Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[JUAN PABLO]

According to another article he was saved by a fans survey conducted by a local paper...70-30 in his favour...

blame the meaning evil - they hate us ..


would have been so much different If it had been a Benitez

[pbavfckuwait]

A couple of points that stick out to me.
1. How come business men when they enter football, but more so Villa Park seem to lose all sense of business acumen. Put Bruce in any of their other business interests as lets say Head of Sales, he has been paid top dollar over the last 18 months, given all the best equipment that money could buy at that level to make his targets and not once has he reached his sales target, would he still be in a job, no he would'nt.

2. This close to the season is a bad time to make a change, yes I can see that in a way, but is it any different from say sacking when the season has started, whoever comes in will be lucky to have 12 days between matches and let us say it was in October, he is going to be stuck for 2 months with Bruce's old aged pensioner loans.

He is a very lucky man, but will this be the moment he sees the light, I doubt it and I bet one of his first signings will be Huth and that forward from Hull. Lets go round again.

[brian green]

I want men at the helm of the Titanic who will immediately set a course for warmer waters.  Not a captain who claims to be good at dodging icebergs having just hit one.

[Villafirst]

The blame for all this chaos rests squarely at the door of Dr. Xia. An absolute car crash of a close season. Bruce is very lucky indeed. They probably couldn't afford to pay him off after the Wembley play-off final. I dread to think what might have happened if we weren't rescued last week by our billionaire duo. Bruce now faces a race against time to sort some loan deals out before deadline day. A new goalkeeper, centre-half and forward are a must. Why didn't the interviewer yesterday ask the owners about any transfer budget, and in particular, the stance on Jack's situation?

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

Agree totally john e.
I'm glad we have new owners.
I understand the owners stance re Bruce, especially so close to the season's start.
I remain totally uninspired by Bruce though.
I'm hoping the Villa 11 and subs each game raise hopes!
UTV

[chrisw1]

Unbelievably bad decision.   The best chance we have had in the post Ellis era to do something far sighted and usher in the root and branch change that is needed at Villa Park and they bottled it.

I will do what I said I would do and see the first few games on my season ticket.  If it is more of the same from Bruce then I am walking away until, if ever, the club comes to its senses.  Another season of pain looms large.

Bottled it is entirely the right decision. I predict it won’t take many games and excuses from Mr Thereabouts before the feel good factor starts to dissipate.

There's plenty of people who want a change (some desperately) who still think this was probably the right decision.  I was disappointed when I first heard, but it's pretty clear Henry would have been a clutching at straws choice.  Better to let the new owners take a measured approach and then hopefully make the right choice for the long term.  On reflection, appealing as it may have seemed, a leap into the dark is rarely the right answer.

[pbavfckuwait]

Chrisw1 so instead of a leap into the dark, we are staying in the dark, the dark ages of Bruce and hoof ball. Bet Hogan is absolutely delighted, hope they have had him on the rack this close season and he comes back 6 inches taller,

[mike]

I didn’t want Bruce and I don’t think we will ever achieve anything significant with him in charge. We might (although I doubt it) get promoted, but he has never set the Prem alight and will not lead us on a charge to glory when we get there. This must be obvious to the new owners. I think they have taken the approach that with the remaining FFP restrictions and the fact that any change at this point of the season is likely to be very distracting, they don’t see us getting promoted and will settle for mid season this year as they prepare to make next year our year. That may well include a new manager around Christmas time if we are looking safe. Steve has a chance to balls up this plan by getting us promoted...

[chrisw1]

Chrisw1 so instead of a leap into the dark, we are staying in the dark, the dark ages of Bruce and hoof ball. Bet Hogan is absolutely delighted, hope they have had him on the rack this close season and he comes back 6 inches taller,

Yes.  For a for a little bit longer whilst they work out the best course of action rather than make another potentially bad choice. 

[pbavfckuwait]

So we stay with the already bad choice Bruce.

[tomd2103]

Unbelievably bad decision.   The best chance we have had in the post Ellis era to do something far sighted and usher in the root and branch change that is needed at Villa Park and they bottled it.

I will do what I said I would do and see the first few games on my season ticket.  If it is more of the same from Bruce then I am walking away until, if ever, the club comes to its senses.  Another season of pain looms large.

Bottled it is entirely the right decision. I predict it won’t take many games and excuses from Mr Thereabouts before the feel good factor starts to dissipate.

There's plenty of people who want a change (some desperately) who still think this was probably the right decision.  I was disappointed when I first heard, but it's pretty clear Henry would have been a clutching at straws choice.  Better to let the new owners take a measured approach and then hopefully make the right choice for the long term.  On reflection, appealing as it may have seemed, a leap into the dark is rarely the right answer.

I tend to agree with that summary Chris.  I think the appointment of a CEO and Director of Football are the priority in the immediate future and I think Bruce is probably viewed as a steady pair of hands while the process of hiring into those two positions takes place.  Thinking about it, I don't really see how a new manager could be appointed while there is no one occupying the two more senior positions.  If Bruce does well in that interim period then fine, but if he doesn't then I imagine job number one for the new hierarchy will be to find a new manager. 

[paul_e]

If they've decided to stick with him because they truly believe he's a good choice then I suspect we'll see the same old problems coming up again before long. If however they decided to buy time to allow them to make a good choice because they didn't think there was a great option available then I'm ok with it.

I don't think Bruce will achieve anything, we'll coast along in about 8-10th with him rolling out the same excuses week after week. How long they allow that drifting will be significant.

[ktvillan]

I see this as a decision to defer any decisions until they know more about the club, the championship and what needs to be done.  It is highly unlikely that under Bruce we will go on a downward spiral, which is the risk if we bring in someone new.  It's safety first but understandable from that point of view, if a more than a little frustrating.  There is also a chance that he rediscovers his promotion winning  knack I suppose.  I also think Xia may have had a large say in this since he still seems to think we are lucky to have Bruce (fuck knows why). The downside obviously is more turgid safety first tactic-free football, limited development of young players  and a deferral of the root and branch rebuild that the club so obviously needs.  I think their next step should be to bring in some people with a success record at CEO / Director of Football level to start laying the proper foundations for life beyond Bruceball.

[Ger Regan]

To be honest, I think some of the reaction to him staying is a bit over the top, and I still really want him gone. I see him as no more than a caretaker until they get the support structures in place. That's not bottling anything, it's sensible management.

[Drummond]

If they've decided to stick with him because they truly believe he's a good choice then I suspect we'll see the same old problems coming up again before long. If however they decided to buy time to allow them to make a good choice because they didn't think there was a great option available then I'm ok with it.

I don't think Bruce will achieve anything, we'll coast along in about 8-10th with him rolling out the same excuses week after week. How long they allow that drifting will be significant.

They may see him as a good choice right now. They may change their minds in a month, 2 months, 6 months, a year. They may think that right now, it's pretty safe and there aren't many people, barring a relatively small number of people on the internet, who are being vocal about a change.

He may not achieve anything, and he'll go. In the meantime, a structure will be built to make replacing him easier.