Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[AsTallAsLions]

Dean Smith would be my preference also.

[mr underhill]

If this proves true the new owners have got off to a bad start with me - Bruce   deserves a better fate than the whole footballing world knowing of his demise before being  told officially.

[Nunkin1965]

More than anything else, and I grant you we’ve all said this before we need to put in long term plans for growth and success. I hope above all else the money that will be available is out to good use so that this isn’t once again a short term, poorly thought out tactic to get promoted and survive year to year. Stability isn’t keeping Steve Bruce. Stability is a club that creates an identity that is repeatable for generations to come.

Fine words but if we go for an untried, big name appointment it doesn’t suggest stability or an eye on the long term. It’s more of a statement appointment which will no doubt go down well with many, in the short term at least, but it is unarguably a gamble.

As with any gamble though some you win, some you lose so all we can do is keep our fingers crossed.

Starting with a fresh approach to the team and way of playing is going to have risks, whoever the manager is.  However, the opportunities are great.

We either stick with our current approach and scramble over the line with a team not fit for purpose in the PL or we equip ourselves first to ensure we have continual progression.

I am not saying Henry is the man for the job but Bruce certainly isn't. The news about Henry has come very quickly. If the owners have had him lined up for some time, having discussed and agreed a strategy, fine but if not, I would be concerned. The most important thing with the appointment is weighing up the options. This may have been going on for some time or not, as the case may be. We do not know.

I have a lot of sympathy with that view

But does that transition start with an untested manager being employed two weeks before the season starts? I'd rather wait up to 9 months or so and choose - would rather Dean Smith than henry

I think that sadly the Dean Smith option has sailed away into the sunset never to return.
The counter argument will always be that we’re too big a club for him which is something I disagree with.

Get ready for the Henry circus and all that comes with it. Good and bad.

[AsTallAsLions]

If this proves true the new owners have got off to a bad start with me - Bruce   deserves a better fate than the whole footballing world knowing of his demise before being  told officially.

Unfortunately that's not necessarily the owners' fault. There are so many agendas in football these days you wouldn't know who leaked this news, it could have been Henry's advisors, someone close to the club, someone close to the owners, it isn't necessarily something you can keep under wraps.

We all knew about Bruce several days before any formal contractual agreement or announcement was made also. It's just the way football works now, unfortunately.

[kippaxvilla2]

I bet Gustavo Cisneros would have kept Bruce.

[john2710]

Vive la révolution!!

[Herman]

I, for one, would welcome our new cheese eating overlord

[Sexual Ealing]

More than anything else, and I grant you we’ve all said this before we need to put in long term plans for growth and success. I hope above all else the money that will be available is out to good use so that this isn’t once again a short term, poorly thought out tactic to get promoted and survive year to year. Stability isn’t keeping Steve Bruce. Stability is a club that creates an identity that is repeatable for generations to come.

Fine words but if we go for an untried, big name appointment it doesn’t suggest stability or an eye on the long term. It’s more of a statement appointment which will no doubt go down well with many, in the short term at least, but it is unarguably a gamble.

As with any gamble though some you win, some you lose so all we can do is keep our fingers crossed.

Thank God we have no recent record of gambling on ‘stable’ options like Bruce.

Not really sure what point you are trying to make. I am not making any argument one way or the other about Bruce but rather if we do make a change is going for an untried option the best approach?

Apologies Chris - didn't read your post properly.

[auntiesledd]

I'm actually thankful that SB didn't just bugger off - given the financial meltdown & threat of administration that has afflicted the club after the PO Final failure. I'm no fan of his football philosophy (if indeed he has one!), but I do appreciate that he has at least provided a modicum of stability during this horrendous summer at VP. Whether 'Il Tel' will come in now & set the league on fire is a question that none of us can possibly answer, but it comes as no great surprise to me that the new investors want to replace Bruce: given his recent record & the new owners ambitions of snaffling them Premier League riches. Quite how Henry (if appointed) will cope with losing key players to FFP demands will be interesting - to say the least! Fingers crossed he somehow manages to hit the ground running; and shows us all that his remarkable career on the park can translate into a successful career as a manager. 

[pbavfckuwait]

Any change of manager is a gamble, with the Villa we are led to believe it is harder than it should be, one of Bruces favorite quotes'This is Aston Villa a massive massive club, I need players who can take that sort of pressure', this has been his excuse for lazy management and buying or loaning 30 somethings.

Do we want another 12 months of that, because if Bruce stays he will beg and steal around the leagues for his experienced type of player, it is all he knows, while not piling up any resale value.

Henry could fail , would say it is a 50-50 gamble, but if he does succeed it could be the start of a proper revision of the direction of the club and a chance to change the image of a club that for that last two seasons had the where with all and the squad and still failed and prior to that spent seasons swilling round the plug hole of the premier league stinking it out.

[AsTallAsLions]

I'm actually thankful that SB didn't just bugger off - given the financial meltdown & threat of administration that has afflicted the club after the PO Final failure. I'm no fan of his football philosophy (if indeed he has one!), but I do appreciate that he has at least provided a modicum of stability during this horrendous summer at VP. Whether 'Il Tel' will come in now & set the league on fire is a question that none of us can possibly answer, but it comes as no great surprise to me that the new investors want to replace Bruce: given his recent record & the new owners ambitions of snaffling them Premier League riches. Quite how Henry (if appointed) will cope with losing key players to FFP demands will be interesting - to say the least! Fingers crossed he somehow manages to hit the ground running; and shows us all that his remarkable career on the park can translate into a successful career as a manager. 

Well as others have said, it's highly unlikely he'd agree to take the job if the owners have said "...oh and within your first 2 weeks in charge we're selling off our best players - our only source of skill and creativity along with our captain and only first choice centre-half. And none of this money can be re-invested. So, good luck."

There's obviously going to be some other strategy for dealing with FFP. I've no idea what it is, mind, but this is a massive gamble for someone of Henry's stature as is - there's no way he's entering into this if our best players are out the door almost immediately.

[pbavfckuwait]

My opinion ,this loyalty shown by Bruce if anyone thinks Bruce stayed around to stabilise the club, give your head a wobble, one he is only just back from his holiday and two he was not gonna walk away without a payoff, which he knew until last week we could not afford. Bruce is a football manager, not a saviour of clubs or a supporter, he goes to work like the rest of us for the money.

[Clark W Griswold]

I'm actually thankful that SB didn't just bugger off - given the financial meltdown & threat of administration that has afflicted the club after the PO Final failure.

Yep. If he is pushed today, i'll always be grateful for his efforts and the way he's conducted himself in his time here. He's actually done pretty well for us on balance, although i'm not completely dismissing some of the arguments against him.

You could argue that he's been the fourth best in my 30 years as a fan after SGT, Big Ron and Little. Either way, i like him as much as any of those and far more than any of the others we've had.

[Fasth56]

If this proves true the new owners have got off to a bad start with me - Bruce   deserves a better fate than the whole footballing world knowing of his demise before being  told officially.

Another view is that if Bruce had fallen on his sword after the stinking performance in the play off final, he wouldn't be now suffering this fate. The final was the culmination of a season of utter turgid football with little or no understanding of how he could utilise the assets at his disposal. Yes, it was illuminated sporadically with matches like Wolves but they were chinks of light in a very dark cloud. I am not sure if Henry is the answer but I know that Bruce is not.

[olaftab]

I agree with those who say Henry needs to start at the bottom like Fergie did at East Stirlingshire etc. I myself started with the under 11s at Nechells Green Community Centre and it wasn’t till 6 years later  I took charge of the under 15s....well for one match. Happy days.