Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[olaftab]

So the good performances you can count on one hand?

Yes on a 3 fingered hand.

[tomd2103]

The thing that has struck me recently is his transfer business. Hourihane is limited, but in relation to him, the odd thing is why has he spent money replacing the likes of him and Adomah as priorities? Our two top scorers and 2 of the main reasons we got to the play-offs last season dumped when you'd think the priority would be other positions. You think he'd be looking at the likes of a replacement for Terry or the players on their way out like Jedinak and Whelan. And again look at the squad and there's loads of crap like Lansbury and Hogan that it would make more sense replacing with someone who can at least challenge for a 1st team place. If he'd promoted the youth it would be a touch more understandable but if anything he's binned them. I'm not Hutton's greatest fan , but he's adequate, and again, a 2nd left back is more important than having two centre halves? i'd have thought you'd get a left-back on loan and buy a centre half, rather than spending our limited funds in that direction. As it is we've got a new keeper, a new striker and a snodgrass replacement which are at least logical, but two of them are loans. Don't you spend money on permanent signings in positions where we have no-one  and the loans come in where you want to provide competition? To me in the summer the priorities were a permanent 'keeper, centre half, and a Snodgrass replacement. We've got one of them, but hey lets throw money at replacing Adomah and Hourihane. Mental

Agree, but would add that replacing Grabban was also a priority (which he has done with Abraham to be fair), though that was only really a necessity as Hogan hasn't worked out.  The failure to bring in a proper, permanent replacement for Terry was inexplicable really (I think Tuanzebe would be fine as a back up option).   

[tomd2103]

The thing I just can’t get my head around is Steve Round coming in as DoF, seemingly having good ideas about how to set up the clubs football operation, developing a style and identity from youth to 1st team, front foot football, Villa Engine and yet the one big decision he had whilst in post was RDMs replacement and after considering all the above he thought Steve Bruce was the answer. It’s absolutely baffling. Yet another one who talked a good progressive game but was severely lacking.

It's quite clear now that the only real interest they had was getting promoted and the appointment of Bruce reflects that.  They went with someone who had a decent track record of getting teams up, so there was some logic in the appointment I suppose.  I suspect the 'Villa Engine' stuff was just lip service and would not have come to fruition had we gone up.     

[Clark W Griswold]

I'd say they gave it a set time scale rather than targets. Maybe the new owners  sat down and decided to give it till the end of this month and review it then, I don't know. With Xia going, it does only seem like a matter of time.

We've been watching the 'ups and downs' for over 18 months, the new owners haven't been living that prior to this season. We all know now that it's only a matter of time and inevitable that he'll be fired, because the new owners won't put up with it as he's not 'their man'. At this moment in time though the new owners might still be thinking he could turn it around, but as I say we all know better. I think it'll happen at the next international break personally as they'll simply look at the league position at that point and make the change. They'll not see enough progress since the international break we've had.

[Risso]

Every week he manages to cling on is another week wasted and another week where it becomes less likely that we'll be promoted.

[ktvillan]

Every week he manages to cling on is another week wasted and another week where it becomes less likely that we'll be promoted.

Yep.  This is where we need a bit of Daniel Levy style ruthlessness.  Fuck what anyone else thinks, especially Bruce's proper football men mates in the media, off with his head asap and start moving  forwards.

[The Edge]

I'd say they gave it a set time scale rather than targets. Maybe the new owners  sat down and decided to give it till the end of this month and review it then, I don't know. With Xia going, it does only seem like a matter of time.

We've been watching the 'ups and downs' for over 18 months, the new owners haven't been living that prior to this season. We all know now that it's only a matter of time and inevitable that he'll be fired, because the new owners won't put up with it as he's not 'their man'. At this moment in time though the new owners might still be thinking he could turn it around, but as I say we all know better. I think it'll happen at the next international break personally as they'll simply look at the league position at that point and make the change. They'll not see enough progress since the international break we've had.

The only thing the new owners need to know is this. Since Bruce arrived at the club Newcastle,Brighton, Huddersfield, Wolves,Cardiff and Fulham have all leap frogged us into the Premier League. Of these only Newcastle have the size and clout of Aston Villa. We're currently mid table having played non of the expected fore runners in the league this year. He's failed and failed miserably.They need to ignore his footballing buddies and take the only decision that makes sense both economically and logically. He needs replacing NOW not in 2/3 months time.

[AV82EC]

It's the Stability Myth in action AV82EC.  It has been dragging us down ever since Randy Lerner was told about Relegation and shit his pants.

Stability Brian or just people making shit decisions? Probably a bit of both....

[Clark W Griswold]

I'd say they gave it a set time scale rather than targets. Maybe the new owners  sat down and decided to give it till the end of this month and review it then, I don't know. With Xia going, it does only seem like a matter of time.

We've been watching the 'ups and downs' for over 18 months, the new owners haven't been living that prior to this season. We all know now that it's only a matter of time and inevitable that he'll be fired, because the new owners won't put up with it as he's not 'their man'. At this moment in time though the new owners might still be thinking he could turn it around, but as I say we all know better. I think it'll happen at the next international break personally as they'll simply look at the league position at that point and make the change. They'll not see enough progress since the international break we've had.

The only thing the new owners need to know is this. Since Bruce arrived at the club Newcastle,Brighton, Huddersfield, Wolves,Cardiff and Fulham have all leap frogged us into the Premier League. Of these only Newcastle have the size and clout of Aston Villa. We're currently mid table having played non of the expected fore runners in the league this year. He's failed and failed miserably.They need to ignore his footballing buddies and take the only decision that makes sense both economically and logically. He needs replacing NOW not in 2/3 months time.

No, he needed replacing after the Sheff Utd game. My gut feeling is he'll get a bit more time (which he shouldn't) but it is inevitable he'll be chopped sooner or later.

[Chris Smith]

Every week he manages to cling on is another week wasted and another week where it becomes less likely that we'll be promoted.

Yep.  This is where we need a bit of Daniel Levy style ruthlessness.  Fuck what anyone else thinks, especially Bruce's proper football men mates in the media, off with his head asap and start moving  forwards.

Problem is we have had years of calls to sack the manager only for their replacements to make things worse. Getting rid of them is the easy part. We have owners totally new to football and a Chief Exec only in the job for 2 weeks with seemingly little in the way of structure beneath him. Trusting them to be able to make the right choice makes me very uneasy. Another RDM like flop and this season is screwed by Christmas.

I would like to think that is why they have not acted sooner. That when, as they inevitably will, decide to make a change it is done when they know exactly what they are looking for.

[Risso]

Every week he manages to cling on is another week wasted and another week where it becomes less likely that we'll be promoted.

Yep.  This is where we need a bit of Daniel Levy style ruthlessness.  Fuck what anyone else thinks, especially Bruce's proper football men mates in the media, off with his head asap and start moving  forwards.

Problem is we have had years of calls to sack the manager only for their replacements to make things worse. Getting rid of them is the easy part. We have owners totally new to football and a Chief Exec only in the job for 2 weeks with seemingly little in the way of structure beneath him. Trusting them to be able to make the right choice makes me very uneasy. Another RDM like flop and this season is screwed by Christmas.

I would like to think that is why they have not acted sooner. That when, as they inevitably will, decide to make a change it is done when they know exactly what they are looking for.

This season is looking like it's screwed already, and if it isn't it soon will be if that fat oaf isn't relieved of his job ny time soon.   There's always an excuse for keeping him, and all these excuses have achieved is making sure we don't go up.  Hopefully the new owners aren't as stupid as the last two owners, but they need to get their act into gear.  Fail to go up this year, and things become even harder next season.  No point in having two billionaires if they can't spend anything.

[mike]

Every week he manages to cling on is another week wasted and another week where it becomes less likely that we'll be promoted.

Yep.  This is where we need a bit of Daniel Levy style ruthlessness.  Fuck what anyone else thinks, especially Bruce's proper football men mates in the media, off with his head asap and start moving  forwards.

Problem is we have had years of calls to sack the manager only for their replacements to make things worse. Getting rid of them is the easy part. We have owners totally new to football and a Chief Exec only in the job for 2 weeks with seemingly little in the way of structure beneath him. Trusting them to be able to make the right choice makes me very uneasy. Another RDM like flop and this season is screwed by Christmas.

I would like to think that is why they have not acted sooner. That when, as they inevitably will, decide to make a change it is done when they know exactly what they are looking for.

I think this is the whole point. It is actually better in the long term to risk staying down this season and then be the best team by a mile next next and go up as a strong unit that will stay in the Premier League for 20 years then get cross, sack Steve, appoint someone a bit better, still not go up or go up with a weak squad and come straight back down. If they can deliver the first option in time to get us up this year, that's a massive bonus.

[aj2k77]

I see he has come out with his usual cliche bollocks.

''Really tough 12 months''
''Players will come good with time''
''1 defeat in 7, no need to panic''
''Swirling from crisis to crisis, need stability''

Why has it been a hard 12 months? You've one of the biggest advantages over other teams anyone will have with the financial muscle we have. A tough 12 months is managing Rotherham on a shoe string. Not being able to loan in John Terry on £60k a week.

The players don't have an endless amount of time to come good. It has to be now, because there's loads on loan. If it fails again, they all disappear and you have the same excuse of ''gutting of the squad'' and ''New players need time''. There's a bloke that signed for Bristol C, on loan, and blitzed the league, straight off the bat. There's a bloke that was signed for £27m million by his previous team. There's no excuse.

1 defeat in 7, no wins in 6. Lies and statistics.

There's no point to having stability if you aren't going to be moving forwards. It's widely known that our payments drop even more next season, possible sanctions ensue as well. We aren't in the position to be stagnant this year. That was the privallege of the first 8 months you head in the job Bruce, you had a free hit, to sign players, mould a squad and shape the way the teams plays. You wasted it, this isn't a season for some more stability, in the fucking championship.

Someone, please, someone soon call this character out on his bullshit publicly because it's as repetitive and boring as the sides he sends out to play.

[chrisw1]

Every week he manages to cling on is another week wasted and another week where it becomes less likely that we'll be promoted.

Yep.  This is where we need a bit of Daniel Levy style ruthlessness.  Fuck what anyone else thinks, especially Bruce's proper football men mates in the media, off with his head asap and start moving  forwards.

Problem is we have had years of calls to sack the manager only for their replacements to make things worse. Getting rid of them is the easy part. We have owners totally new to football and a Chief Exec only in the job for 2 weeks with seemingly little in the way of structure beneath him. Trusting them to be able to make the right choice makes me very uneasy. Another RDM like flop and this season is screwed by Christmas.

I would like to think that is why they have not acted sooner. That when, as they inevitably will, decide to make a change it is done when they know exactly what they are looking for.

This season is looking like it's screwed already, and if it isn't it soon will be if that fat oaf isn't relieved of his job ny time soon.   There's always an excuse for keeping him, and all these excuses have achieved is making sure we don't go up.  Hopefully the new owners aren't as stupid as the last two owners, but they need to get their act into gear.  Fail to go up this year, and things become even harder next season.  No point in having two billionaires if they can't spend anything.

It's definitely time for a change.  But as Chris says it really does have to be the right change.  Hopefully it will be soon, but I'd rather get it right than just make a leap for the sake of it.

[paul_e]

Every week he manages to cling on is another week wasted and another week where it becomes less likely that we'll be promoted.

Yep.  This is where we need a bit of Daniel Levy style ruthlessness.  Fuck what anyone else thinks, especially Bruce's proper football men mates in the media, off with his head asap and start moving  forwards.

Problem is we have had years of calls to sack the manager only for their replacements to make things worse. Getting rid of them is the easy part. We have owners totally new to football and a Chief Exec only in the job for 2 weeks with seemingly little in the way of structure beneath him. Trusting them to be able to make the right choice makes me very uneasy. Another RDM like flop and this season is screwed by Christmas.

I would like to think that is why they have not acted sooner. That when, as they inevitably will, decide to make a change it is done when they know exactly what they are looking for.

I think this is the whole point. It is actually better in the long term to risk staying down this season and then be the best team by a mile next next and go up as a strong unit that will stay in the Premier League for 20 years then get cross, sack Steve, appoint someone a bit better, still not go up or go up with a weak squad and come straight back down. If they can deliver the first option in time to get us up this year, that's a massive bonus.

That is exactly why Bruce was the wrong choice when he joined, keeping him after the first season was a mistake and keeping him after the play off final was a mistake, Bruce will never make us into the team you describe. Plenty of people gave these same arguments at those times but we were told that getting promoted is all that matters, and he's an expert at that, and we'd do the main work once we'd got there. Now that he's failed at the only thing he was here to do people want to take a step back and build for the future, really?