Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[Damo70]

So presumably the outcome will be one of:

1) Thanks Steve but we're going in a new direction - France!

2) Thanks Steve but we're going in a new direction - not necessarily France but definitely somewhere you're not.

3) *through gritted teeth* You're the manager for the foreseeable future.

4) You're the man to take us up Steve!

My gut feeling is that despite the bookies and some of the media thinking Henry to Villa is a foregone conclusion, I reckon that whilst they have quite possibly sounded him out with a view to giving him the job they will wait to see how a face to face meeting with Bruce goes before deciding whether to stick or twist.

[Deano's Mullet]

Talksport and the Star are the only two things going to on about Henry. I think it's bullshit.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think getting loads of money, tax-free, was probably more of a consideration than the style of football.

ETA: reply to Diablo.

Hoddle had as good as signed for Roma at one point a few years before going to Monaco but it fell through at the last minute, the same as Sid and his move to Napoli. Hoddle even gave an exclusive to Match Weekly as he had a weekly column and was pictured on the front cover with a Napoli scarf and the headline 'Arrivederci Spurs'.

I'm pretty sure that French League players must be tax registered in France even if they live in Monaco.

[eamonn]

Keane, in a rare consistency of hubris, downplays the talent he had. But he was a grafter and a half. If he got frustrated at El Ahmadi and Westwood fucking-up triangles, his anger may have been that they should practice more than their skillbase being sorely lacking. He coaches players at a lower level even than those two for EIRE, yet seems to have avoided giving himself a seizure up to now.

[Damo70]

Talksport and the Star are the only two things going to on about Henry. I think it's bullshit.

As I posted yesterday, even Talksport are distancing themselves from saying he will be the next Villa manager. As opposed to their regular line of 'Talksport understands that Thierry Henry will be the next Villa manager' they are simply saying that 'there are reports that Thierry Henry will be the next Villa manager.'

[garyfouroaks]

He should be given another year.

Henry is totally unsuited to the Championship grind.

[john e]

no news is good news for Steve Bruce and his followers I fear

[GarTomas]

Interesting whether he’s at the game tonight. The meeting may just be a job interview as to whether he keeps his job!

[john e]

Interesting whether he’s at the game tonight. The meeting may just be a job interview as to whether he keeps his job!

it won't be Henry then if that's the case,
 he wouldn't have given up his highly paid job for a maybe job

[Malandro]

Perhaps he's been offered the chance to take the match and say his goodbyes (clutching at straws)

[GarTomas]

Interesting whether he’s at the game tonight. The meeting may just be a job interview as to whether he keeps his job!

it won't be Henry then if that's the case,
 he wouldn't have given up his highly paid job for a maybe job

True; unless they want him as part of the setup but Henry seemed clear he wanted to manage in his own right.

[Chris Jameson]

Seeing mention of Hoddle reminded me of how highly Teddy Sheringham thought of him, he was his hero until he actually met the man.

"‘When I was a 14-year-old, playing for Tottenham Schoolboys, I used to get to those first team games early so that I could watch Hoddle warm up. He was so graceful. The ball would come over and he would catch it on his back, knock it up and volley it back to where it came from. Everything he did was so classy, I couldn’t wait to watch him play. Then when I met him man to man, it was “Oh my God, what a ******’. I can’t believe this.”

That, as they say, escalated quickly.

‘As a man though, what a disappointment,’ Sheringham says, shaking his head at Hoddle’s titanic self-regard, and admitting that now he tells people his favourite player as a youth was Kenny Dalglish, not Hoddle. ‘Such arrogance, and what a show-off.’ He then embarks on a story to back up his claim, recalling a training session on the morning of England’s game against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup in which Hoddle was explaining a set-piece routine he wanted David Beckham and Paul Scholes to try.

‘Hoddle said “Right, from the free kicks I want Becks to roll it to Scholesy, who flicks it up for Becks to volley it over the defensive wall”….Becks rolled it back to Scholesy who went to flick it up and the ball went over the side of his foot because he wasn’t focused. There was a bit of banter, with the lads going, “Whoops Scholesy, fucking hell, what a rick.” Hoddle said, “Now come on, concentrate on this. We’re going to do this properly.” So the two lads went to do it again and it went wrong again. Hoddle picked up the ball and said, “You’re obviously not good enough to do that one. We’ll have to leave it out.”

‘All the lads thought, “We’re playing Argentina today and he’s just said that two of our key players aren’t good enough. Fucking hell, what a prick.” His attitude was “I could’ve done that, easy. I’d have dipped it into the top corner.” He didn’t risk showing us, though.’"

[PaulWinch again]

I’d say it looks fairly likely Bruce is staying, we need to get on with signing some players.

[john e]

I’d say it looks fairly likely Bruce is staying, we need to get on with signing some players.

if he is staying I hope to fuck they don't give him much money to spend
his record in the transfer market is abysmal

Bruce turning billionaires into millionaires

[ozzjim]

Shame. Ideal opportunity to get shot of him.