Newcastle Utd vs Aston Villa pre-match thread

[Drummond]

The man is a busted flush, and that would be fine, if he wasn't also a snidey little worm.

He was that a long, long time ago.

[UK Redsox]

These are the games that Villa should be winning, but....y'know......it's Villa

[The Fish]

Our recent form is as bad as theirs (two draws one win and a 2 defeats) which doesn't particularly make us favourites despite the league positions. Since our defence is generally strong and they have a lot of forwards out, them to get nil is a good bet, except Gayle often does well against us. We can't seem to score either so I reckon a dire 0-0, 0-1 or a 1-1 goal fest (relatively speaking).

As for Bruce, Fish I feel your pain and everything you said was said by us and in a Guardian article (female reporter, can't remember the name) when he was at Sunderland.  He ticks every box every time at every club.  Has he come out and said "who would you get who is better?" yet? The answer is pretty much anyone.  In our case we went out and got Deano who got us promoted straight away, kept us there and improved us. 

Of course your real issue is the owner and Bruce is only there as the cheap "keep us up" option until he finds a buyer.  Problem is Bruce doesn't even look capable of that right now, which anyone who really knows his approach will not be surprised by in the slightest.

Louise Taylor, I think you mean? Yeah, it's all just a little bit of history repeating. (tell me you don't have that song in your head now).

He hasn't yet said that, but, there's a local lad coaching at the club who's getting all the praise for the slight improvements we've seen in style, if Graeme Jones could do half as well as Smith I'd be delighted.

[ChicagoLion]

Agree Fish, there is no method beyond defend deep, try and nick one, if you go behind throw on a few subs in the second half and have a right good go.
He rarely turned up at the Training Ground so there was no tactical plan.
Same bollocks every week and sometimes the team would win despite him.

Nothing will change for your club until the cockney wide boy pisses off.

[Sexual Ealing]

I was reading Newcastle fans’ comments on Bruce in an article in the Athletic recently and honestly, it’s fascinating for a Villa fan to hear what they’re saying as all their gripes and accusations just sound like Groundhog Day to us.

I wonder if his son goes on Newcastle forums defending him. Fish, any recent new members on your forums going under the name of 'Stuart'?

Hah, none that I've noticed. But Alex did pipe up on twitter after one of our unlikely wins, deliberately winding up the fans.

Look, I don't think anybody deserves some of the abuse that's gone his way, but Steve Bruce is making a rod for his own back with some of his own comments about the fans. Saying it's histrionics, dismissing criticism as the work of keyboard warriors, blaming the negativity on social media for the poor performances... Of course he's going to get vitriol, I mean of course he is.

Yet more boxes ticked from his time here. Word for word, mostly.

[LeeB]

I was reading Newcastle fans’ comments on Bruce in an article in the Athletic recently and honestly, it’s fascinating for a Villa fan to hear what they’re saying as all their gripes and accusations just sound like Groundhog Day to us.

I wonder if his son goes on Newcastle forums defending him. Fish, any recent new members on your forums going under the name of 'Stuart'?

Hah, none that I've noticed. But Alex did pipe up on twitter after one of our unlikely wins, deliberately winding up the fans.

Look, I don't think anybody deserves some of the abuse that's gone his way, but Steve Bruce is making a rod for his own back with some of his own comments about the fans. Saying it's histrionics, dismissing criticism as the work of keyboard warriors, blaming the negativity on social media for the poor performances... Of course he's going to get vitriol, I mean of course he is.

Yet more boxes ticked from his time here. Word for word, mostly.

Yeah, this board is more like a survivor support group for Mr Fish.

[Nev]

I recall Newcastle shithousing a win at Spurs right at the beginning of Bruce's reign and all his media chums barking on about him having proved the doubters wrong, hardly a considered opinion.

It reminded me of Wenger after beating Barcelona at home in the first leg of a CL tie he couldn't hold back about how they had proved they could not only match, but beat the best and it shut a few people up.

They lost the second leg and went out of the competition.

[aj2k77]

I'm willing to bet no Grealish again. Sanson has to play, El Ghazi too. Not fussed about Traore, Luiz or McGinn they all seem to be more miss than hit at the moment. Has Barkley fallen that far down the pecking order now?

[Sexual Ealing]

I recall Newcastle shithousing a win at Spurs right at the beginning of Bruce's reign and all his media chums barking on about him having proved the doubters wrong, hardly a considered opinion.

It reminded me of Wenger after beating Barcelona at home in the first leg of a CL tie he couldn't hold back about how they had proved they could not only match, but beat the best and it shut a few people up.

They lost the second leg and went out of the competition.

I'm willing to bet that this is the first and last time that Bruce was ever compared to Wenger!

[Damo70]

Bruce is a journeyman manager. He had six years at Small Heath that is generally looked upon kindly by the media but included a relegation. He had four years at Hull that is looked upon kindly by the media but included a relegation. He hasn't really stayed anywhere else long enough to really make a big impression. I will credit him with arresting the decline of Villa and getting us to the play off final in which he/we were unlucky. The manner in which he recruited and selected players in his latter months at Villa could be fairly described as
scattergun. The quick impact Dean Smith made with what Bruce left him makes Smith look good and Bruce not so good. I can remember even when Small Heath were doing okay under Bruce the noses in my local were never entirely convinced about him.

[Toronto Villa]

And all of this is made more frustrating for Newcastle fans by the defence of their manager in the media. How Bruce is hard done by. He took over a difficult situation and has done a great job. No doubt “they hate him because he managed Sunderland” just like they did it to us because he managed that lot.

Fans see through all that is Steve Bruce. He’ll do just about enough for long enough not to get fired until eventually he does or he walks out to another job. For the fans whatever happens, having Steve Bruce will feel like an eternity and death by a thousand paper cuts.

[in exile]

No pictures of Jack in the latest round of Villa in training pics.

or Watkins.

[The Fish]

Agree Fish, there is no method beyond defend deep, try and nick one, if you go behind throw on a few subs in the second half and have a right good go.
He rarely turned up at the Training Ground so there was no tactical plan.
Same bollocks every week and sometimes the team would win despite him.

Nothing will change for your club until the cockney wide boy pisses off.

You're not wrong. Honestly, we were so excited about the prospect of a takeover, it didn't even matter that the new owners were actual murderers. That's still rumbling on in the background, but the desperation for a takeover wasn't a desperation for the Saudis. If some faceless US investor with actual money in the bank wanted to buy us from Ashley, we'd be just as excited. Newcastle fans were conflicted about the KSA deal, but so eager to see the back of the man who's turned us from a regular European team, into a regular relegation team.

[CT]

No pictures of Jack in the latest round of Villa in training pics.

or Watkins.

*Shudders*

[ktvillan]

Nothing will change for your club until the cockney wide boy pisses off.

Him's a yam-yam originally.

"Michael James Wallace Ashley is a British billionaire retail entrepreneur focused in the sporting goods market, and the chief executive of Frasers Group Plc. He entered the department store industry following the acquisition of House of Fraser post-administration in 2018. Wikipedia
Born: 9 September 1964 (age 56 years), Walsall"