October 2016 - The Tide Turns

Today will mark the end of over 6 years of decline at Aston Villa. Our position of 20th in the championship (Div 2 in old money!) is the low point.

Today we begin the long journey back to greatness.

At last we have reasonable squad of players - and after what seems like an eternity we have experienced guy managing the team. It won't always be pretty - it never is - but I think the professionalism on the field will kick in pretty quickly.

Enjoy the ride folks....

Agreed smetro. We are back on the way up. UTV.

Nothing suggests this will happen.

In fact according to the rumours Bruce plans on using players like Gabby and Gardner. Utter shit that's the reason we are here in the first place.

I think we all have to just wipe the slate clean now Joppe buddy and give Bruce the courtesy of letting him manage how he sees fit. He has gotten 4 teams up before so if he says Gabby gets another chance then so far as i'm concerned he is the expert and i will back him 100%.

Of course we all got very angered at Gabby's attitude etc me included but it is gonna take a 10/10 perfect for Bruce to get us up this season from this lowly position and having players who, if they sorted themselves out, could play a big part and with the undoubted experience and threat Gabby "could" bring to the table i think Bruce has made the right call personally.

What message does it send to the rest of the team if he comes in and excludes the guy because of stuff which happened when he wasn't even at the club? He would look weak and would effectively be judging someone on hearsay!!

So if Bruce says Gabby gets his chance i'm all for it. If Gabby comes in and messes up well he has nobody else to blame and there is nothing he can say to the rest of the team.

An on form Gabby (yes, i know it's been a while ) could do some serious damage in this division. The threat he poses on the break would destroy many a team at this level and would in my opinion help with our late conceding issue as teams would be much more wary about throwing the kitchen sink with Gabby's pace threat.

I just think we all have to unite now and give Bruce the best possible chance of winning the huge challenge ahead. If he wants to unite the playing squad then it would be a huge help if we all united behind him too and also wipe the slate clean with our judgements on players.

The Utterer wrote:I think we all have to just wipe the slate clean now Joppe buddy and give Bruce the courtesy of letting him manage how he sees fit. He has gotten 4 teams up before so if he says Gabby gets another chance then so far as i'm concerned he is the expert and i will back him 100%.

Of course we all got very angered at Gabby's attitude etc me included but it is gonna take a 10/10 perfect for Bruce to get us up this season from this lowly position and having players who, if they sorted themselves out, could play a big part and with the undoubted experience and threat Gabby "could" bring to the table i think Bruce has made the right call personally.

What message does it send to the rest of the team if he comes in and excludes the guy because of stuff which happened when he wasn't even at the club? He would look weak and would effectively be judging someone on hearsay!!

So if Bruce says Gabby gets his chance i'm all for it. If Gabby comes in and messes up well he has nobody else to blame and there is nothing he can say to the rest of the team.

An on form Gabby (yes, i know it's been a while  ) could do some serious damage in this division. The threat he poses on the break would destroy many a team at this level and would in my opinion help with our late conceding issue as teams would be much more wary about throwing the kitchen sink with Gabby's pace threat.

I just think we all have to unite now and give Bruce the best possible chance of winning the huge challenge ahead. If he wants to unite the playing squad then it would be a huge help if we all united behind him too and also wipe the slate clean with our judgements on players.  

Good points - I totally agree. Bruce has no choice but to give everyone a chance. The alternative is a whinging squad, or at least disaffected players causing more upset. Who knows it might even work, though I hope that the Hepburn Murphy's of this world get due chance to shine too. At the end of the day the team must be picked on merit. I have a sneaky feeling that Richards may respond to a stronger manager and we will see a different player there too. Bloody hope so, he has been abysmal so far!

Wouldn't worry to much about the Gabby factor. Basically if he trains hard, gets fit and Bruce sees him as more viable option than, Gestede, Kjojda, Mccormak, Ayew , and maybe RHM then he gets a game - a lot of ifs there !

Or if we have a major injury crisis.

Basically Bruce isn't going to waste time on the career of Gabby abonglahor - Bruce will concentrate on getting the team as whole winning..

Well I think we signed a lot of talented players this summer, but I think the team balance is all wrong. Hopefully this is something Bruce is able to adress outside a transfer window, but I seriously doubt it.

I think McCormack Kodjia could work well in a 442, but we don't have the midfield for it. I think Kodjia, Ayew and McCormack could work well in a 433, but we don't have the midfield for it. I think we could play a 451 with Adoamah and Ayew/Grealish on each side, but that means we can't field McCormack or Grealish/Ayew.

Ultimately it's just the giant fucking mistake of not signing a quality CM in the summer that has ruined this season. Gardner is not the solution. Only option now is to hope Lyden or some other academy product is up for it.

Joppe84 wrote:Well I think we signed a lot of talented players this summer, but I think the team balance is all wrong. Hopefully this is something Bruce is able to adress outside a transfer window, but I seriously doubt it.

I think McCormack Kodjia could work well in a 442, but we don't have the midfield for it. I think Kodjia, Ayew and McCormack could work well in a 433, but we don't have the midfield for it. I think we could play a 451 with Adoamah and Ayew/Grealish on each side, but that means we can't field McCormack or Grealish/Ayew.

Ultimately it's just the giant fucking mistake of not signing a quality CM in the summer that has ruined this season. Gardner is not the solution. Only option now is to hope Lyden or some other academy product is up for it.

Agreed - but its how you cope that counts. For example say we had signed such a midfielder - and he got injured ? - you get on with it - sure the team wouldn't be quite as good - but it shouldn't totally fall to pieces either. Bruce will know we are a body short in midfield - he could promote Jordan Lyden for example, he drop Mccormack back into midfield - etc - Brucie has already hinted we need to get the ball forward quicker...maybe he is thinking wing backs ...whatever I trust him to set up the team the best he can to ensure we get the points..

Is it really 2 hours to KO.....Totally buzzin for this one......

Saying nout till team announced, just praying that its not gonna be one of them what the fvck moments and were all sitting there with our hands in our heads before we even kick off.

For the record, gabby deserves to rot in hell and get no where near our squad, just who, WHO!!!!!!!! do you drop for him........ WHO?

No sign yet that October will see the tide turning.

I hope I'm wrong but I think it will be January when Bruce has bought in some real quality.

Thinman wrote:No sign yet that October will see the tide turning.

I hope I'm wrong but I think it will be January when Bruce has bought in some real quality.

We have to see something before then. Bruce has to get a response out of what he has - bear in mind a lot of teams we are playing are assembled on a absolute shoestring.

smetro wrote:

Thinman wrote:No sign yet that October will see the tide turning.

I hope I'm wrong but I think it will be January when Bruce has bought in some real quality.

We have to see something before then. Bruce has to get a response out of what he has - bear in mind a lot of teams we are playing are assembled on a absolute shoestring.

This is exactly why I wanted Rowett and not Bruce. For such a long time this club has thought money is the be all in this game. It's not. I'm not saying money isn't useful, but football comes down to building a team. Iceland and Leicester recently are just two examples of how easy it can be done if you build a team with patience and continuity and hard work. More players in January might be needed. While I agree we need a central midfielder badly, I still think the most important bit for this club is to get back to basics and signing more players for us is like giving a heroin addict methadone.

Get people in that love football, not paychecks. Giving Bruce a £ 3 million handshake over 5 years is just the epitome of stupidity. Get in a lower league manager with hunger and the willingness to create something. This has to be ingrained in the club or we won't ever have the club we want IMO.

I'm quite pleased lower league teams are showing us how it's done, cause sure as hell this club has not got the hunger or drive any more.

A well playing football team is a synergetic organism. As long as the manager has a clear philosophy and the players understand them, cheap players "on a shoestring budget" can create a fantastic team.

We simply don't have a clear game plan, drive or hunger. The players we sign are after paychecks, not 3 points, and that's a huge problem for us. I thought this would improve with Brian Little on the board, but it clearly hasn't.

What we should have done is to get in a lower league manager that's on the up and someone that has affection for the club. Dean Smith or Rowett has been mentioned by others. Give them free reigns. Let them turn the club upside down. We would probably spend a season more in the championship than people would like, but I think it would have been good for us.

I really fecking wonder who our recruitment chief is though. If they thought Jedinak/Chester/McCormack for a combined £ 25 million was money well spent. I'm willing to bet Rowett or Smith or any other half capable person would have found better players for £ 3 million. I actually don't mind the purchase of McCormack, but when we already have Gestede, Ayew, Gabby, and Kodjia (even if he was signed later). It's like there is no plan to the recruitment. Right now McCormack doesn't fit into the side.

Anyway I'm just rambling.

@Joppe84 yes you are rambling mate as it is all theory as Rowett has achieved nothing at the inbreds yet and even their fans are unsure about him?

Plus I thought I read that Bruce was on a rolling contract ala MON not a 5 year one? Maybe I am wrong?

What we spent on players is irrelevant it is the managerial mistakes that have got us here and Let's judge bruce after a few more games yet not after 2 days?

I wonder if part of the problem is that we see ourselves as a premiership club in the championship. Perhaps we should focus on being a good championship team - if that takes ultimately to the prem - then great.

I don't know even know what to suggest anymore ! - we have a manager as good as any the division - players with experience of doing well in the division - Im not sure another spending spree is jan is the answer - we have to start coping with what we have - perhaps there is no magic bullet - we need to let the team rise from the ashes....