mad Mick and the like will all get mentioned. Better the devil you know??

your right there is a lot of crap managers about no better than Bruce

if your argument is let's keep Bruce because we will only end up with someone just as bad then you have a point

[VinnieChase84]

I don’t think we will get a decision from the club on the manager unless their hand is forced. We’re clearly for sale and will sleep walk totally unprepared to the start of the season.

[PaulWinch again]

I don’t think we will get a decision from the club on the manager unless their hand is forced. We’re clearly for sale and will sleep walk totally unprepared to the start of the season.

I don’t think we’re clearly for sale at all. I think it sounds the the owner is stubbornly refusing to accept failure, and also doesn’t appear to have the means to correct that failure. That is a lot worse than being for sale.

[mr underhill]

I think we are totally fucked and facing the very real possibility of extinction. It's that serious.

[Ads]

Third highest scorers in the Second Division.  Perhaps we should add to the list of our honours.

All he is saying is lack of goals can't be used as a barometer as to whether the football was entertaining or not, given we were amongst the highest scorers in the league.

There's loads to beat the team up about from last season, but a below average goal count isn't one of them.

The fact that 1.56 goals per game was well above average for the division is more an indictment of the desperately poor quality of the division than evidence that we played decent football.  And all the more reason why our expensive squad should have been able to achieve promotion.

I think when you're using terms such as well above average and finding a reason why that cannot be good thing is some pretty extreme bias.

The football wasn't anywhere near as bad as you're exaggerating it to be. At times it was blunt and lacking ideas, but the majority of times it was perfectly fine and on ocassions excellent.

 We created, escpailly at home and scored, a lot. Often away from home we wouldn't impress ourselves as we can with enough regularity, but it's the best it has been for 8 years. It doesn't mean we played as good a stuff as Fulham or the Wolves.

[Malandro]

I don’t think we will get a decision from the club on the manager unless their hand is forced. We’re clearly for sale and will sleep walk totally unprepared to the start of the season.

I don’t think we’re clearly for sale at all. I think it sounds the the owner is stubbornly refusing to accept failure, and also doesn’t appear to have the means to correct that failure. That is a lot worse than being for sale.

That's closer to the truth, in my opinion.

It looks like we are at the neglecting the Peter tax in order to have money to pay the Paul tax stage.

Sell up Xia.

[Gareth]

Part of ‘stability’ & our current situation means the likely requirement to have to utilise young, homegrown players - that’s my biggest worry with keeping Brucie, he has very little history for having any inclination, trust or ability to do this. 

[The Edge]

I don’t think we will get a decision from the club on the manager unless their hand is forced. We’re clearly for sale and will sleep walk totally unprepared to the start of the season.

Like last season!

[old man villa fan]

We were excellent at times, fine at times and awful at times. The result of that is that we finished 4th, which was not good enough when you consider the resources we had available.

Comparing it with what we did in the latter years in the PL is an unfair comparison. The level of competition between the PL and Championship is like chalk and cheese.  Yes, it has been more enjoyable for some in the Championship but that is because it is easier and we have the quality to be one if the better teams. In football, fans get the feel good factor from winning but when that wears off, you start to look at the quality of the football (e.g. Villa MON years). Some people see through this and look at the bigger picture.

Short term enjoyment should not gloss over what comes after and doing something about improving.  We have an ideal opportunity now to do something about changing our 'make do and mend' ways which has seen us spiral ever downwards.

Why people cannot see this is beyond me.  Is it impatience, is it lack of confidence or is it just that people think it is all too difficult to look ahead and plan.

[Ads]

When the feel good factor from winning wears off, it's time to spend your Saturdays walking round Touchwood with the Noses who can't get time off from Longbridge.

[old man villa fan]

When the feel good factor from winning wears off, it's time to spend your Saturdays walking round Touchwood with the Noses who can't get time off from Longbridge.

No, you set the club up so that the winning doesn't stop.