Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[tomd2103]

The article quoted by Kippax absolutely nails it to be honest.  The most telling thing about it is that it is almost a carbon copy of the article written at the end of his Sunderland tenure almost a decade ago now. 

[tomd2103]

I think the thing about Bruce being a promotion specialist is very much in the realm of "past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns". I remember reading that coaches in any sport rarely have a sustained period of success. They tend to have a purple patch and if they are exceptional/lucky it lasts up to 10 years. They may then be 'there or thereabouts' (to coin a phrase) but are on the downslope as the world moves on. There are exceptions who might have an indian summer (Ranieri) or access to the resources to cover up the shortfall (Ferguson). But Bruce had his day and it won't return.

It also has to be remembered how long ago some of those promotions were.  The first one with Blues was nearly 20 years ago.   

[CT]

"It's all about the shitness". I like the idea of a banner with that on, just to make people understand.

[AsTallAsLions]

Just saw Dean Saunders' comments echoing a lot of incredulity amongst a certain vintage of ex-footballer. "I can't believe it, this is modern football, 1 win in 9 games and you're sacked."

Firstly, I'm sorry but in what other industry is this type of job performance acceptable? Success at your post just over 10% of the time. Amazing! It's not experimental physics. Secondly, try this stat on for size - 3 wins in 13 league games. You can extend the record out to any length and it doesn't start to look much better.

This is Aston Villa. Saunders should know better than most that we expect a high standard, but Bruce wasn't even achieving a mediocre standard towards the end. 102 games in charge in charge and a win ratio of 45%. In the Championship. With the most expensive team in the league. With a half dozen additional quality players brought in on Loan.

If you can't achieve your targets with the above, you've well and truly failed. All these old mates and hangers-on giving it the big "fickle club" in our direction now need to grab the smelling salts and cop themselves the fuck on.

[tomd2103]

Just saw Dean Saunders' comments echoing a lot of incredulity amongst a certain vintage of ex-footballer. "I can't believe it, this is modern football, 1 win in 9 games and you're sacked."

Firstly, I'm sorry but in what other industry is this type of job performance acceptable? Success at your post just over 10% of the time. Amazing! It's not experimental physics. Secondly, try this stat on for size - 3 wins in 13 league games. You can extend the record out to any length and it doesn't start to look much better.

This is Aston Villa. Saunders should know better than most that we expect a high standard, but Bruce wasn't even achieving a mediocre standard towards the end. 102 games in charge in charge and a win ratio of 45%. In the Championship. With the most expensive team in the league. With a half dozen additional quality players brought in on Loan.

If you can't achieve your targets with the above, you've well and truly failed. All these old mates and hangers-on giving it the big "fickle club" in our direction now need to grab the smelling salts and cop themselves the fuck on.

It's wasn't just this season though was it.  It was the almost two seasons before that as well, where he failed to achieve his remit. 

[Nev]

How dare football fans want a winning team, who are attractive to watch on occasion.

These pundits pontificate from the most ivory of towers, most of them have never been fans so that undying love and affiliation is utterly alien to them. The expense, the rain, the misery, being taken for granted and treated like cash machines at almost every turn, vilified and patronised, ignored and resented.

And when we have the nerve to ask for something back we're wrong.

Well Dean Saunders, you may have given me some pleasure over the years on the pitch but allow me to tell you stick it up your ignoramus of an arse and shut the fuck up for a while.

[kippaxvilla2]

He’s now saying we should get Neil Lennon in.

[mr underhill]

Neil fucking Lennon! FFS.

[cdbearsfan]

Hands off Danny Lennon, please.

[SamTheMouse]

Whenever there's a managerial vacancy, British football pundits just go through their Facebook friends list and start reading out names.

They don't have a clue about anything that goes on anywhere else and aren't interested in finding out. They're the very epitome of your xenophobic, Brexit-voting, flat-cap wearing, insular, culturally-challenged fuckwit.

[footyskillz]

Just saw Dean Saunders' comments echoing a lot of incredulity amongst a certain vintage of ex-footballer. "I can't believe it, this is modern football, 1 win in 9 games and you're sacked."

Firstly, I'm sorry but in what other industry is this type of job performance acceptable? Success at your post just over 10% of the time. Amazing! It's not experimental physics. Secondly, try this stat on for size - 3 wins in 13 league games. You can extend the record out to any length and it doesn't start to look much better.

This is Aston Villa. Saunders should know better than most that we expect a high standard, but Bruce wasn't even achieving a mediocre standard towards the end. 102 games in charge in charge and a win ratio of 45%. In the Championship. With the most expensive team in the league. With a half dozen additional quality players brought in on Loan.

If you can't achieve your targets with the above, you've well and truly failed. All these old mates and hangers-on giving it the big "fickle club" in our direction now need to grab the smelling salts and cop themselves the fuck on.

It's wasn't just this season though was it.  It was the almost two seasons before that as well, where he failed to achieve his remit.

How old is saunders he's old right ? So he needs to get understanding and engaged with current ways that modern football actually is current football and that's the deal these days.

I really don't get why people don't understand change when it's constantly happening.
I want around when the back pass rule was changed but I can imagine some of the old guard and even the current at the time bemoaning things.

Play football manager you are at a club with expectations , targets and goals then you get sacked after a poor run of results.

Saunders quite frankly knows fuck all about things and i find him very basic and simple when I hear him speak but that's okay as he has had experiences and tells good (exaggerated) stories and has a bit of humor. But as a communicator that's not his strong point.

Saunders needs to accept and come to terms in how football is today .
I wonder how he is with VAR
He better of focusing as to why Bruce may have been sacked rather than the simplicity of only won once.

He's not alone so he's more just a by product of his era and his profession which has given this attitude and behavior .
Another non progressive thinker with a limited view from the 90s 20th century era.

Games moved on Saunders!

[KRS]

With all the fuss that’s being made about cabbage-gate, I’m still struggling to understand the relevance of the choice of vegetable...surely a selection of potatoes would have been more appropriate? It just goes to show the low standards of journalism in this country when the really important questions like this are not being picked up by the media.

[mr underhill]

yes, it was far more insulting to the cabbage than Bruce.

[ktvillan]

43% win rate with the resources at his disposal was poor. Promoted managers get around 60% plus, Bruce had too many spells of not winning games and seemingly losing the team from one week to the next. No one player looked like they knew their role either. Just poor.

As for the pundits all coming out lambasting the club for sacking him, they are not objective at all.

As I have said and bored you all, his promotions were achieved in poor performing seasons. He has never delivered more than 1.8 avg points per game. 2.0 is the standard he never threatened either then or in past two seasons with us and was unlikely to do so this season. A truly false messiah.

He has been somewhat fortunate with his promotions.  His best ever points total in the Championship is 86, which is when he took Blues up in second place in 2007.  The league has changed a lot since 2007.
There's only three seasons out of the last 10 where that total would have got an auto spot - 2008, 2010, and the most recent one in 2013 which was when he got Hull promoted with a paltry 79 points.  You've generally needed 89-90 points minimum for an auto spot these last few years.  He's never achieved that. He's a play-off level manager at best, a "thereabouts" rather than a "there" manager unless it's a freak season.   Not enough for a club of Villa's size, resources  and ambition so the pundits can do one with their "promotion specialist" routine.

[Matt Collins]

Definitely time to go for all the reasons set out here

All the personal abuse is pathetic though