Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[Drummond]

It's the reduced fan expectations Paul Lambert was so proud of.

I don't think there will be a decision about both Bruce and Grealish in January. If it's looking like that decision needs to be made, it will already have been with regards to Bruce. He has no valid excuses left now. Not one.

[GarTomas]

"You've got an exclusive Nursey, there you go. Your first real exclusive. Not the tittle-tattle you usually write."

Bruce gets one in the plus column for that.

[jwarry]

It's the reduced fan expectations Paul Lambert was so proud of.

I don't think there will be a decision about both Bruce and Grealish in January. If it's looking like that decision needs to be made, it will already have been with regards to Bruce. He has no valid excuses left now. Not one.

I’m sure he knows that and probably wouldn’t have it any other way.

[Risso]

Who is that edits the press conference videos?  You usually get about 30 seconds of Bruce looking bored and rubbing his nose before they start, this time it started halfway through him speaking, and then cut off a question about Robert Snodgrass before Bruce finished speaking.

Nice putdown to Nursey, who in my opinion, is a gargantuan twat.

[jwarry]

Who is that edits the press conference videos?  You usually get about 30 seconds of Bruce looking bored and rubbing his nose before they start, this time it started halfway through him speaking, and then cut off a question about Robert Snodgrass before Bruce finished speaking.

Nice putdown to Nursey, who in my opinion, is a gargantuan twat.

I think it’s Fred Karno

[kippaxvilla2]

It is so heartwarming to finally look as if we have got teeth when it comes to dealing with other clubs.  I have waited so long for us to be able to tell other clubs to fcuk right off and now with added 'stop writing shit about the Villa Nursey' you massive Bluenose tool into the bargain.  Long may this continue.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Under Bruce we improved immediately - mostly defensively - in his first season

Start of second season we improved our resilience (no more late defeats) and goal threat

Second half of the season we improved our creativity and ability to beat the best sides in the league - much more so at home

Given that clear progression I don't see how anyone can just assert that we won't progress under Bruce going fwds

I can't see it happening to the extent we all want. But it could be enough

Good post Matt

It would be even better if it were true. Matt has got his timings a bit mixed up.

As for the Bruce press conference, I do sense for probably the first time, Bruce feels the pressure from above. Under Xia he had the protection of Wyness and Round, now he knows he's fully accountable and the new owners expect him to deliver. That said, he seems more focused which can only be a good thing.

We've got a pretty ideal start in terms of fixtures and I realistically expect us to be heading the table in the coming weeks. He has the comfort of bedding in the new lads and adding to the squad by the end of the month before we have any real tests. On paper it looks great, the hard part is delivering but he's made some great signings this month and we should be strong enough to finally live up to our reputation.

The secret will be the constant focus and work done at Bodymoor Heath. After two roller coaster seasons, I'm actually feeling surprisingly positive about this season. Let's be the chased rather than the chaser.

[Allan C]

Under Bruce we improved immediately - mostly defensively - in his first season

Start of second season we improved our resilience (no more late defeats) and goal threat

Second half of the season we improved our creativity and ability to beat the best sides in the league - much more so at home

Given that clear progression I don't see how anyone can just assert that we won't progress under Bruce going fwds

I can't see it happening to the extent we all want. But it could be enough

“Could be enough” is nowhere near good enough going forwards Matt. As Cardiff are about to discover, it’s a different world in the Premier League and being “there or there abouts” in this awful league is a million miles from what is needed

Well lets worry about getting to the PL first before we concern ourselves with the question of if Bruce could keep us there.  That task just became even harder IMO. 

we have been saying that for the last two seasons and its absolute bolocks

the best way of getting promoted is to start building for the medium to long term now not when we get up
and that is what the new owners have already started to do with a change in transfer policy

iv'e got very high hopes that we will start to build on solid foundations now, not the lets just get over the line then worry about staying in the premier league, its that sort of thinking that's got us into this mess

This exactly

[kippaxvilla2]

Very interesting....just shows you how much bullshit does the rounds.  Sky sources can fcuk off.

“The owner said the player hadn’t got a price. In fairness, Spurs were respectful of that.

“They accepted it. They said ‘if that’s the case Steve, then we respect it.’

“Their window of opportunity was before the new owners came in. Once that happened it was made clear that he wasn’t going to listen to offers.

“Not everybody believed it, but I think they can maybe start believing it now.”

[villan from luton]

I like Bruce as a person, very likeable, just not sure if he has what we need to improve and think he failed last year, despite his obvious horrible personal circumstances. The football should have been more expansive with the players we had imo.

I do not think he trusted Jack when he came into the club, but I believe he has done a great job in his progress. I think Jack will be fine anyway as he loves our club as much as any of us, but Bruce will make sure of that imo. The jibe at that twit from the mirror made my day, said in a very clever way and much enjoyed by us Villa fans. Lets hope he allows the team to express themselves, we have some class for that division

[Steve67]

Very interesting....just shows you how much bullshit does the rounds.  Sky sources can fcuk off.

“The owner said the player hadn’t got a price. In fairness, Spurs were respectful of that.

“They accepted it. They said ‘if that’s the case Steve, then we respect it.’

“Their window of opportunity was before the new owners came in. Once that happened it was made clear that he wasn’t going to listen to offers.

“Not everybody believed it, but I think they can maybe start believing it now.”

Sky Sports News, or is that Sky Sports (fake) News. Jim Twattish White, take a dump.

[Ad@m]

I know we've won but how many times does this prat have to run the Jedinak at centre back experiment before he realises it doesn't work?!

We got out of jail today having gifted them two goals. If we actually want to get out of this shitty league we need to be better, and if playing Jedinak at centre half is the answer the question's wrong.

[SoccerHQ]

Axel will start at CB next game I'm sure.

We'll probably get someone else in before the deadline after today.

[mr underhill]

I hope so we looked awful in that defensive formation today.

[SoccerHQ]

TBH when I saw the team I just assumed it would be Axel-Chester in defence, Jedinak as the DM and AEM as RB.

Why we had so many players playing in the wrong position (I let him off with Hutton as he looks better at LB than he ever did the other side) is a bit baffling and meant we looked poor defensively.