Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[simboy]

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.

I don't think the season is "screwed already" if there is action soon.

There is no stand out team like Barca Wanderers in this division this year. All the creaming over Leeds seems to have died away as they have hit a couple of bad results, Middlesboro are managed by the other dinosaur of the division, Tiny Penis and the Sick Baggies are nothing to write home about.

We are 5 points off the top and 5 points above the Rags after 7 games. The season hasn't really got going yet.

But as others have said, change for change's sake isn't the way forward. We tried that, Lambert, Tactics, Garde, RDM, Bruce  between January 15 and October 16.

We need a manager who is able to take us on. The next choice has to be the right choice. We have proper backers who will want to see us move forward sustainably, not just throw money around for the hell of it, leaving us short of centre backs but with so many right backs and wingers we could probably field a team of them.

I have to say that the loans of Bolasie and/or El Gharzi without addressing the centre half issue was what sent me over the edge.

[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.

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?

I'm trying to work out what point you are trying to make here Paul, other than reminding everyone how right you were all along?  Mike seems to be suggesting we should make a change, even at the risk of staying down, if that helps us build a better team for the long term.  Isn't that essentially what you are advocating?

[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.

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?

I'm trying to work out what point you are trying to make here Paul, other than reminding everyone how right you were all along?  Mike seems to be suggesting we should make a change, even at the risk of staying down, if that helps us build a better team for the long term.  Isn't that essentially what you are advocating?

I always thought Bruce was the wrong choice because we would probably go up but be an ambitionless Wigan/Bolton style team once we did, glad just to stay up. Sadly, he is not even capable of that. I don't want SB to be replaced with a slight upgrade of himself (moving from the triassic to the cretaceous) as that won't get us anywhere in the long run... unless we have the bollocks to let someone get us promoted and then sack them the next day so a better man can rebuild over the summer.

Finding someone who is good enough to turn us from mid table Championship to top six Premiership and is also willing, available and affordable might take a bit of time but as long as that is why Bruce is not being given the hollow thanks that accompany a shit manager being hoofed out the door, I can live with it.

[andyh]

Fucking hell !
He makes me want to scream.
His latest bullshit is that last season he sold £25m and he spent £2m on ‘waifs and strays’.

Waifs and fucking strays !
Terry, Snodgrass, Johnstone, Tuanzebe and Onamah were waifs and strays.....well maybe onomah was.

The spin and bullshit master strikes again.

[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.

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.

Yes he should have been fired after the Sheff Utd game where his ineptitude was completely laid bare. But he wasn't so to use one of his sayings "it is what it is" The longer they delay the inevitable the more it damages us . For the love of god act now please Mssrs Sawiris and Edens. Problem we have is we're all preaching to the converted on here. The message needs to reach the right people.

[Rodders]

I wonder how the so-called waifs and strays feel about being thus described. No wonder heads are down on the pitch... So much for Bruce's much vaunted man management skills.

[Lastfootstamper]

Go on then, Steve, fill me in on how you generated £25M in sales. Which of your buys or players you'd improved or out of your regular first-team picks did you flog?

[chrisw1]

Fucking hell !
He makes me want to scream.
His latest bullshit is that last season he sold £25m and he spent £2m on ‘waifs and strays’.

Waifs and fucking strays !
Terry, Snodgrass, Johnstone, Tuanzebe and Onamah were waifs and strays.....well maybe onomah was.

The spin and bullshit master strikes again.

He's not doing himself any favours here - that is a dreadful quote.  He had one of the strongest squads in the league last year and would have the same again this season if they had not made some crazy decisions re the defence.

I think he knows his time is up.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I note he's now stopped his pre and post match comments of how fantastic the Villa support is. Can't think why.

[PeterWithesShin]

Steve Bruce admits it sounds like he’s ‘making excuses’ at Aston Villa and says he ‘can’t do anything about’ the dissenting voices amongst the fanbase.

Disgruntled fans made their feelings towards the boss known after a distinctly average Villa performance saw them need a last-gasp equaliser to salvage a point from Blackburn Rovers.

Prior to Conor Hourihane’s stoppage time leveller at Ewood Park a large section of the 3,998 Villans in attendance vented their anger towards Bruce on the touchline.

Chants of ‘We want Bruce out’ and ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ were heard loudly at Ewood Park on Saturday evening.

After overseeing a sixth straight game without victory, Bruce was asked to explain where he and his players are going wrong - and why he thinks fans are showing such displeasure at the moment.

“Last year we brought in £25 million and spent £2 million to balance the books,” he said. “We nearly got promoted. We missed out in the play-off final and we lost six of the team.

“Some of them have gone for big money. We wanted to keep them but at the time we couldn’t. Thankfully the new owners have come in and breathed new life into the club again. Make no mistake we were in a desperate, desperate dark place.

“They are all excuses and I understand that but it’s been a tough job. When you are manager of Aston Villa and you are trying to build a squad in three weeks, four weeks, it’s not going to happen.

“We missed out on a left-back, two centre-backs. I could have brought someone in for the sake of it but I had to be patient myself. I know what I’ve got here and what we’ve put together and we will be there or thereabouts given time.

“But if you’re manager of Aston Villa you come under the pump. The disappointing thing for me is that I’m always a week away from a crisis. For the sake of the club that has to change but I’m big enough to understand it.

“I took over a club, even though they were Aston Villa, they were bottom of the league and a club that was in a mess. We did well to stay up. That was my first season, 'Jesus we’ve done well to stay up'.

“Then after bringing in £25 million and spending £2 million on loans, waifs and strays then we didn’t do badly. Disappointed that we didn’t win it (the play-off). We fell at the final furlong.

“So we’re starting again and the vast majority will understand that. The ones who want me to leave anyway I can’t do anything about it.

“I think it’s football and the way society is. Society today in football you haven’t got time.

“I’m fine. I’m trying and I’m determined to see it through. You know what I’m like, I’m a resilient old t***.”

[Duncan Shaw]

Its hard to think that he can possibly believe what is spouting from his mouth. 

[andyh]

bloody hell !
That reads like he’s swallowed the Steve Bruce book of cliches.

Oh, and he can’t build a new squad in 3 or 4 weeks...or two years it seems.

Does t*** = ******?

[LukeJames]

That is the press conference of a man that knows hes gone.

[AsTallAsLions]

That is the press conference of a man that knows hes gone.

And yet... here we are. Past lunch time on Monday and not a peep of movement. He's not going anywhere methinks, and he's now realising he can up the ante in terms of his self-serving B.S. to the press without any professional repercussions whatsoever.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

“I took over a club, even though they were Aston Villa, they were bottom of the league and a club that was in a mess. We did well to stay up. That was my first season, 'Jesus we’ve done well to stay up'.

DOL would have been proud of that one. What a resilient old twat.