Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[old man villa fan]

The thing with Bruce is that you know he only plans for one season.  It may be good for him but it is no good for the club.

Once the CEO and Head of Football (and we do need one) are in place, I hope they start planning for life after Bruce straight away.

[Legion]

I am delighted he is staying.

We do not need more change. A three year stretch will be a fair measure, and he took us within a game, a goal, of the PL, hardly failure.

His target was promotion. He failed.

Third time lucky...

[pauliewalnuts]

Once the CEO and Head of Football (and we do need one) are in place, I hope they start planning for life after Bruce straight away.

I wouldn't disagree with that at all.

I just think that keeping Bruce in place while they do that is the most sensible option - even if the emotional urge is to go and wave a shit load of money at someone (and I share that urge to a degree).

[four fornicholl]

Exactly what Paulie said.

[ozzjim]

No chance Leg. He will be out thought at every turn. Pulis is better at the old school crap football but hey results style than Bruce will ever be, Stoke have a much better side than everyone, while Swansea, Albion and Leeds on paper look in better shape than we do.

[BoVillan esq]

The problem waiting till Christmas is that the club could already be in a relegation dogfight, then you couldn't go for somebody like Henry, then you have to start scraping the barrel for another also ran prepared to take on the biggest risk of his career, slippery slope, i'm afraid to say the decision is made so we live with it, the one thing we can say about Bruce is, he's is as good as anybody else out there at keeping a club up.   

[AsTallAsLions]

In my opinion, the right call. Dropping Henry into his first job 12 days from the first game was asking for trouble. I would imagine Bruce is under no illusion that he has their full backing for now...provided he starts the season better than last year!

Same here

Me too.

I am not a massive Bruce fan but this close to the season, I think the owners have thought about the realities of dropping Henry into this job now, and realised that at least starting with Bruce is the prudent step.

Prudent? Maybe.

Good for football? Indisputably not.

Well, i wouldn't say it is 'indisputable' because it's a subjective thing. I didn't actually say it, either.

But then again, I don't think dropping someone who has never managed, has spent his whole career playing with top quality players, and has no concept of the Championship into a mess like this a week before the season starts is a good idea, either.

I would much rather they kept Bruce and reassessed at Christmas, a point at which they'll have a better idea of a decent manager than someone they like because they've seen him score shit loads of goals for Arsenal on the telly.

For the next three months they need to find some way to strengthen the squad whilst staying within FFP rules, and putting into place a proper management structure.

That means a grown up CEO, not a twenty something who used to run a call centre, and a management structure who can help him (or her) build something sustainable and ambitious.

Allow me to rephrase. There is zero evidence to suggest that another season under Bruce will produce different results. It's unlikely we'll get as close to promotion under him ever again, and even then we didn't get close enough. (That part is my opinion, yes.)

Also just to make clear, I'm not advocating for Henry. My posts from yesterday will confirm as much, I never wanted him and you're right, he would not have been the right man. Doesn't mean we should celebrate, or be comfortable with, being left under Bruce for at least another year.

[old man villa fan]

Once the CEO and Head of Football (and we do need one) are in place, I hope they start planning for life after Bruce straight away.

I wouldn't disagree with that at all.

I just think that keeping Bruce in place while they do that is the most sensible option - even if the emotional urge is to go and wave a shit load of money at someone (and I share that urge to a degree).

Unless the owners had been in discussion with advisors and had a manager lined up before they came in, there is no way in the time available to make a well considered judgement on the next manager.  We go with what we have got but I would asking Bruce what his plan is for developing the team with what players he has got.  We need a defined style of play that creates chances.  More of last season and we will never get the young players to go onto the next level.

[adrenachrome]

Reports that Bruce is not on the team coach to Walsall tonight.

Reports that the Maybot has resigned and the TUC have called a general strike to go forward to a workers' government and Socialism.

[BoVillan esq]

Reports that Bruce is not on the team coach to Walsall tonight.

Reports that the Maybot has resigned and the TUC have called a general strike to go forward to a workers' government and Socialism.

That's it then...down tools, if you'll excuse the pun

[Malandro]

Once the CEO and Head of Football (and we do need one) are in place, I hope they start planning for life after Bruce straight away.

I wouldn't disagree with that at all.

I just think that keeping Bruce in place while they do that is the most sensible option - even if the emotional urge is to go and wave a shit load of money at someone (and I share that urge to a degree).

I think you my be right and I think he's below McLeish and Lambert.

[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.

Damo bang on the money.

Funny how you can be so right  but you’re not yet a millionaire from your betting.

Thanks to you posting that Pat I have now been bang on the money twice today. Even as I was typing my post I  strongly suspected somebody would use it to throw my recent betting disasters back at me.

As for Bruce staying I am pleased.

1. He knows the squad and what and where needs improving
2. He has a proven track record of getting promoted from this division
3. I don't think he deserved the sack after taking us to one game away from a return to the top flight
4. At this late stage of the pre season the time was for from ideal to make a managerial change
5. He must have convinced our new owners who have experience of running sports teams that he was the man for the job
6. I have no doubt that in the eyes of the owners he is on probation so to speak and that they will act quickly and decisively to make a change if they feel the need further down the line

[Legion]

1. I doubt it.
2. Not with us.
3. With what he had at his disposal we should have been promoted automatically.
4. Agreed.
5. More fool them.
6. Hope so.

[Leicester_Villian]

Bruce will be gone before end of October ....we will be mid table and too far off the play offs
It will be a season wasted but get a new manager in who can have 2 months looking at the squad before Jan transfer window
Tonight was a friendly but we lined up with one up top which didn't work the whole of last season
Bruce will not have learnt anything and the style wont change
I suspect he has been kept at the moment simply because its too close to the season and a new manager wouldn't have time to access the squad etc

[Dazvillain]

The thing with Bruce is that you know he only plans for one season.  It may be good for him but it is no good for the club.

Once the CEO and Head of Football (and we do need one) are in place, I hope they start planning for life after Bruce straight away.

On that note with all the recent departures, who is the chief negotiator now?