Re: The Steve Bruce thread

[deadbuzzardalive]

Apparently they had a quick meeting with all the fan groups last night, and before doing so, sent them all a letter which stated one of the first things they want to do is appoint a CEO, I imagine once that's done, then a lot of the rebuilding of the club will spring form there.

If we'd have been in the Premier league, I think they might have been really bold and tried for names like Benitez, Ranieri or maybe even Wenger, but as it is we're limited by our position and FFP, so will have to give it more consideration, as they can't just use their money to go out and get who they want... Many want a more modern manager myself included, but I wouldn't be surprise if they eventually looked towards Allardyce.

[FoxyAV]

I still think we have a good squad but as always it's how it's used. I really don't understand the whole wingbacks thing when we don't have the right defenders for it. Chester works best in a back four, and we have the players for it. All we're doing now is rocking the boat unnecessarily - Elphick for Terry is simple for everyone. If Bruce wants to play Whelan ahead of a three-man defence we're going to be so fucked especially as Bruce still seems clueless about involving Kodjia in the team rather than having him isolated up front.

I really do think without his Round/Wyness backing his days are numbered. Head over heart says keep things stable with the moanager (genuine typo but I think I'll leave it there!) but I wonder if Bruce knows the writing's on the wall he's going to go out blaming the players still.

Steer/Bunn
De Laet/Bree/Elmo - Chester - Elphick - Hutton
Thor
Green - Hourihane - Grealish (Lansbury/O'Hare/Doyle Hayes) - Adomah
Kodjia

That's how I'd set up. Jedi on the bench can cover midfield and defence if necessary. Lansbury can cover midfield and if we sell Grealish, I'd like to see him alongside Hourihane, or O'Hare or Doyle Hayes can cover. Thor makes all this possible. With Whelan in DM it doesn't matter who plays in the middle, they'll be covering him. Gardner looked keen last night, I think he could play a part this year as long as he shows Hutton effort levels. I'd like to say Hogan should play but maybe keep him rested until Bruce has gone, he'd be next to useless. Davis on the bench as striker, or Knibbs.

We have a solid team there with a load of Championship experience and goals, with some academy players who are going to work their arses off for the club. Adomah, Kodjia, Grealish, Hourihane, Thor, Hutton and Chester all played in those positions last season and the rest can slot easily in. Playing wing backs just means we're going to see five in defence, not an extra couple of attacking players. Bruce is potentially taking a huge gamble when it's the last thing we need.

[FoxyAV]

Apparently they had a quick meeting with all the fan groups last night, and before doing so, sent them all a letter which stated one of the first things they want to do is appoint a CEO, I imagine once that's done, then a lot of the rebuilding of the club will spring form there.

If we'd have been in the Premier league, I think they might have been really bold and tried for names like Benitez, Ranieri or maybe even Wenger, but as it is we're limited by our position and FFP, so will have to give it more consideration, as they can't just use their money to go out and get who they want... Many want a more modern manager myself included, but I wouldn't be surprise if they eventually looked towards Allardyce.

Benitez stayed with Newcastle through their year in the Championship. I suspect if the new owners can put together a compelling enough plan for investment in club and players they could bring in almost any manager they wanted.

[achilles]

Unfortunately I think that has sorted out our aspirations for the forthcoming season as I don't think we have a hope in hell of getting promoted with Bruce in charge and changing managers in mid season just doesn't work except perhaps to avoid relegation. After a few defeats at the beginning of the season Bruce may go back to a 451 which is the best system to suit the hoof football we play with Kodjia up top.

The only possible positive I can see is that Bruce may be able to bring in some loans but will probably play them in the wrong positions!

Not looking forward to going down to watch more of this shit, still the sun is still shining and we have billionaires on board! UTV

[The Utterer]

Personally i see a low to mid table squad atm. Bring in a few loans and of course that could change but defence is threadbare and Kodija is so restricting for us in attack. Yes, he'll no doubt score a handful of goals out of nowhere but he wastes so many good positions through selfishness and poor play it's unreal.

Hopefully Davis can chip in with a few more but he faded badly last season i felt after a promising start.

Hourihane might get 7 or 8 and Hogan a few here and there but i just cannot see there a promotion team either defensively or goals wise.

Green may get a few but is nowhere near as creative and experienced as Snodgrass.

As for the keepers, Bunn is awful and Steer just ok in my view but again they are not promotion level keepers.

[Dions_Bald_Head]

It all happened too late - if they'd come in just a couple of weeks earlier I think we would've had a change. Instead it'll be mid-season tinkering again - but we're all well used to that by now.

It's a shame, but I'm still refusing to let it get me down - the long term future is surely better now than it has been for a long time.

[deadbuzzardalive]

I think Adomah and Hourihane are both capable of getting in excess of ten goals, if he stays fit I expect Green will make a healthy contribution too, he's more than capable of outdoing Snodgrass's seven league goals from last season, and he'll get his fair share of assists... If he gets a chance, O'Hare will get goals as well, his record for the u23s is excellent.

Upfront I think we need to bring someone in on loan if possible, I'd be going all out for Tammy Abraham.

[deadbuzzardalive]

Apparently they had a quick meeting with all the fan groups last night, and before doing so, sent them all a letter which stated one of the first things they want to do is appoint a CEO, I imagine once that's done, then a lot of the rebuilding of the club will spring form there.

If we'd have been in the Premier league, I think they might have been really bold and tried for names like Benitez, Ranieri or maybe even Wenger, but as it is we're limited by our position and FFP, so will have to give it more consideration, as they can't just use their money to go out and get who they want... Many want a more modern manager myself included, but I wouldn't be surprise if they eventually looked towards Allardyce.

Benitez stayed with Newcastle through their year in the Championship. I suspect if the new owners can put together a compelling enough plan for investment in club and players they could bring in almost any manager they wanted.

Benitez is on £6m a year at Newcastle, plus Ashley wants an additional £6m+ in compensation should he leave to sign for another team. Even if you ignore the financial considerations, I think he only stayed with Newcastle in the Championship because he felt he owed them one, having failed to keep them in the Premier, he would have never have joined as a Championship club.

Still, money talks, and if our owners are ambitious enough then I suspect they'd be able to attract a lot of managers who otherwise might not consider the Championship.

[STO67]

Sticking with Bruce is probably just about the right thing to do at such a late stage in the close season but my word we have some work to do. Poor first 11, regardless of 3-5-2 or if we go back to the 4-5-1 formation. Even if Chester does stay we need another couple of centre backs. Jedinak might well be one of them but playing Whelan in front of him isn't a good thing. We need a keeper, left sided wing back, dominant central midfielder with mobility, forward.

[deadbuzzardalive]

The more I think about it, the more I feel that we're only a couple of signings/loans away from being a team that should be looking to finish in the top six, and challenge for top two again... People talk about the players we've lost, but when you look at it, we've lost Snodgrass, but have one of the most promising yougsters around in Green to replace him, it was only this time last year, heading into the new season, that he was seen as our most dangerous player, we've also lost Grabban, but again, I think Kodjia returning from injury replaces him, Johnstone has already been replaced, Terry needs replacing but I'm sure that will happen, Onomah has gone, but most wanted our youngsters to their chance over him anyway, and I suspect Doyle-Hayes is about to have his breakthrough season for us.

So on the whole, I don't think we're a great deal weaker than we were last season, in fact given a few more clever loan signings, and I think we could actually be stronger, maybe that will change when Grealish leaves, but if he does, I'm sure we'll get in some sort of replacement, it's worth remembering that we were right up there challenging up until Christmas without him.

So for me no excuses for Bruce.

[FoxyAV]

Does Elphick play on the left or right? If he, like Chester, plays on the right it might not be a good pairing. Clark and Baker were both best on the left and playing Clark on the right never seemed to work.

I'm optimistic too, I just don't want to see Bruce (broken record, sorry). Perhaps I have a naive desire to see us moulded into a team to gain promotion and hit the PL running, with a manager who can take us forward in that league and a core of players around whom we can build. Last season I thought that was Johnstone, Chester, Grealish and Kodjia (and - I know, I know - possibly Hogan too) but I've always thought we have such a strong team we should be able to introduce more academy players, even as subs. But then we don't dominate that many games and usually look vulnerable. I've started thinking Bruce wants 'real men' not because they'll be the ones to lead us to promotion but because last-ditch defending demands players throwing themselves in front of the ball!

It really is good to see Green again. He has a point to prove, he's from the academy, he wants to play for the shirt, he has energy and tricks and now he just needs to be played regularly and stay fit.

What we did start to have towards the end of last season is team spirit that seems to have been missing for a while (mainly because we were dodging relegation every year!), I think that's going to be as important as bringing in a few loan players. I still think they're important though. I thought I wanted Snodgrass back but it would be counter-productive for Green (and Blackett-Taylor). Definitely Tuanzebe though, I really like the look of him.

[big ming]

Perhaps a collective cry from thirty thousand odd fans of "HOOF" every time the ball is wanged aimlessly upfield would shame the management and players into trying to play football instead. Delighted at the club's change in fortunes in the last two weeks, but depressed at the thought of more Bruceball.

[achilles]

At the moment we will struggle to score goals in the championship.
Grabban is a big loss as he gave us physicality up front and was a poacher as well as being able to hold up the play. Kodjia is a totally different player, much more of an individual and not really a team player but it suits our hoof style much better.
On top of that Bruce seems as though he is going to play 352 and that says it all for me!

[FoxyAV]

At the moment we will struggle to score goals in the championship.
Grabban is a big loss as he gave us physicality up front and was a poacher as well as being able to hold up the play. Kodjia is a totally different player, much more of an individual and not really a team player but it suits our hoof style much better.
On top of that Bruce seems as though he is going to play 352 and that says it all for me!  

I think it's going to be more 532! The only way that could be any worse would be Whelan protecting the defence. Oh.

[deadbuzzardalive]

I think there are plenty of goals in our team, Hourihane and Adomah are both capable of getting ten plus, Green is also capable of getting his fair share.

It's also worth remembering that last season up until January, we were up there challenging, not only without Grabban, but Kodjia and Hogan were also out for most of that time as well. This time we should at least have Kodjia fit, and Davis will have a year's more experience as well, we might also bring in another striker on loan.

The biggest shame is that Rushian Hepburn-Murphy has missed all our pre-season games through injury, outside of Kodjia, I'd actually back him to get more goals than any other striker currently at the club. Same with O'Hare, who has an excellent goal record for the u23s, whilst not as talented, I think he'd probably be a bigger goal threat than Grealish.

[deadbuzzardalive]

Another interesting thing to think about, is that this time last year most were predicting that we should and would make a serious challenge for top two, one year later, and many are dismissing promotion, and some are even talking of a relegation battle, yet the only significant differences in the squad between then and now is that Johnstone and Terry have left, but Johnstone has been replaced... So really it's just a matter of perspective.

[UnclePanda]

Johnstone has been replaced - but with a largely unknown quantity. Ive not heard of the bloke before, so Ill remain cautiously optimistic with him!

Brucie HAS to get promotion next season. I supported the fact we kept him, but if we dont go up, he has to go

[FoxyAV]

I would say Bruce has ten matches. If we're doing well he stays, if we're not we'll not lose anything by bringing in someone new. I suspect the new owners are already on the case with that just in case.

[achilles]

Another interesting thing to think about, is that this time last year most were predicting that we should and would make a serious challenge for top two, one year later, and many are dismissing promotion, and some are even talking of a relegation battle, yet the only significant differences in the squad between then and now is that Johnstone and Terry have left, but Johnstone has been replaced... So really it's just a matter of perspective.

As far as I am aware no replacement for Johnstone has been signed... yet!
Two players we will miss are Snodgrass and Grabban.
Grabban played 15 Championship games (5 as substitute) and scored 8 goals (excluding playoffs).
Snodgrass scored 7 goals and a load of assists.
Adomah had a great season will he have the same impact playing on the right this season to accommodate Green on the left.
Is Kodjia the same player after all his injuries and will we play to his strengths?
Bruce is still here, he has failed twice to get promotion, what makes you think that he will succeed this time?
Bruce is trying this 352 system which failed dismally last season even with Terry in the side, so if that fails, as seems likely. we will have gone into the season ill prepared AGAIN!

The bottom line is just being realistic and in my eyes mid table or a bit higher is realistic, which allows us to consolidate and sort out our problems behind the scenes.

[STO67]

I think Bruce needs to be set a points target rather than he has a particular amount of games. We actually weren't that great before Christmas, without Grealish and then after Chrimbo we played well and went on a much better run. I'm not sticking up for him as I think he should have been replaced and if there was more time to have shopped around for the new owners then I think he would have gone. However, the said they fully back him, so prove it!

[deadbuzzardalive]

Another interesting thing to think about, is that this time last year most were predicting that we should and would make a serious challenge for top two, one year later, and many are dismissing promotion, and some are even talking of a relegation battle, yet the only significant differences in the squad between then and now is that Johnstone and Terry have left, but Johnstone has been replaced... So really it's just a matter of perspective.

As far as I am aware no replacement for Johnstone has been signed... yet!
Two players we will miss are Snodgrass and Grabban.
Grabban played 15 Championship games (5 as substitute) and scored 8 goals (excluding playoffs).
Snodgrass scored 7 goals and a load of assists.
Adomah had a great season will he have the same impact playing on the right this season to accommodate Green on the left.
Is Kodjia the same player after all his injuries and will we play to his strengths?
Bruce is still here, he has failed twice to get promotion, what makes you think that he will succeed this time?
Bruce is trying this 352 system which failed dismally last season even with Terry in the side, so if that fails, as seems likely. we will have gone into the season ill prepared AGAIN!

The bottom line is just being realistic and in my eyes mid table or a bit higher is realistic, which allows us to consolidate and sort out our problems behind the scenes.                            

Moreira hasn't been announced, but he has been photographed in Villa training gear with the rest of the squad, so presumably it's only a matter of time before that's official.

My point was that the squad we have now is almost identical to the one we had a year ago to this day, at that point Snodgrass, Onomah, and Grabban hadn't signed for us, and most had written Grealish off, but almost everyone at the time had us down as one of the favorites for promotion, with pretty much the same squad that we have now... Back on Snodgrass he scored seven goals, but I'd back Green to score a similar amount, if not more, and whilst he got eleven assists, many of those came from set-pieces, and in my opinion we've got someone better at set pieces in Hourihane to take over those... To be honest if you gave me a choice of Grabban and Snodgrass, or Kodjia and Green, I'd take the latter two...

I never said I thought Bruce would succeed, I guess he might have enough to get us over the line, bearing in mind there are no teams as good as Wolves or Fulham this year, my point was that the squad is good enough to challenge for top six, maybe better if we bring in a few more decent loan signings... And so Bruce should be judged accordingly, no letting him off the hook, if we're doing nothing in mid-table.

[achilles]

A brilliant article by 'My Old Man Said'
https://www.myoldmansaid.com/the-media-silence-of-steve-bruces-under-achievement-at-villa/

The Media Silence of Steve Bruce’s Under Achievement at Villa
While Aston Villa's financial woe bubbles away, have the local press let Steve Bruce off the hook for his part in it?

By Shelley Osborne - Jun 27, 2018

Breaking Bread
American novelist Fanny Fern once said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

The act of sharing food and enjoying a meal with another person is of course an intimate act that often helps bond people together. Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce also appears to view the act of breaking bread as a crucial component in respect of maintaining relationships with members of the press and media.

When Steve Bruce was announced as Aston Villa manager to replace Roberto Di Matteo in early October 2016, the press didn’t miss an opportunity to swank as ‘Brucie’ joined them in the players canteen prior to his official unveiling. The new manager worked the room with Steve Clemence and Steve Round, and admiring members of the press conversely mentioned to Aston Villa fans that this was something previous managers would never do.

Neil Johnson of BBC Sport online, tweeted of Steve Bruce in February this year:

“Steve Bruce never dodged a question when Wigan boss. Flung his doors open to press, invited us into players’ canteen, training ground dressing room & his office. Total respect.  A great manager with manners to match.”

Football media lighting cameraman Sean Twamley tweeted in 2017 about a ‘cup of tea rule’, which seems to relate to the amount of refreshments offered by a manager and he ranked Bruce as the best.

“Under the ‘cup of team rule’ Steve Bruce, Aston Villa manager is now ranked top. Took us all to lunch in the players’ canteen.”

Bruce with his warm Geordie charm is known as an expert in his handling of the press and media, but did the relationships he enjoys with the press contribute towards ensuring he has stayed in the post as Aston Villa manager after two seasons of under achievement?

Fanfare
The appointment of Steve Bruce as manager in October 2016, as Roberto Di Matteo’s successor, was less of a process and more of a procession.

Some fans raised an eyebrow when Wyness and Xia talked about a 25-man list of candidates, that Bruce apparently topped.

The football media were in unison backing the “The best man for the job”, as two Birmingham Mail journalists called him, while others promised success.


Richard Keys

@richardajkeys
Villa have made a great appointment this time. Hear Steve Bruce talking to K&G on #beINSports tomorrow. He'll get them up - this season.

2:33 PM - Oct 13, 2016

The manager himself was also confident of promotion.

“If I didn’t think I could do it, I wouldn’t be here,” said Bruce, immediately after taking the job.

“There’s no honeymoon period. We’ve got 35 games to go. That’s a lot of time to do something.  When I came to Birmingham in 2001, we were 15th at Christmas and still got up via the play offs.”

January Plan
Having recovered to get within six points of the play-offs on 1stJanuary 2017, Bruce continued to be confident of achieving the club’s objective for the season.

“I am going to be brave and stick my head over and say a club like ours has got to be in the play-offs,” said Bruce on 13th January 2017

Bruce was meant to be implementing his ‘January plan’ to cover for Jonathan Kodjia and Jordan Ayew’s participation in the African Cup of Nations. Together with CEO Wyness, he had assured fans that plans were in place (where have we heard that before?) to cover for this crucial month in the season. It had been a clear concern of Villa supporters before the season had even kicked off.

Bruce’s actual plan for January 2017?

Aston Villa’s manager seemed determined to get Gabby Agbonlahor fit to replace the goals of Kodjia and Ayew.

“When he’s played he’s shown exactly what he wants to do. There’s no better centre forward in this league, if he’s fit,” stated Bruce about Agbonlahor on 7th November 2016.

Bruce’s fixation with Gabby would continue into the 2017/18 season and was finally abandoned after another bad run of form which resulted in the manager coming close to the sack.

Bruce was never criticised by the local press for relying so heavily on Agbnolahor (who was deemed surplus to requirements by previous managers) and his stubborn willingness to include Agbonlahor had a negative effect on both the ‘January plan’ of the 2016/17 season and the bad start to the 2017/18.

Agbonlahor failed to score any goals in January 2017 and following Bruce’s decision to sell Rudy Gestede to Middlesbrough on 4thJanuary 2017, there appeared to be little by the way of a back-up plan that month, other than continued efforts to try to get Ross McCormack going.

It wasn’t until 31stJanuary 2017 that Scott Hogan finally arrived at the club, even though Kodjia would return in the following game.

By this point however Villa’s season had gone into reverse.  The failed January plan and huge influx of January signings saw the team drop down the league table as Bruce struggled to fit Hogan and Kodjia into his team together.

Press Relief
At the height of Bruce’s poor January, a story was released to the press regarding an incident that was meant to have taken place at Ross McCormack’s house.  It was alleged in an exclusive that Bruce had been involved in an angry confrontation with Villa’s £12m striker Ross McCormack, after he had failed to arrive at training because of faulty electric gates.  In the sexed-up version of the story written by Neil Moxley on the 21stJanuary 2017, Bruce was alleged to have scaled the gate and confronted McCormack in his house.

Moxley tweeted:

“I have just filed the story behind SB’s outburst.  Rarely had I heard anything like it.  Admiration for him now through the roof.”

The story was positively received by Villa fans, who after years of rumours about a toxic dressing room, were glad to have a manager acting tough again. Forgotten was Bruce’s assertion that a club Villa’s size had to be in the play-offs and Bruce was able to buy himself more time.

A less sexy version of the story, where Bruce merely drove up to the gate took a photo and drove off, was released the following day on 22ndJanuary 2017 but this version did not, of course, receive as much press attention.

Phantom January 2017 Spend
Another factor that receives little press attention – to the point of being forgotten – is the £23m Bruce spent on players in the winter 2017 transfer window.

Bruce was promised funds by CEO Keith Wyness when he arrived at the club in October 2016 and Aston Villa’s new manager chose to sign eight new players that winter; Lansbury, Hourihane, Bree, Hogan, Bjarnason, Neil Taylor, Bedeau and Sam Johnstone for a cost of around £23m.

CEO Keith Wyness explained one advantage of spending big in a January window was that players what a longer period to settle in before the start of the following season.  Bruce’s January transfer window was effectively his summer transfer window and Bruce himself admitted as much.

“There won’t be a huge turnover this summer,” said Bruce in March 2017. “I don’t think the club can expect to do that again. Now I’ve got a squad which I’m delighted about.”

After finishing fourth this season in the Championship, there has been an almost uniform rewriting of Bruce’s expenditure as Aston Villa manager by the press.  Six high-profile journalists appear to have omitted entirely from the debate the eight players Bruce signed in January 2017.

“It hasn’t been easy with Financial Fair Play.  People need reminding of that because they think I’ve used a big cheque book here, which has not been the case,” pleaded Bruce, at the end of last season.  “We’ve brought in loans and I think I spent £2.5m in the summer and brought in almost £20m.”

The alleged £20m Bruce claimed to have raised for the club this season included Veretout (a player Di Matteo didn’t have available to him either) and Carles Gil and Carlos Sanchez (Season long loans with buy options arranged during Di Matteo’s time was manager).

The press kept to Bruce’s script.

‘Despite the acquisition of a stellar name in John Terry, the last two Championship years have been austere,’ wrote the Daily Mail’s Martin Samuel.

‘Finishing 13th in the first season inspired the determination to recruit a player of Terry’s stature and experience but, in reality, times are hard. Steve Bruce, the manager, spent only £2.5m last summer, while raising £18m in player sales.”

If only journalists could make Aston Villa’s financial woes disappear as quickly as the many millions Steve Bruce spent on players, wages and loan fees during his time as manager here.

At best, the reporting in relation to Bruce’s expenditure can be described as a disingenuous, at worst deliberately misleading.  Sunderland and Huddersfield fans have expressed similar complaints about Bruce’s financial mismanagement of their clubs, but this is something that seems to be overlooked by the press.  Bruce had spent over £80m at Sunderland in two years as a manager there.

Many articles have been written in the past few weeks lamenting the financial mismanagement of Aston Villa yet seemingly no blame has, again, been attached to Steve Bruce.  This is a particularly troubling omission considering the justification Bruce gave for paying his signings such high wages.

“One of the reasons we have one of the biggest wage bills in the Championship is we have to deal with that mentality and that expectation,” he said back in February last year. “That’s why they get paid more than anyone else in this division. That’s why they get paid it – to handle the expectation.”

End of Season Excuses
Following Bruce’s failure to make the play-offs in his first season at Aston Villa, the ex-Hull City manager sought to redefine the parameters of his objectives.

“I make no bones about it, when I arrived here 10 months ago I didn’t think we could be open and expansive,” said the Villa boss in September last year. “I wanted to stay in the division, daft as that may seem.”

This explanation was thereafter trumpeted as an achievement by several of Bruce’s most vocal supporters in the press. Apparently – “Bruce saved Aston Villa from relegation!”

This notion was repeated again, after Villa failed to make the automatic places and then lost the play-off final. Apparently, Bruce had saved Villa from doing a back-to-back relegation ala Sunderland.

Failure was being spun as success.

Meanwhile, Neil Warnock, who was appointed at Cardiff City in the same week as Bruce, with relatively little spend turned a team in the relegation zone into an automatic promotion winning team. He out performed Bruce every step of the way.

Nearer to home, Wolves, who finished below Villa the season before, won the league with a new manager (so much for ‘stability’).

No Excuses
The Birmingham Mail were bullish that Bruce would get Villa ‘definitely’ promoted in the 2017/18 season.

aston villa definitely promoted

The reason local journalists were so emboldened in their Bruce support and predictions was Villa were once again the bookies favourites for automatic promotion and they had the most expensively assembled squad in the league (spending a reported £88m on players in the 2016/17 season alone).

After Villa’s poor start to the season, it was during the month of September that sections of Villa fans were already beginning to lose patience with the Villa boss.

Harry Redknapp later stated that Steve Bruce had called him by telephone on the eve of the Barnsley game (September 16th) to inform him that he feared he would lose his job if he did not win that match.

The Midlands reporters circled their wagons to protect Bruce, pointing out that Villa had seven managers in seven years and that the club should try to implement a period of stability. Journalists were also happy to echo Bruce’s choice of the word ‘hysteria’ when describing some fans social media reaction to Villa’s bad start to the season.

Other members of the press encouraged fans to wait until the end of the season and then make an assessment in the summer (it was also MOMS opinion that it was too early to fire Bruce in September – Ed).

Expectations though were clearly mapped out for that summer assessment.

‘They’ve spent a lot of money over recent years, they have a squad brimming with quality and experience,’ wrote Gregg Evans of the Birmingham Mail in September.

‘Nine players in the Villa squad have won promotion from the Championship before, so there are to be no excuses this season.’

Come mid-February the calls for patience showed merit with Bruce finally leading Villa into the automatic promotion spots for the first time after a home win against Birmingham City. It was perfect timing, for as Bruce had always said throughout his managerial career, it didn’t matter where you were in the early part of the season, but where you were when the “daffodils come up.”

He now had Villa perfectly placed and the injuries that plagued his season had largely cleared up.

Yet, Villa remained in second place for just six days and would never return.

Summer 2018
Having limped to 4thplace in the Championship behind Neil Warnock’s Cardiff, despite an expensively assembled squad that was a favourite for promotion, Bruce’s underachievement seems to have been glossed over once again by the press.

Bruce had a very difficult period personally towards the end of the season and some press members declared that Bruce deserved promotion.

‘Steve Bruce has cleaned up the Aston Villa mess amid personal tragedy and sack threat – he deserves Premier League return‘ read the headline of Neil Moxley’s Sunday Mirror article.

Unfortunately, such sentiment offers no reprieve in such a pragmatic results orientated business. Moxley admitted that himself at the end of his article, when he wrote ‘happy endings are rare in football’.

Failure to get Villa promoted has, judging by the recent reporting of Villa’s recent financial woe, put the club in an even bigger mess than the one Bruce was deemed to have inherited.

The way the Villa manager has set his teams up has been consistent throughout his tenure and it’s ultimately fallen short – “open and expansive” has rarely been seen. Aston Villa’s negative first half against Fulham in the ‘£140m play-off final’ epitomised this and has not been subject to the sort of scrutiny you would expect, when you consider how crucial the game was to the financial future of the club.

Those end of season assessments from journalists, who requested a stay of execution for Bruce, never came.

Some journalists seemed to have staked their personal credibility on Bruce achieving promotion this season to the extent that they appear unable to criticise him now.

No consideration has been given to the failure of Bruce’s ‘experience and steel’ strategy which could only be judged on the short-term since Robert Snodgrass and John Terry were a one season only gamble.

It seems like some journalists want to have their cake in the players canteen and eat it too.

UTV

You can find Shelley on Twitter here @ShelleyOzzy

[FoxyAV]

Ha, I posted a link to that feature a month ago and said what a good read it was. It's a cracking article - well presented and well researched.

On another note I read that Bruce was unaware we were signing Moreira, which is excellent news. On the one hand someone could well be advising on buying players good for the team and club and on the other it gives Bruce some new players to blame when it doesn't work out for him.

[big ming]

If Bruce is intending to use Kodija as some sort of target man, as he did in the Wet Spam friendly, he will be out by October. If he wants Bruceball to work at all, he needs a target man that can make the ball stick.He also would need the attacking midfielders to get up in support and beyond the target man much quicker.
I would prefer he tried a couple of quick lads like Green and Hepburn-Murphy at the point of attack with the ball played to feet or slipped through when paying against a high line.

[Dazzle]

Relax, gentlemen. Mr Bruce has correctly, IMO, been kept in position because the new season is so close. Once the transfer window is closed and October approaches will be the next trigger point, keep a close eye on things from mid September, especially the post Blackburn fixture .

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