While he was associated with Aston Villa (and, indeed, with Watford) I shall always remember the jovial face and well-meaning demeanour. It wasn’t always like that in his career, though, as his time as England manager was a fairly hard time for him; nothing seemed to quite go right and the media were quick to lampoon him. But he tried to put a brave face on it.

How to write about him at the Villa? Well, it’s probably best done by recapping what actually happened. The following is a modified distillation from my book, “Aston Villa – The First Superclub”:

Graham Taylor arrived in 1987 from what was described as a ‘family club’ under the chairmanship of the highly popular entertainer Elton John. Taylor had been with that club for several years and had built them up from the League’s lower divisions to reach the First Division and even becoming F.A. Cup Finalists and League runners-up in consecutive seasons. Taylor, however, felt that he had taken Watford to the limit of their ability. And now the challenge was Aston Villa, newly relegated into the old Second Division.

It had been a wrench leaving the friendly Watford club, but Taylor felt that there was a grand opportunity at Villa Park for him to ‘flex his muscles’. It was a challenge he welcomed, and said: “Here at Villa Park we have a genuinely big club, one of the biggest in Britain, in decline. Not only do we have to arrest that decline but we have to get the club back to where it belongs as quickly as possible.” But he soon found out what a serious challenge it was, perhaps worse than he envisaged. Taylor found the dressing room situation was bad: “Discipline was lax; everyone wanted to have their say”, he said, looking back in later years.

On his arrival, Taylor took no time in getting to grips with the situation. He firstly undertook a thorough and detailed evaluation of the procedures and practises in the playing side of matters at the club and set about making corrections.

One of the matters that concerned Taylor—as it had McNeill—was the players’ disciplinary record, and (like McNeill) Taylor resolved to crack down on this. A priority matter, however, was replacing several key members of the Villa’s defence (Williams, Dorigo and Elliott) who left during the summer, but Taylor succeeded in doing this and Villa even won a pre-season ‘friendly’ against the F.A. Cup winners, Coventry City, by 3-2. The tone of the match, in fact, was distinctly non-friendly!

In the Second Division, it took Villa several games to get into their stride, including a home defeat by Birmingham in the second game, a match that descended into a kicking spree in the last 25 minutes. Villa had been further handicapped by the departure of Andy Gray and Simon Stainrod, but once new striker Alan McInally and Garry Thompson had been introduced after injury and also after Stuart Gray had been inducted, Villa achieved a better level of consistency. Two periods each of 12 games undefeated were achieved. In January, the sought-after Mark Walters left Villa for Rangers (Glasgow), however, but an acquisition who would play a very significant part in the near future was a certain David Platt: he knocked in five goals in eleven games from midfield and showed considerable alertness.

Considering the problems that Taylor found when he took over, including the enforced replacement of so many players, the season had progressed reasonably well, and the ‘icing on the cake’ was in achieving promotion back to the top-flight in one season. Villa had, however, appeared to lose some of their zip in the last few games, and a lot relied on success against challengers Bradford in the penultimate match. The Villa supporters turned up in numbers for this match (more than 36,000 after no more than 20,000 had been present all season!), which Villa won through a Platt goal in the first-half.

On the final day of the season, the 0-0 draw at Swindon seemed to have left Villa finishing in third place, which would have required Villa to play-off to seek a promotion place. Instead, joy came to the Villa camp when it was discovered that fellow-challengers Middlesbrough had lost, and that Villa had been automatically promoted on the basis of the number of goals scored; both these teams had finished with precisely the same goal difference!

It had been, as Wellington said after Waterloo, “A close-run thing.” There would be further “close run things” in Taylor’s two remaining seasons as well!

Back in the top-flight the redoubtable Allan Evans finally retired in the summer, which saw the purchase of more players to raise the ability of the Villa to hold their own in the top-flight. Included in those purchases was Villa’s great midfielder of the European Years, Gordon Cowans; he returned from the Italian League team Bari and found the ‘buzz’ at Villa Park reminiscent of his best days playing for Villa. That buzz was “Down to Taylor”, said Cowans, who came to hold Taylor in great esteem. But Cowans’ form was not yet at the level it was prior to the leg-break he suffered in 1983.

A further signing of note was a player destined to become well known over the next 15 years, the then young centre-back Martin Keown from Arsenal. He would eventually rejoin Arsenal, via Everton, and make his fame with them.

In the first half of the season, the crowd numbers at Villa Park were much more like the times of the late-1970s. What helped to stimulate that situation was Villa’s opening to the season, which saw a great deal of fight and vigour. The second match, at Arsenal, caused Villa’s opponents to be “surprised by Villa’s rugged defensive work and quick raids on the break…”. Villa won 3-2 at Highbury.

At Villa Park the very next match (against Liverpool, a draw) contained “wonderful entertainment and full-blooded thrills. Bruce Grobbelaar and Nigel Spink made masterly saves…” in their respective goalmouths. Villa’s performances then dipped for a while, but in October against a “classy” Everton, Villa produced their best football of the season in the win that was obtained by two quality goals from Daley and Platt.

In the League Cup defeat of Millwall, McInally scored another of the most sensational goals in Villa’s history. This goal reminded many of Maradona’s second against England in the World Cup of 1986, and John Barnes’ goal for England against Brazil in 1984: McInally rode three lunging tackles in a breathtaking 70-yard run before driving home his second goal.

When tenth in the table, Villa’s season started to become unhinged when the eventual champions Arsenal came up to Villa Park on New Year’s Eve and outclassed Villa in the first-half. Villa played better in the second-half but by then they were already 0-2 in arrears and went a further goal down in the last two minutes. From then to the end of the season, the sparkling goal machine that had been Platt and McInally virtually dried up, and no-one else seemed able to provide much by way of fire-power. The expensive signing of the lanky striker Ormondroyd and winger Callaghan did not seem to help. Villa’s gates again began to sag.

Villa dropped down the table and it was left to the last match of the season to determine Villa’s fate. Needing to win against Coventry to prevent relegation, Villa could only draw in a match that Villa had dominated in the first half through Platt’s inspiration, and the game left a legacy of crowd troubles only weeks after the Hillsborough disaster.

Having completed their fixtures, Villa had to wait on the outcome of West Ham’s two remaining matches of the season to determine which team would be relegated. West Ham won the first of these and the Villa fans had to endure a total of ten days after Villa’s final match to hear of the outcome of West Ham’s second match. Thankfully for Villa, West Ham heavily lost at Liverpool, allowing the Villa faithful the luxury of a collective deep sigh of relief. Villa finished fourth from bottom.

The season ended as another “close run thing.” Taylor was still having to re-build.

Despite the presence of Platt and Cowans, there was still the need for an additional touch of class in the Villa team, and more reorganisation. Out went Alan McInally to Bayern Munich for an attractive transfer fee and in came 19-year-old Ian Olney as his replacement; Ormondroyd would be played on the wing in this new season. Also transferred was Martin Keown, to Everton.

Two incoming players were to help form a solid spine in a Villa defence of three centre-backs. These were Irish international Paul McGrath from Manchester United and Danish international Kent Nielsen, Derek Mountfield being the third. These signings were highly experienced and talented players, though the acquisition of McGrath had some risk attached to it: his ‘dodgy’ knees for one, but he also had a penchant for a ‘drop of the other’. Neither of these conditions seemed to make an ounce of his difference to his play—he usually played in outstanding form, even though he was given permission to do very little training. McGrath had been offered a lot of insurance money to give up football because of the state of his knees, but he refused as he felt he still had a lot to offer football. “It’s my life”, he said.
Villa started the season slowly, opening with three draws and only winning one in their first seven League matches, the last a dismal home defeat against Queens Park Rangers in front of little more than 14,000 spectators. Taylor was even considering handing in his resignation at this point.

Then something (almost imperceptibly) changed. Taylor introduced the superbly-balanced and fast Tony Daley on the right wing, and against average opposition and though not playing particularly outstanding football, Villa won four League games in succession. There had been nothing great to enthuse about in these performances except that some valuable points had been collected, but the team had gained confidence in this spell simply by winning. In the last of these games, Ormondroyd was brought in and put on the left wing.

The team manipulations came to sparkle on Guy Fawke’s Night. Against an Everton team that included Martin Keown (who was fully anticipating that his new club would show supremacy over Villa), Villa had seven scoring chances and scored from six of them. Platt, who had been scoring consistently all season, scored two in a devastating display in the 6 2 win, all of it prompted by the wily Cowans, who was now back to his pre-1983 form and now had several dangerous players to target for his accurate passes. It had been Villa’s fifth League win on the trot.

Though Villa lost their next two matches (at West Ham in the League Cup and at Norwich in the League, both played within six days of the Everton fixture), Villa then embarked on a run of 10 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in the next twelve matches in the League, by now utilising a very effective 3-5-2 formation. Villa also reached the quarter-finals of the F.A. Cup and looked as though they might get to Wembley. In this period, Villa’s gates shot up to between 25,000 and 33,000, and reached more than 40,000 for the visit of Manchester United on Boxing Day and the visit of Arsenal four days later. Villa won both these matches and were outstanding each time against dangerous opposition. Platt’s winning goal against Arsenal was described as follows in the Sports Argus: “Platt completely wrong-footed the Arsenal defence by controlling the ball and turning majestically in one movement before striking it just inside … the post.”

Remarkably, Villa had suddenly become championship-contenders. Villa’s League position after a good win at Spurs on February 21 showed Villa on top of the League and two points ahead of Liverpool with a game in hand over them.

The irony was that Villa’s fine run suddenly came to an end at the hands of journeyman sides—not against any of the big teams. In front of nearly 30,000 at Villa Park, Villa lost to ‘the Crazy Gang’ (Wimbledon) in the League, 0-3. Wimbledon played “tenacious and committed football” while Villa did not play well and even Platt missed an early penalty. Villa also lost their next match at Coventry and, within two weeks of that, Villa managed to lose 0-3 on a plastic pitch at Oldham in the F.A. Cup.

Villa’s goalscoring had fallen off by comparison with their earlier achievements and Villa effectively handed over the initiative to Liverpool who soon went to the top of the table. In early April, Northern Ireland international Tony Cascarino was expensively purchased to re-generate some championship-winning goals.

Alas, the re-invigoration did not work sufficiently well and Villa ended the season as runner-up, nine points behind Liverpool but seven points ahead of anyone else. Villa had been lucky to be so near the top as the quality in the League that season was not so high, but it had been a season of raised expectations without fruition apart from the level of entertainment. Illustrative of that were the last two League games of the season. In each case, the Villa were 0-1 down at half-time but drew 3-3 in the end.

In the first of these (against Norwich at home), Villa recovered to 3-1 and at that point the Villa were awarded a penalty but the referee then changed his mind. This decision upset the Villa players, causing them to lose their focus and concede unnecessary goals. Norwich scored two goals in a four minutes spell after the 79th minute. At least Cascarino scored his first goal in this match—it had taken him awhile to do what he was bought for.

The second match (at Everton) was described as a “humdinger” and, again, Villa had eventually crept into a (3-2) lead, but then had to settle for the draw. Platt had been left out of this match as he had been involved in an overnight car crash.

Graham Taylor’s talents had been highlighted to brilliant effect over the preceding three years, particularly in his re-organisation of the playing side at the club and bringing it back to the forefront of the public’s attention—almost to the point at where the club had been in 1983, seven years before. He was now offered the job as England manager, an opportunity he could hardly turn down. The question of Taylor’s replacement was, of course, an immediate concern and, with Taylor’s backing, Dr. Josef Venglos was appointed after his Czechoslovakia side had impressed in the recent World Cup finals, particularly for their quality of football. He was the first overseas coach to be appointed in charge of an English premier club team. The decision-making behind this appointment was linked to the lifting of the European ban on English clubs in 1990; Villa had just qualified for the U.E.F.A. Cup.

And so, Graham Taylor left in 1990. But it was not to be his last involvement at Villa Park. Not by a long chalk. Nearly 12 years later he was back, after earlier being recruited by Doug Ellis as an “advisor”.

As the 2001-02 season entered January Villa had achieved only one League win in the previous 11 matches and Villa had dropped to ninth place, having earlier been riding high up in the Premiership. Doug Ellis was maintaining his stance on no further expenditure until income could be improved—forgetting, for one moment, how much had recently been spent on the development of the new Trinity Stand.

Villa received Manchester United in the F.A. Cup first round at Villa Park, and, remembering Villa’s display against them at the start of the season, many hopeful fans turned up to see the match, despite the fact it was televised. It was thought that Villa’s season might turn itself round at this point and after Villa had gone 2-0 up in the second half, hopes were high. Indeed, Vassell should arguably have put Villa three-up from Angel’s centre. However, United’s in-form £19 million Dutch international striker van Nistleroy was sat on the bench in the hour period up to Villa’s surge forward, but was now brought onto the pitch against a tiring home side. United then seemed a side transformed and, with he scoring two, United scored three in a five minute spell in the last 13 minutes and ran out 3-2 winners.

Villa’s League position was improved with two wins in the next two matches, but John Gregory resigned on January 24. It happened to be the day after that it was announced that the value of shares, which stood at £11 each when Aston Villa was floated almost five years previous, had fallen to £1.58. This valued the club at £18 million.

Former manager Graham Taylor had already been sitting in a non-executive capacity on the board for a year or more, and it so transpired that he (a popular figure amongst many supporters) was appointed as team manager. This was over eleven years since he left Villa Park to take on the England manager’s job.

At the end of February both Doug Ellis and Graham Taylor fielded questions at a shareholders’ forum. At this meeting, Taylor stated that he looked forward to taking Villa into the Champions League, and Ellis affirmed that money would be available in the summer to aid in that ambition.

Taylor came into the job promising a more attacking style of play and in his first match in charge (against Chelsea) Villa did not disappoint, though the result was a draw. Some of the players responded very positively to the new manager. Gareth Barry was re-introduced in the second half and played a fine game. He had been in the wilderness in Gregory’s administration, but under Taylor he was re-instated and played in every remaining game that season, but this time around he played in a midfield role.

After off-loading David Ginola, Taylor acquired the young and lanky Peter Crouch as a new striker, correctly predicting that he was a future England international, and also brought Hitzlsperger (whose left-foot shooting reminded everyone of Bruce Rioch back in the early 70s) into the side for a good run. Villa continued to show improvement in style for a couple of matches but then again ran into a poor run of results with no wins in seven matches. In one match—at Bolton—Villa lost 2-3 after being 2-0 up after 17 minutes and also enabled Bolton to win their first home match since August.

The season’s finish of a draw and two wins enabled an eighth place—the same finish as the previous year. By the end of the season, four home grown players were first team regulars and the team that beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the last game of the season included seven players under the age of 25. Extending the youth theme, Aston Villa won the F.A. Youth Cup, when a young Wayne Rooney was overshadowed by Stephan Moore, one of a pair of brothers of whom a lot was expected.

The ambition stated at the Shareholders’ Forum in February was not executed in the summer of 2002. It soon became clear that the kind of investment alluded to in February was not available. Those on high salaries—such as Schmeichal, Balaban, Ginola and Merson—had left or were on their way out, and Boateng had followed the path to Middlesbrough established by Ehiogu and Southgate. But the several players that came in were not players able to lift Villa higher than where they finished the previous season. A sizeable portion of the Villa squad—some 13 players—now consisted of overseas players.

The World Cup of 2002 had a different kind of effect on two Villa players. Firstly, Steve Staunton was made captain of the Republic of Ireland team and played a stalwart’s part in his country’s progress. Secondly, Alpay (of Turkey) clearly had his head turned after being voted one of the players in that year’s World Cup (best) XI. He now, clearly, had a much higher valuation of himself. His attitude in this coming season (expecting imminent transfer) was astonishing to Villa fans, and led to him playing only a handful of games.

Angel was perhaps one of the season’s greatest mysteries. Having scored three goals in a pre-season friendly against Walsall, he sustained a knee injury which caused him to miss the first 90 minutes of League football. But then, after being promising in the previous season and similarly promising when coming on as a substitute in his first appearance of the season, he played in very little football for the rest of the season.

After the first game (at home versus Liverpool), there were many questions about the team selected and the ability of this new team to gel. Although Villa lost the match, and after now admitting that there was not much cash available to spend, Taylor remained upbeat and said: “It’s pretty obvious that we are just outside the top four but we are not a pushover to those teams. To get into that top four you need to improve and make some changes— and you can’t do that quickly. My main objective remains the same as when I agreed to come back here.
Can we do it over the next couple of years? Can we make the next step, which is the big one? I think we can.” Was this wishful thinking?

There was very little uplifting play to be seen as the weeks rolled by, and the match at Small Heath in mid-September was looked forward to as possibly being the event that could finally launch the season into better things. This, a fixture that had gone into limbo during the City’s long sojourn in the lower league, was surely going to go Villa’s way.

The fact that Villa lost by three goals was bad enough, but there was a tragic moment when Mellberg’s throw-in to the keeper somehow squirmed into the net, ostensibly off the keeper. From that moment, Villa went into decline; heroes were virtually non-existent.

And so the season proceeded. There were a couple of occasions when Villa produced a win to cheer about against lesser teams but, by the end of December, Villa lay in fourteenth place, only just above Birmingham.

There was one match that nearly defied the events that had developed so far that season. It so happened that Villa had progressed to the quarter-finals of the League Cup by beating a succession of lower division sides, but this December match was against Liverpool, at Villa Park. Liverpool had not been in form of late, but in this game they were always in contention and their commitment (unfortuunately for Villa) paid off in the later part of the match. There was an explosive finish with Dublin making it 3-3 in the 84th minute only for the industrious Murphy to complete a seven-goal thriller with Liverpool’s winner following a pass from Gerrard.

Villa maintained their usual unimpressive form until the end of January, when a 5-2 win at Middlesbrough prompted Graham Taylor to say: “I do genuinely believe that we are so close to being a very good Premiership side.” A 3-0 win at home to Blackburn in the next League match seemed to confirm that, particularly as in early January Blackburn had come to Villa Park in the F.A. Cup and inflicted a 1-4 defeat on Villa—a certain Dwight Yorke had then scored a hat-trick against his old team.

However, in the remaining 12 League matches of the season, Villa only won one of their matches. The home fixture against Birmingham was one of Villa’s defeats.

Villa had not been drawn into a relegation battle all season, although on the fringes of the lower places, but Villa finished not that far away from the drop in sixteenth place. Birmingham finished three places higher.

Graham Taylor resigned at this point, saying: “I had another year on my contract and I was under no pressure to resign as Aston Villa manager—but have become increasingly unhappy at how the club as a whole was run. There are fundamental problems at Aston Villa that are preventing it from becoming a top-four football club. In [the year remaining] I was simply not going to be able to overhaul the structure to make a difference.”

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John Lerwill
I'm a Villan of more than 60 years standing and an occasional writer on Villa history. For me there is only one football club worth supporting, but I am now wondering whether I will again see anything like the pageant that was paraded under Ron Saunders or even that by Big Ron and Brian Little. My glass, however, is always half-full! Click here for my Villa website.

Comments 214

  1. James Gill

    john l
    a think tad harsh on dol selling crouch,first season he got 5m ,same 2nd,taylor left because he felt like red adair putting out fires all over villa park,george boateng said as much today on sky
    must readabove now

  2. James Gill

    the 6 2 villa everton was live and brilliant speed of daley, then the night the first doc venglos played inter with taylor team and nielson scored a screamer,birch ran the show ,

  5. James Gill

    john l
    from what i remember the linekar deal was well on
    and did you see deadly on sky with jim white the vain old goat he wanted to watch himself as he was interview ended up looking a fool

  6. Paul Pears

    Thank you JL,

    An excellent piece of Villa’s history, and a wonderful tribute to a great Villa manager, at the same time as underlining the terrible malais that inhabited Villa Park from Deadly Doug’s tenure, and perhaps we should reflect on the fact that Randy Lerner was going to be on a hiding to nothing, and maybe because of him, the scorge within Villa Park, may wel now have been removed.

    I do sicerely hope that with the total re-organisation that the good Dr Tony and Steve Bruce can take us forward into a new era that is not too late for you and I to enjoy….!!!

  9. Clive Evans

    I always enjoyed the matches v Watford at VP – their supporters were friendly, many families, unlike some of the ones we ‘entertained’ in those days. I recall their keeper wore a red top – was his name Sherwood?. They were usually high scoring games and Villa usually won!

    A lovely trip down memory lane John – I particularly remember the 6-2 v Everton as me and my 2 mates used to take a hip-flask into the ground and toast each Villa goal – we got so carried away we even toasted theirs and later said ‘ who is driving?

    The Inter game James Gill mentions was, as he says Venglos playing with Taylor’s team. Birchy kep Matteus quiet the whole game and Daley was such a threat with his speed that Bremer did not get up field to put in the fabled crosses to Klinsman. So what did Venglos do in the second leg? He played Daley on the left wing and we got slaughtered by Bremer and Klinsman.

    A fitting tribute John to a great manager who, as you say, had his critics but there were more positive than negative.

  10. runtings

    JL thank you for a fitting documentation of a classy guy – I think most football people would have brought Graham Taylor a pint if they bumped into him in a pub

  15. IanG

    Thanks for the writeup JL.
    It’s brought back a lot of memories.
    RIP Graham taylor, a decent human being.
    Terrible malaise is right PP, & he’s still at it.
    Stopped me going back to the Witton Lane stand seat I used as well, couldn’t stomach it.

    IanG

  17. IanG

    Looks a reasonable team Andrew, considering, hope we win & give GT a good send off.
    All those yellow seats are enough to make you snow blind!

    IanG

  19. James Gill

    another strange bruce decision sign a keeper for half season and release gollina for a season and half, same with letting rudi go 2 matches no replacement

    andrew most would pick your tam all bar man that counts bruce

  22. Heroes-and-Villans

    James

    Exactly! Gettign there though…westy seems to have been benched. want a rb and a st! Come feb they will be gone.

    Interest in Brady. Schlupp did not want to drop down from prem. shows willing to be 12mill for someone! can we convince brady? I doubt it.

    Will bid for conor heluia whats his name. little as 1 mill!

    Lansbury wait till forest takeover.

  24. Paul Pears

    McKirdy’s loan spell is over, but he may be loaned out again. However Bruce could surprise us and Davies and Mckirdy could be on the bench tomorrow..!!

    GG is still unfit, along with Richards, everyone else should be okay.

    Let us hope that Bruce makes a great choice of our available players…!!

  25. Heroes-and-Villans

    They rcon hourihan deal could be done! Agreed 28k week. 1.5 mill deal.

    Couldnt get near shulp wages but want brady!!

    Jesus imagine signing hourihan, lansbury, brady!!! Id be so excited. We would be a didferent bloody team

  26. Heroes-and-Villans

    Forest takeover off!!! My cous is a fan. Feel so sorry for them, stuck in the nightmare that we had under randy. Makes me so appriciative of the dr and co.

    More importantly what about lansbury now!!!

  28. Heroes-and-Villans

    Bruce

    Not going to sign any player for the sake of it. They have to be much better than what we have. He has final say on who he wants. Discusses with round. Dr sanctions it and keith negotiates.

    Dear god its so nice having a proper structure in place.

    Rember the last window with gardei hahaha and the signings of young and hungry players cheap from abroad!!!

  31. Trinity

    Not sure Garde was allowed to buy any players. Garde was a decent chap, who got the short end from a selfish and incompetent administration. That CEO they brought in from Arsenal should have donated most of his pay to Acorns. A shameful period in Villa’s history. GT was old school.

  32. James Gill

    the clock has turned , wolves 1st fixture for bruce, they battered us for a draw now over 3 months under bruce they are back ,surely we should have a best team a formation style, only codja missing ayew has only been used sparingly, and if mcmumbles beats him?

  33. Heroes-and-Villans

    Last jan. We had gardei, almstadt, reily and learner running the show. Be thankfull people!!!

    Will be tough tonight, take a draw.

    James we still have no mid and our best player kodjia out! Wolves confident after ladt weeks win at stoke. Under the lights at molyniux on tv. Tough

  34. Heroes-and-Villans

    Imagine if randy pulled the plug on the dr like forest have now. Poor buggers.

    Remi was just a job for the boys, foxs mate from arsenal connection. Horrendous football decisions per the norm under those clowns.
    Simon jordan talking about remi appointment today on twitter. Remi aint a manager, whats he up to now.

  35. IanG

    Trinity
    Agreed about Garde, he had all the makings of a good manager but was completely shafted & left in it with all promises broken by a bunch of chancers.
    His creditability was stolen which undercut anything he could potentially do, & it very much strengthened the malaise in the dressing room.
    Then of course the reactionary nature of fandom finished him off.
    I for one wish him well

  36. Mark King

    Wish garde was still here he looked a very good manager at lyon, I’m surprised he is not on anti-depressants after the kicking he got here. What he did have was years of experience of the transfer market with Lyon, could do with that now.

    I have heard some opine that Bruce would of saved us, makes me chuckle, what would he of made of our midget midfield? and the keystone cops at the back, at least he would of had Gabby eh.

    At least the players garde wanted made sense and several went on to prove there premiership quality at Sunderland. I really wish we had got the Croatian Keeper in he was immense literally 6’7″

  38. James Gill

    its funny garde or rdm never once complained to media about their time at villa compared to lambert mcleish,
    as for bruce he has same players rdm had,the ones he said were good players 3 months ago

  39. Heroes-and-Villans

    No sympathy with gardei. Got the job being mates with fox and got million odd pound compo out of us for bring crepe.

    Mark i seriously cant believe you would want gardei over bruce in this leaugue!! Thats insane !!

    James

    Bruce has gotten rdms team out the bottom 4 and safely mid table. Think we are 4 th in the form guide too. Thankfully knows the squad needs work.

    Boro signing bampford.

    Welcome rhodes 🙂

  41. IanG

    James
    That says it all really about the quality & intelligence of the person, although we can all make mistakes, but there obviously be a lot of volatile trumpeting self serving in the world.
    An old proverb springs to mind in all this, “It takes one to know one”

    Andrew
    Let’s hope there’s some progress soon before some of us peg it.
    Personally I’ll probably be busy next week trying to retain a sense of humour

    IanG

    IanG

  42. Heroes-and-Villans

    Iang

    Well if us villa fans never had a sense of humour imagine how much harder life wud be following villa!

    Today wud be a great day to win, most lkeoy be dissaponted like the transfer window!!

  43. James Gill

    garde turned down both newcastle and sunderland,
    i probably gave him stick ,more out of frustration than anything else,fuck me the villa squad of lescott richards guzan and gabby were crap,

  45. r0bb0

    Mark, I’m with you on Garde. He’s the one manager since MoN that I’d have ahead of Bruce. He seemed to have a playing philosophy and style and if he’d been supported I think he could have turned things round.
    He’s probably been the most unfortunate of the last 7 managers.
    I’d have liked to see what Houllier could have done too.
    Bruce has undeniably done well since he joined us but I’m still nervous about how things will go this afternoon and for the next few weeks until we manage to get a few reinforcements through the door

  46. Mark King

    At least its 442, yes I would take Garde over Bruce in this league as most said French league is on par. He would of had a heads up on the team and a better chance of being rid of the dross plus might well have kept the French bunch involved. as it stand we have our work cut out to get to the play offs 10 points behind tonight.

    one Graham Taylor love it 🙂

  47. Mark King

    Robbo- totally if you consider most of our managers were spoon fed players on the cheap and he got the worst of it. right now he would be great at setting this club up for the future as he did for Lyon

  52. r0bb0

    I see we have that ignorant blue nose back on the site . . . . Seems he has no memory either as I’m sure it’s only a week or so since he said he was off from this site because we weren’t intelligent enough for him

  56. Heroes-and-Villans

    Grrrrr
    Jedi has been very poor. Like the look of tisch, best of all our mids.

    Ross miss the difference. Again its not rocket, no mid creativity, assists. Adomah and amavi only ones capable of assisting.

    Hope baker aint out too long allthough elphixks done well.

  58. r0bb0

    Andrew, agreed about Jedi. He seems to have gone backwards in last few games after having been really secure and imposing for much of the season.
    Wolves have been the better team but we’ve made chances so aren’t out of it yet.
    Let’s hope that Lambert hasn’t changed and tells wolves to sit back second half and allow the opponents to over-run them like he did when he was at Villa.

  61. James Gill

    what has the ref done wrong,maybe should had a pen for ross tug but we don t deserve it,
    shocking performance again from back to front
    gabby played entire match
    this season is gone waste no more money in transfer window get a manager that can build a team not keep picking clowns like hutton bacuna westwood gg and gaby for starters

  62. Mark King

    I cannot understand our reliance on hutton as an attacking option he ruins nearly every move , I think Adomah must think he’s cursed. Thought green deserves a start he will get the ball in no doubt, just needs Gestede now, oops 😉

  65. Trinity

    Yeah Hutton does seem to get lots of ball, probably unmarked as JG said.
    Well, Lambert took the honours this time. Could be philosophical and say 0-1 away to a good Wolves side isn’t so bad. However, Villa have just lost three in a row. We all know it is time for an upgrade. When/if it looks certain that Villa isn’t going to get to the playoffs, how will the fans react?

  66. James Gill

    mark k
    so does mine
    i think its time for the doc and his team to take a hard look at it all, bruce is only a short term fix,has been at all his previous clubs
    6/7 players have to be offloaded every manager has failed by playing them

  67. Clive Evans

    Not much to add other than what was McCormack doing taking corners when he’s supposed to be our main striker? Not one shot at goal in 90 minutes, assuming Adomah’s chip doesn’t count as one!

    I watched the Leeds v Derby match on Friday and either of them would beat Villa in it’s present state. Monk has got Leeds firing again.

  68. Trinity

    Clive
    That’s right.
    Brucie has admitted that the problem is a mix of wrong mentality and lack of ability.
    For Villa, Hutton was, for me, the best player on the pitch. Him and Greene, says it all.
    I have had enough of Gabby. Get rid of him. Villa isn’t a rehab facility for his like. Jedinak better prove too that he isn’t at Villa for just the money in his later years. Get that midfield overhauled and get someone who scores goals. I see many bagging McCormack, but where was Gabby? If the legend can’t rise to a derby, why bother with him?
    Let Greene play.

  69. Clive Evans

    Trinity – agreed. The number of passes that go astray or, more recently, short is amazing – Bacuna is the main proponent of the short pass that turns possession into scrambling defence.

    We do need a clear out and that will hinder any chances of play-offs. Even play-offs are no salvation unless we play at home!!

  70. John Lerwill

    For what it’s worth, my player ratings in what was (overall) a poor performance, especially in midfield…

    Johnstone…6…They had (effectively) one shot on goal – the goal itself – and that chance was provided by Johnstone’s misdirected save.
    Hutton…7…Clearly aware that Villa are out to get a replacement!
    Elphick…7…I was nervous about him playing, but he did well.
    Chester…6…Not quite his usual self.
    Amavi…7…The mark given for his support play. Defensively so-so.
    Adomah…5…Not dangerous enough.
    Tshibola…6…OK, nothing special.
    Jedinak…6…OK, nothing special.
    Bacuna…6…OK, nothing special.
    McCormack…6…Support play good, but weak in front of goal.
    Gabby…6…Held up well but didn’t get any chances to score.

    Subs:
    Grealish…5…The commentators always talk about him coming on to create something special, but I’ve yet to see it. Did little. Score given according to his ability.
    Green…6…Didn’t do very much but continues to show ability.
    Davis … not on long enough.

  72. Clive Evans

    Agree with your assessment John – here’s mine maybe the keeper was nervous with a new pairing in front when he might have left the ball – Baker was missed – was there a shout?
    Grealish holds on to the ball too long, McCormack is not running in the centre of attack so little chance, Gabby past his best, Bacuna cannot give a decent pass, Amavi great despite odd problems, Adomah trying to fit the Kodjia boots, Jedinak should stay at the back of the midfield – need I go on. Mid-table team if we are lucky.

  75. James Gill

    johnl
    i think you overmarked everyone by at least one point maybe 2
    elphik chester start too deep so entire team deep too start has to be bruce orders
    amavi would start him left wing but we have no options at left back
    feel sorry for ross yes had a good chance but at least he was there not like speed merchantgabby 5/10 yards behind
    grealish came on ,hutton made dash upfield 30/40 yards wolves steps up hutton passes to grealish about 5 yards away fromhutton goes out either throw at corner flag or goalkick the look onjg face said it all,adoamh spends entire match covering for hutton
    then the other subs davies gets min plus injury time another joke managerial decision, green showed why he should got start v spurs
    i am fed up supporting this crap
    need to start now with clean sheet this season gone
    and that means a fresh manager and coaching staff,brighton didn tsuffer from losing calderwood but we have from gaining him

  76. John Lerwill

    Clive,

    For me, Gabby needs effective wingers though I’d agree he’s not the player he was … he was at his best with Young and Milner. Mind you I’d say that Green looks a good bet … maybe SB should persevere with him.

    For me at least 3 really good signings could make the difference … defender, midfield and another attacker. But as for the play-offs, not winning in the last 3 matches has put a real dent in Villa’s chances and PNE are next up.

  78. Mark King

    JL- PNE? should be easy 😉

    I think Hutton is all effort and no brain, a rough estimate is about 50% of our attacks end with him producing nothing only for us to be caught out with a quick break. He actually makes Adomahs job hard by restricting his space.

    Green, I’ve only been saying the lad is a good winger for two seasons now, a left winger at that and is strong and athletic. I wonder If RMH might be quite good as well 😉

    I honestly think that we could mix some elements of the 1st with the U23’s about 50/50 or 60/40 and produce a better team.

    Gabby has no strikers instinct left in him miles behind the play

  79. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    Gabby may have lost the striker’s instinct, but there were no chances that came his way to score anyway. There was one centre from Adomah that if it had been lower would have given Gabby a fine chance, but it was too high.

    But he was all over the place trying to play others into the game … my goodness me he gets stick!!

  80. James Gill

    mark k
    said that about hutton for years,and just take a close watch when we are defending he is like apoliceman directing traffic his arms pointing at other players saying you mark him,and hutton stands marking space

  82. Mark King

    JL- The reality has been kodjia makes his own chances, so on that basis RMH is a better like for like than Gabby who whether you like it or not and whether chances were created or not has not scored since biblical times and doesn’t look likely to either. Good players effect games, good strikers make the right runs so players can create that chance.

    In Greens short cameo he showed the player with the ball where to play it for him by pointing, how crap are we that its not obvious?? one pass that did not come would of put him clean through and he put some decent crosses in if only we had someone to meet them. Strikers need to make time and space not just run around a lot.

  83. Heroes-and-Villans

    Think we will be seeing more of green after bruces comments.

    My worry is are we going to attract hourihan to join us over sheff wed? Cairny from fulham?

    Itsnot going to be a quick fix. Like leeds its going to take us 5 or 6 years i reckon.

  84. Paul Pears

    Yesterday I tried to plan seeing the game live either on Sky Go on my laptop, phone, or possibly in a pub in Bristol that had Sky Sports, as I was required to go visiting, then organise a meal before going to the theatre to watch Abba Mania.

    As it turned out, I left the laptop at home, My phone wouldn’t download silverlight, and the pubs were full of people wanting to watch Chelsea, so I ended up having great fish, chips and mushy peas washed down with coffee before the show, and then saw the score, realised I had missed nothing and enjoyed a few G&T’s and a great show!!!!

    Now I have to watch the recording of what would appear to be another c**p match with another s**e team selected by our very dubious manager.

    The saddest thing may well be that Remi Garde did not survive until Dr Tony took over, and then we may have had the manager to take us forward, and build a REAL team.

    I have seen nothing yet to convince me about Bruce, and have Villa’s failings come since Gabby started hanging round the dressing room again..????

  85. Paul Pears

    The captain of the ship is the most important of all…

    What a pleasure watching Kueman’s Everton, Gary Monk’s Leeds, Pochettino’s Spurs…..and so on…Get the man….give him the players and the time….Villa have not done either since the days of MON….

  86. IanG

    Mark,
    Agree about Hutton, he is a bit of a 1 trick pony with no subtlety, & he takes the space away from Adomah who spends half his time covering for him. Wrote this in a post last night but didn’t post it cos I’d depressed myself after watching Gabby run around like a headless chicken disguised a a striker [also with no brain].
    Green showed class, but apart from Amavi no one seemed to want to pass the ball to him & he kept on finding the space & making good runs.
    Bacuna showed his usual limitations & gave the ball away regularly, we really need some midfielders as Jedi was exposed again.
    Some of them have some really ingrained bad habits based on fear, & seem to implode regularly in self protection, no bottle, don’t want to try things in case the finger gets pointed at them & it wakes them up.
    They’d rather lose.
    Davis never gets enough time & maybe Bruce is giving Gabby enough rope to hang himself.
    As far as RHM is concerned, he seems to have gone up an entry & locked the gate, which doesn’t help him or the club.

    James
    “Supposed to be a striker not on strike” says it all, rings the bell!
    JL
    Even you will eventually give up on Gabby as trying isn’t scoring goals.

  88. John Lerwill

    Mark: “The reality has been kodjia makes his own chances”

    But even so the player and the ball have to be in the right spot to try to make a chance … it didn’t happen to Gabby in this match.

    He did nearly get a goal against Spurs, btw, and only an outstanding block prevented it.

    In fact I got the impression that Gabby was trying harder to get the ball to team-mates for them to have a go … if that’s a failure on his part then so be it, but it’s futile to compare him with Codger or RHM. i.m.o.

    So you and others don’t like him .. OK I accept that, but don’t let’s make statements about him that are basically not true, and judging him as though he’s someone else … *except* that he hasn’t scored for a long time – that’s about the only statement made that is true.

  90. Paul Pears

    Wow!

    What a game…!!!

    Kueman’s Everton destroy City with a wonderful blend of experience, skill and talented youth….wonder how much Gareth Barry has helped with the development of Tom D avies and Ross Barkley back to his best……good to see all the goals..and the youngsters providing the icing on the cake….can the next game match up to this…!!!

  91. John Lerwill

    About Bruce

    He’s got two players away (though I agree that Ayew is not really missed), Gestede wanted to leave, and he hasn’t yet had any outfield transfers come his way … yet.

    SB has had to choose from what he’s got, and I’m sorry, if RHM and his support group want to act like greedy speculators then RHM should be out of the team. I totally support Bruce on that.

    Agreed that he could have tried other youngsters earlier … Green has done enough before and it’s arguably true he should have been persevered with.

    Bruce has only got the lot that he inherited – and, with absentees and transfers, even less. Let’s see what he does if he can get players of the level he wants in by January’s end. Then he can be criticised if things don’t go well.

    However, though I don’t agree that it will take 5 or 6 years, I’m now (sadly) more convinced that it may take 2 years at least to get out of the Championship.

  92. Paul Pears

    Maybe it is a good thing that your optimism is lasting longer than most of us, or there would be very little positive on here.

    I also hear what you say about Gabby, but without his edge, he is going to be very lucky to achieve much, maybe one goa could make a difference for him, but it does not look like coming anytime soon, as we look to stare our first home defeat in the face with the visit of an in form Preston North End, and Daniel Johnson scoring goals for fun…

  93. John Lerwill

    Paul,

    I agree with you about Gabby, but blaming him for everything under the sun is not at all fair in my view.

    The problem is that SB just doesn’t have any choice just now other than to play Gabby, who works hard enough but simply lacks an edge, as you say.

    I’d say we’ll be lucky to get a point vs PNE right now … it all hinges on a new troop of players coming in to turn things round.

  94. James Gill

    well its either give gabby stick or the doc easy choice lol
    but seriously bruce fucked up selling rudi if no replacement was signed thats 6 points lost might be the difference from play offs
    the doc did say they had jan covered well halfway through and no sign of it
    always remember the great liverpool team saying ian rush was there first line of defence,defend from the front not edge of our box

  95. John Lerwill

    James: “but seriously bruce f**ked up selling rudi if no replacement was signed thats 6 points lost might be the difference from play offs”

    Well it’s OK saying that as a fan, but Bruce was probably in a cleft stick situation. Apparently Gestede thought that he was good enough for the Prem and wanted to go there, but if Boro had been made to wait then Boro may have bought someone else and Villa left with no buyer for Gestede.

    Anyhow, if the reports are correct, there may be some xfer activity this week.

  96. Heroes-and-Villans

    Thing is with bruce he is trying everyhing with what he has. Kept it settled early on as we was winnng and picking up points.

    Moment it tailed off we have brought in tisch, seen green and davis in 1st team, jack in middle with tisch. 442!

    I said it months ago, finish above blues, and try and knit some knd of team together is my priority rst of season. Think and plan for next sason now

  97. James Gill

    john l
    you hit it on the head, most post as fans thats why most posts are not as well wrote as yours and maybe dor, we all want villa to be a decent side with players showing at least effort

  98. John Lerwill

    James: “you hit it on the head, most post as fans thats why most posts are not as well wrote as yours…”

    No, James, that’s not what I meant. I am a fan as well, for goodness sake! 😉

    What I meant was that **we** as fans may see it one way, but what goes on in the business of football is something that is probably different. We cannot see always why matters are played out in the way they get played out. And the press sometimes just guesses as well…

    In other words, Bruce (or any manager) has his own game plan that he has to follow, and we may not be entirely privy to it.

  99. Paul Pears

    John,

    “the press sometimes just guesses as well…..” or maybe , most of the time the press invents it, and very occasionally it is true…

    Failed to record match , so only saw highlights on Channel 5, and would agree in the main of what you reported, but would give each player a point less as well.

    Managed to make contact with Jen on Twitter and she misses the blog, so hopefully she will be back here soon…!!!

    How do Wigan manage to get good young right backs on loan, like Callum Connolly from Everton, and we cant find one>…??

  100. Paul Pears

    Will Villa snatch Rowett from the jaws of Nottingham Forest..before the end of the week…and complete the Lansbury deal, now the take-over has collapsed at Forest…..?????

    Or will Bruce plod on for another few months….???

    How happy is the good Dr….or more importantly…..how patient is he…Chinese have no time for losers, or inefficiency.

  105. Paul Pears

    If Bruce had continued to get it right, I would not be criticising, and he has the same players as RDM, who did not lose as many games before he got the sack……

    Steve had the usual purple patch coming in, but the impetus died in Wales and has not returned, and he has ignored the problems in attack and mid field. He has great young players that could have made a difference, even Kueman has realised that they can and do make a difference.

    The failure to introduce RHM and Green, has cost us dearly, as has getting rid of our youngsters in the past, and they love cming back to haunt us, and I am sure Jonson and Robinson will do so next Saturday, given the opportunity.

  106. Trinity

    RichardS
    Yes it is asinine. And if we want to talk about gross asininity, let’s go back to the period where Lerner wouldn’t sell the club until the last minute, which made it really difficult for RDM to muster the players he wanted together. Dr.X ended up paying maximum for often their second or third choice of players. What we see now harkens back to Lerner and that incredibly overpaid, money grabbing CEO he employed to strip the club of its assets before the not so big sell.
    It’s nothing new to say that Villa has a better administrative team in place now, but until they can get in the right players and bring Villa players through the ranks, nothing much will change on the field. Steve Bruce is up for a multi-million bonus if Villa gets promotion, so he’ll be pulling out all stops. The trouble, as he says, is a weak mentality coupled with a lack of ability with the players. Jonathan Kodija had masked a lot of that inability at Villa while he was present. Most of his goals were individual efforts. As soon as he’s gone, Villa is exposed, especially upfront. Surely, he’s given enough rope to Gabby by now, who by now must be up for the division’s highest paid hasbeen. In Bruce’s defense, Villa was going to be short of strikers, so he gambled on Gabby and got rid of Gestede. He got the maths wrong. He’s said so. Change in personal should be imminent.

  107. John Lerwill

    Paul,

    I think Iana’s view (above) is closer to the mark.

    Bruce has most definitely *not* ignored the problems in attack for example … if you have a £12m striker with a big scoring record in his history then you’d expect him to do the business. Unfortunately Ross has failed. RHM should not be played i.m.o. Green – yes, but he’s not a striker.

    Bruce has most definitely *not* ignored the problems in midfield either …he can only play what he’s got until he can get fresh legs in. Grealish has been a big disappointment … who would have thought that?

    Bruce has been unlucky in my view but from now on (and only from now on) he has a chance to get things right.

  108. Mark King

    I agree under Bruce Kodjia has saved our bacon on many occasions, what people are forgetting is the period before Kodjia and Adomah and Jedinak turned up under RDM both Gestede and RMC scored goals with RMC and Grealish and Ayew assisting. W1L1D2 it was and we had beat Rotherham 3-0 . Kodjia came in a although he had plenty of shots on goal it really did not happen after he scored on his debue. Worse still our cohesion got worse with the new arrivals, Kodjia, Adomah and Ayew are all individual type players no matter how good.

    Now apparently without him Bruce cannot get this team to attack? in fact with him we did not really get on the front foot much. We have won some games that quite frankly that could of easily been losses and now that is the norm. We have beaten the lower teams under Bruce not much more with tactics that saw us sitting back mostly.

    So why when RDM has shown this team can attack and take leads without Kodjia, Adomah and Jedinak is Bruce given the excuse that the players are not good enough?

    This is not a bash Bruce post its as factual as my memory allows and I remember having the best attacking stats in the division, hitting the woodwork multiple times, penalties not given and some horrendous bad luck with the keeper under RDM ( who I was not particularly impressed with anyway) What I see now is that Steve Bruce was the reason we got some wins but he’s not at fault for our poor form and horrendous play now. That does not stack up when viewed across half a season, we have got visibly worse going forward.

    Yes Bruce needs some players but guess what so did RDM

  109. Heroes-and-Villans

    hard to argue with any of the above.

    You just have to sctach your head sometimes and think what the hell is wrong with us!

    My opinion is we need at least 2 transfer windows under bruce to give him time. I say this because villa need some sort of stability. too much chopping and changing. Bruce has said all the right things and I pray he can get it right.

    Mark

    Under rdm we started games well but got battered 2nd half all the time. The footy wont that great either.

  110. Mark King

    Andrew- I remember wondering how we had not come in 3 up at half time in many games but at least we had chances. RDM had trouble holding on to not taking leads, against sheff weds for instance we hit the post and Bakers shirt was stretched 3 foot long in their penalty area before forrestierri scored from a defensive error. We had games littered with such moments under RDM. I’m not saying it was great, I’m saying he got more going forward than Bruce seems capable of with the same or less players.

  111. Mark King

    Bruce on Arrival

    Bruce insists that Villa have spent very well in the transfer window and have a powerful squad for the Championship.

    Now the 55-year-old aims to inspire those players to great things, as he looks to help them charge up the table.

    He told AVTV: “You only have to look at the squad – and the investment that the club has made – to realise we have a good group of players for the Championship.

    “I will be delighted to start work first thing today. I can’t wait to get stuck in. I am ready to go.

    I have made my career out of one thing really and managed to get to the top – that’s basically hard work.
    Steve Bruce

    “I have made my career out of one thing really and managed to get to the top – that’s basically hard work. You have to be able to work hard for me. That’s what I demand.

    “Football is a team game. How often have we seen a team – maybe not with the best individuals – but the team itself is the most important thing.”

  112. Archie

    Mark,
    I think a lot of these players arrived with reputations and they haven’t lived up to them. The reality is any new manager/coach isn’t going to rubbish his squad on arrival, he’s given his squad a dozen or so games to show him,(Bruce) what they’ve got and now he knows. He recognises he’s got to bring people who will respond to him and do as there told. In the games I’ve seen we’re very predictable going forward and easy to defend against. Players like Grelish and Adomah seem unable to pick a pass out that can create a scoring chance. There just not on the same wavelength as Ross and Gabby. Only one quality ball to Ross from Amavi that was the sum total supply to RM. No wonder he’s struggling to find the net. And Gabby’s shot his bolt,past his sell by
    Interestingly I listened to Graeme Souness a week or so ago. He stated some players respond staight away to what there told other players may have to be reminded,once. If you have to keep reminding, get rid. I think thats where Bruce is at with our lot. I think his quote of to many “posers, passengers and past its” does sum it up. He’s lost patience.
    I think play offs or promotion is a pipe dream at the moment. we’re really not good enough, mid table at best. This second half of the season give accademy players game time, clear the decks in the summer and give it a go next season.
    Archie.

  113. Paul Pears

    MK

    You have it right about Bruce, and it seems a very familiar song sheet to that one that Sherwood sang from, having an intial impact, and then when things go wrong, blaming the tools.

    JL,

    You are still ignoring the fact that RHM and other young players could have been on the bench AND USED when the opportunity arose, but he has chosen not to. I suspect that RHM has seen what has happened, and how our youngsters just keep being loaned out and then disposed of, as Johnson, Robinson, Albrighton and many others, and I incude Traore in that.

    WE also have Sanchez and Veretout out on loan, and if the need is there, there must be a call back opportunity, and if not it was obviously more poor work by the outgoing administration.

    McCormack can take some of the blame, but we have never played to his strengths, and Villa still try to rely on balls lobbed in the box, rather than the direct routes which suit our forwards more, and that includes Gabby…!!

    The waste of McCormack taking free kicks and corners, when he should be stood on the 6yard line, and Bacuna being played out of position, and is also much better cover for Hutton, who he is used to playing with. One of the biggest mistakes you hear from successful managers is playing people in the wrong positions.

    Grealish will never be a defensive mid, and should be playing further up the pitch, where he can be using his silky skills to go past players, and Gabby now he has lost his speed, would be better convereted to the midfield.

  114. Heroes-and-Villans

    matey on twitter reckons bruce aint happy with half his team! Going to be big changes.

    Mark

    That’s just standard new manager speak, aint going to say any different!

    The reality is the players we have are shite.

    Talk of a striker but who is going to provide the service? Again nothing has changed, need a new midfield. Out midfield offer no movement, energy, same old same old.

    Grelaish gets stick but you can see him on the ball and no one is moving! No one to pass to.

    I miss the snake delph so much. from mid he could beat a man and get us on the front foot.

  115. Paul Pears

    Archie,

    Maybe the biggest prroblem at senior level is the coaches are not using the players natural ability, and harnessing it for the good of the team, and the systems in placde do not allow for any individuality, whereas in our under 23 side there is more freedom, and they get the results, AND SCORE GOALS…!!!

  117. Mark King

    Of course Bruce would say that but so have many commentators including the ones on Saturday and the facts remain that we had very good attacking stats under RDM and not under Bruce. Please don’t go thinking I’m happy with the team I am not and what team cannot be improved on? the summers buys were after all an opening gambit not the final throw.

    What I am hearing from Bruce at the moment is he is rubbishing the players in public its not a wise move because if his players don’t turn up what then? another disgruntled bunch? and who exactly is he referring to? because he’s put Gabby on a pedestal to some extent. I do not like that Bruce takes no blame along with his team and neither will they.

    RMC has always orchestrated teams and scored goals, he takes free kicks,pens corners and still scored 20 odd so he is doing nothing different. His demeanour of late suggests he is not a happy bunny.

  118. Paul Pears

    Why do people think that Rhodes could be an answer?????

    If Gestede and McCormack were not the answers then why should Rhodes be the one. No service = no goals, what we need is another Delph….as said earlier. Someone to fight and take the ball on.

    Did we not have one, and then sold him to Everton..!!

    GG is an honest player, but a Delph he will never be.

  120. runtings

    another poor showing vs wolves

    I think we can all agree that we need better players but what disappoints me the most his how we set up

    We seem like lambs to the slaughter especially with the inspiration of Kodjia in the team

    We start far too deep and allow teams no matter how poor to play if they want to.
    Amavi and the wingers spend more time defending and the midfield play just in front of the defence — We should press the game more and play on the front foot and i think we would do much much better if we endorsed positive play

  121. Heroes-and-Villans

    Paul

    The service issue/mid is THE issue imo. Think they know this though.

    Matey on twittee says we want Lansbury/expensive. Hourihan, cheap but tough to get. and cairny, difficult to get.

    All mids who assist and score. Need a pacey winger too.

    TBF I did like a bit of mccormacks work in a more number 10 roll. Good touch and passing in places.

    We are not creating a proper drilled team. Like marl says it may well be bruce. Ill judge him at this point next season.

  122. Heroes-and-Villans

    Also to be honest we are saying how bad we are but did Johnson have another save to make? Wolves just looked pacey on the break to me. not much in the game and should def of had a pen. shirt pulling.

  124. Paul Pears

    Villa have for years always been very poor at making a case for penalties, apart from JG, who seems to have the knack of making sure he gets his fair share of free kicks and pens.

    The worst case in recent times was Heleniaus, and he never played again, he was so ribbed and embarassed.

    We need to shape up, as we have had enough awarded against us in the past.

  125. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    RDM didn’t win matches – simples. Bruce has won 7 since he came in 3 months ago.

    And as for RDM “needing players” .. he had his chance and bought £50m worth. Only Codger can be said to have been worth the spree and hence why he’s now missed.

    Bruce was brought in to get wins … which he has. This month it’s fallen flat because we’re now in a stage of flux with absentees and transfers going the rounds. Therefore it’s not the time to throw anything at Bruce until the dust is settled … and if Bruce is still doing summat wrong.

    We’re so impatient it’s unbelievable…

  126. John Lerwill

    Paul: “You are still ignoring the fact that RHM and other young players could have been on the bench AND USED “

    Mate, you clearly don’t read all that was written. I clearly mentioned RHM and don’t believe he should be played – I agree with Bruce – until he’s signed that contract. Apart from which Bruce did give him some time on the pitch, though not a lot I agree.

  127. John Lerwill

    Paul: “Grealish will never be a defensive mid, and should be playing further up the pitch, where he can be using his silky skills to go past players, and Gabby now he has lost his speed, would be better convereted to the midfield.”

    Any ability Grealish had to ghost past players seems to me to have evaporated. You don’t have to play further up the pitch to use that skill. He seems to have lost more speed than Gabby!

  128. Heroes-and-Villans

    yeah agree on rhm

    If he does not want to be at villa than bog off. We need commitment now more than ever!

    Davies sign a new deal…on the bench and getting some minutes.

    Villa sign Wolfsburg 19year old left winger donkor.

  129. Paul Pears

    RHM may well have signed if he had been handled better, and used sooner on the bench.

    We almost lost Grealish through the same thing, and he only signed once he got the assurances he wanted, or have we forgotten. Do not see these things happening at Soton, or other clubs that manage to produce good youngsters.

    I did read JL,
    but did not agree with you….If Harry Kane and Delli Ali were at Villa, they would still be in the under 23’s or on loan at Doncaster or PNE, ………

    We need to wake up and play in the real world, and start playing today’s game…

    The 19yr old has been signed for the under 23’s NOT the 1st team. Same as Traore was.

  130. IanG

    Hi all,
    An interesting quote from the Arthur Hopcraft book.

    “No player, manager, director or fan who understands football, either through his intellect or his nerve ends, ever repeats that piece of nonsense trotted out mindlessly by the fearful every now and again, which pleads, ‘after all, it’s only a game’. It has not been only a game ever since the working classes saw in it an escape route out of drudgery and claimed it as their own. It is not a sideshow. What happens on a football field matters.

    “It has conflict and beauty and, when those two qualities are present together in something offered for public appraisal, they represent much of what I understand to be art. The people own this art in a way they can never own any form of music, theatre, literature or religion because they cannot be fooled as they can in these other things. Crowds can be vindictive and brutal, but they can seldom be deceived. They know about their football intuitively, as they know about their families.”

    The book came out in 1968 I think, & many of us are a product of those times & our working class roots, but society has changed & stolen our clubs [I’m with Steamer on this].
    It has always been about money, as is most things, but the main change seems to be the amount of expensive hangers on in management instead of the so called “Holy Trinity of players, manager & fans, which is the life blood, with the fans being the only constant as we are & always will be a family.

    IanG

  132. Heroes-and-Villans

    golaini flop
    chester hit -lots of negativity around but not much praise for this lad. I think he has been class.
    elphick – unsure
    jedi unsure
    tish unsure but I like the look of him
    adomah hit
    kodjer hit
    McCormack flop

    we need to do better with the next 2 transfer windows!!

  133. John Lerwill

    Paul: “RHM may well have signed if he had been handled better”

    And you think he was handled badly? What are the grounds for thinking that?

    He seems to have an overly ambitious agent and family … that all adds up to a “me, me” cocktail, a situation that the club is right to clamp down on.

  134. John Lerwill

    IanG: “Grealish, if there’s no one making runs & no one to pass to, what’s the point of running fast”

    Aw, c’mon please … you know how Grealish plays. He feints to get past players and accelerate away, but they’ve all got wise to that tactic now. He can’t do it anymore because he’s sussed.

  137. John Lerwill

    Paul: “We need to wake up and play in the real world, and start playing today’s game…”

    That, sir, is the very reason why the world is becoming a worse place – because of greed and selfishness.

    There are times when the “old is gold” epithet applies.

  138. James Gill

    andrew
    wouldn t say gollina was a flop ,yes 2 kicking first couple matches,but cech made howlers in debut for aresenal, then up to leeds game[which elphik played] was very good
    johnson made a bigger howler on saturday is he a flop

  139. IanG

    Andrew
    Good players don’t become bad players overnight is a truism [Gabby has taken a few years to become pointless to prove the point].
    It is more likely to have something to do with the manager[s] as the players are capable of much better to a man.
    We can try any amount of formations etc, but I think that success brings cohesion & simplicity, which is somewhat lacking of late, & with the other side of football being a short career for the players there seems to be a huge distraction over money which has complicated everything & nobody’ll buy you a drink any more.

    IanG

  141. James Gill

    runtings
    i wrote that yesterday we are set up to deep by who BRUCE wingers playing as full backs,jedi playing as another centre half and then to top it off GABBY who never was any good at football[just using his pace which has long gone] as an outlet

    john l
    when has a football fan had patience,mine has long run out as a villa fan especially when i see team sheets including bunn hutton cissko wastewood gg bacuna ayew and of course gabby
    i want to see players that can 1 pass 2 tackle 3 score 4 put in an effort not much to ask, and finally a manager from todays era not a dinosaur of bruce mcleish lamberts time a manager that you can see HIS way of playing whether its high tempo,or pressing game ,TAYLOR had a plan you knew it would be 442 and it worked

  142. IanG

    James
    I agree re Gollini, it seems it was more about age as he has as much potential if not more than Johnson, but he is still our player & he is getting game time

  144. IanG

    JL
    If there was energy & movement around him the defence wouldn’t be able to be blocking him so easily as it would create more uncertainty .
    But he has to learn from this as any pro will see what he does & he will get sidelined in the game.
    He doesn’t seem to be able to just receive & pass the ball without his showboating at the moment as he has nowhere to go.
    Hopefully he’ll learn

  145. IanG

    James
    Absolutely & I think he was wrong to do that, but there again Bruce may not be here in 18 months if it keeps going the way it is.

  146. IanG

    Runtings
    Yeah it makes it all static, it might work better with 3 at the back, then Jedi would be in his element & the football might have more quickness & bite.
    But with Bruce I’m not sure it would work.
    They’ve become like a team of method actors with his input

  147. DarrenO

    James: “he is a striker ,not someone on strike”
    Very witty, James, I like that!
    Untrue, but still witty!

    Playing catch up as I was at my wife’s xxth birthday on Saturday and Sunday was a write off
    Copied the above because it’s great to see that JL finally agrees that Gabby is not a striker 🙂

    My assessment is that we are in a pretty poor situation if promotion is the only option, stating the obvious I know, if we are looking at team rebuilding in January as opposed to traditional tinkering, then there isn’t enough time to get it right by May. I no longer expect a play-off spot and I won’t say I’m resigned to another season in the championship as that infers that I’m not enjoying being in the championship. I quite like it here, where football is the story and Sky aren’t pushing some false agenda that the prem is the be-all and end-all.

    Wait til they do a deal for the Chinese league and the Prem will return to 3pm Saturday kick-offs, then it will be high time to get into the top division.

    Back to Villa, I was speaking to a relative who is a Leeds fan and I’ve either convinced myself in the process or the cider was playing havoc but, for all my long term doubts about Bruce, I’m looking forward to next season at this point with a balanced squad, deadwood gone for good (Hutton, Westwood, Gabby) and us powering up the league, a year of a good squad together, used to winning and promoted automatically, will be a lot better than this half-arsed attempt that we have now, especially when we’d look to challenge in the Prem as opposed to the traditional avoiding relegation.

  148. John Lerwill

    James: “i want to see players that can 1 pass 2 tackle 3 score 4 put in an effort not much to ask”

    Agreed. We have some players that can do that but you never know you may get more of that after this months transfers … and possibly even more in the summer.

  150. Paul Pears

    JL,

    Dont know how you arrived at ” that is the trouble with the modern game” when I was referring to the blooding of young players like Kane and Ali, which is what Joe Mercer did many years ago, and we have done since, but not since MON arrived. The point I was making that having won the European Youth Cup, we failed to use any of the team to any great extent, and we have continued in the same vein.
    Good managers make sure they give youth the opportunity when it is appropriate. Strange that Lambert is now giving youth an opportunity at Wolves. Perhaps he is learning.

  152. John Lerwill

    Paul,

    I read a great number of articles, and particularly those on 7500.

    As to how I arrived at … – it is simple. You were alluding to the idea that RHM just be played regardless of his selfish approach towards the club. I was saying the club should hold fast against it. You seem to think that playing people is beyond the issue of ethics and that the club should kow-tow to a young players demands.

  153. John Lerwill

    Paul: “Good managers make sure they give youth the opportunity when it is appropriate. Strange that Lambert is now giving youth an opportunity at Wolves. Perhaps he is learning.”

    Yes – quite right … I’ve stated on here that I support the approach.

    However, my feeling is that Bruce is responding to the chairman’s targets, and blooding youth under those circumstances may take too long for the chairman’s liking.

    As to Lambert – I suspect he had not much option. But it’s clear they have a good bunch that were ready to be tried.

  154. Paul Pears

    The time I am refering to when RHM should have had opportunities, were before his contract became an issue.

    I also pointed out that because of poor handling, that vGrealish was in the same situation.
    These things cut both ways, where young payers commit themselves to a club, and then they are strung along, until the club decides it wants to act. We have lost players before because of this, when there should be an equal commitment on both sides, so that everbody benefits.

    We do not know the contents of the contract he has been offered, which may be why he is not signing it. It may have nothing to do with money, but many other reasons.

  156. Mark King

    JL- “RDM had his chance” thats very simplistic considering the time-scale and task and the late nature of our buys and failure to land all our 1st choice targets. Not many if any managers have the ability or insight to produce a team instantly from one window.

    My point was not whether RDM won more games either just that he found a way to produce chances with these players which we squandered, why can’t Bruce?

    And really its just this month we have fallen away with the loss of Kodjia and Ayew? we lost to leeds at the start of Dec all involving Kodjia and have gotten visibly worse and worse since then with the odd late late wins against bottom dwellers whom we are now losing to.

    Grealish has never had a turn of pace either, he relies on quick feet which is why he gets kicked so much, if he had a turn of pace he would be off before the boot went in.

  157. Heroes-and-Villans

    Darren

    I don’t miss the prem 1 bit.

    Some lovely away days in the champ, older stadiums. And it deels more about the football.

    All I want is to see a villa team winning and playing well. And the day hutton, westy, gabby, bacuna are gone the better. Still to much failure/loser mentality about.

    But said before it will take more than 1 window to correct the wrongs.

    We have been horrendous for years.

  158. Heroes-and-Villans

    I am very interested to see what team bruce picks sat!

    Id like to see an injection of youth green a a cm in.

    They can bring enthusiasm and energy.

    Linked to another young lad from Barnsley.

  159. Mark King

    JL- On Bruce being brought in to win games, Yes I believe he has so in that case why not use any means to win? He has resurrected Gabby for Jan supposedly while ignoring RHM for not signing? isn’t that ridiculous if winning is the aim? if say at the end of the season we get promotion from Kodjias goals and he then gets a move to Man city? we would be pissed off but probably say thanks for getting us up. So why not use the Asset that is sitting right in front of you?

    we will still lose him no doubt and have gained nothing from him being here and the money invested in him, how absolutely moronic is that?

  160. Heroes-and-Villans

    all this talk of rhm…he has just turned 18 and only played u23 footy.

    We talk like he will come in the side and tear up the championship!

    If it wasn’t for social media id of never of heard of him or been aware about his contract issues.

  162. Heroes-and-Villans

    The difference between kodjer and rhm is rhm is a product of the youth set up and round is trying to sort it out. They are setting an example to the other youngsters and rightly so.

    Buck bets 10 this is not just bruce decision. dr seems peeved with rushden stance too.

  165. Mark King

    Its obvious that the club are pissed off that they may lose out on money over RHM because he could turn out to be a very good players and they know it. Unfortunately they have not given the youth a go this season as suggested by Xia in pre-season, if I was Lyden I would be wondering why I signed an extension after glowing reports from Garde he is ignored. Toner another that broke through last season to.

  166. Trinity

    Bruce was betting on the current squad playing well enough to negate the need to recruit new players in the January transfer window. Sadly, they’ve been poor. Bruce has expressed his disappointment publicly and admitted responsibility that what he’s doing isn’t working because the players aren’t responding on the pitch.
    If Bruce’s statements aren’t just hot air, some of the younger players should get a decent run against PNE. Bruce is being forced by the the team’s lack of responsiveness to ring the changes. No doubt, he’s had a chat with Dr. X et al. Let’s see how they respond this weekend. It will be intriguing or underwhelming. If Bruce doesn’t back his words, Dr. X should step in and make him. Something has to happen now if promotion in 2017 isn’t to be pie in the sky.

  167. John Lerwill

    Paul: “The time I am refering to when RHM should have had opportunities, were before his contract became an issue.”

    Before Bruce? Yes, perhaps, but I think the situation at Villa then was too volatile. Ideally you’d blood youngsters when the club was not in such a state, I’d say.

  168. John Lerwill

    Mark: “Not many if any managers have the ability or insight to produce a team instantly from one window.”

    Yes, but when you’ve only produced one win – and that against the bottom club – it usually spells the word “exit”. Especially when you’ve spent so much.

  170. James Gill

    funny how in yesterdays super sunday
    star man for everton davies is all of 18 years old,plus lad from charlton scored is he 19
    klopp played an 18 full back no worries
    wenger does it all the time
    deli ali for spurs list is endless
    but at villa we dont and wont under bruce
    sherwood gave rhm debut nearly 2 years ago so i have seen no reason why he should not have been involved from start season and especially since bruce took over, he bruce would rather use flabby up front,same in midfield westwood has been awful but bruce kept picking leaving tisc out,same with green and bacuna why would any young player sign new contract and waste his time going on loan and eventually moving on robinson,johnson just 2 too look out for

  171. John Lerwill

    Iana: “If Bruce’s statements aren’t just hot air, some of the younger players should get a decent run against PNE. Bruce is being forced by the the team’s lack of responsiveness to ring the changes. No doubt, he’s had a chat with Dr. X et al. Let’s see how they respond this weekend. It will be intriguing or underwhelming. If Bruce doesn’t back his words, Dr. X should step in and make him. Something has to happen now if promotion in 2017 isn’t to be pie in the sky.”

    I agree with the main trend of that … but why question Bruce’s willingness to put into motion what he says at this point? If he doesn’t then we would most certainly like to know the reason why.

    But I suspect promotion now is a bridge too far (for this season). As has been said, just getting into the PL is not desirable if it means relegation the following season. That nearly happened to GT in the 80s (in the old Division One). I support the idea that a promoted team should have a solid base to consolidate in the first season back.

  172. James Gill

    john l
    yes promotion with this squad is pointless,total rebuild needed,but not with bruce in charge
    look at most foreign managers teams nearly all have a style ,system that you can see, bruce has never managed that in nearly 20 years managing and its not going to happen here, if you take his first half dozen matches[new manager lift,sherwood garde got it]his record is shocking and that is with the likes of jedi codja and adoamh been fully integrated into squad which rdm never had
    last 10 matches we are 13th in form table codja only missed 2 of them

  173. Mark King

    JL- well I suggest a new thesaurus because speed of reaction i.e. brain to feet does not mean you have the required muscle (fast twitch)power to then go from 0-24 miles an hour very quickly.

    You still have not answered my main point that RDM produced more chances,shots on goal, hitting of woodwork etc call it what you will with the same players. I suggest its a matter of getting the right players up the pitch for longer than Bruce is doing presently.

  175. Trinity

    JL
    “I agree with the main trend of that … but why question Bruce’s willingness to put into motion what he says at this point? If he doesn’t then we would most certainly like to know the reason why”.

    That’s right, John. I think we’ll see this weekend. Many plausibly see Villa in this league for another season. Fair enough, it could have its merits, but what if the unexpected were to happen? It might be just as hard to get out of the Championship next year. Look at Leeds, Forest et al.
    There is still a slim chance of gaining promotion this year, and that should remain the aim, at least, for now. If it doesn’t, Villa will just further flounder and settle into the Championship as just another also ran year-after-year. In that case, do you think the ambitious Dr.X will hang around? They did have a two year plan, didn’t they? That said, the focus must remain on promotion.

  176. John Lerwill

    Mark: “well I suggest a new thesaurus because speed of reaction i.e. brain to feet does not mean you have the required muscle (fast twitch)power to then go from 0-24 miles an hour very quickly.”

    Points is being missed. I was not inferring that … merely that Grealish depends/depended on a quick turn and movement away from opponents … and that’s no longer happening. Either he’s lost his *pace* (or what I call pace) or opponents now know how to deal with him.

    “You still have not answered my main point that RDM produced more chances,shots on goal, hitting of woodwork etc”

    Just don’t think it’s relevant … the issue to the chairman is that he didn’t get wins and – really – never looked like getting them as the defence or midfield was always giving the opposition chances. Since RDM we’ve tightened up a huge amount … and got 7 wins. But the squad has proved it’s just not good enough to do better than it is.

  177. John Lerwill

    Iana: “It might be just as hard to get out of the Championship next year. Look at Leeds, Forest et al.”

    If we were a Notts Forest, Derby etc then I’d say you’re right. But Villa are a big club and the chairman clearly wants to provide (financially etc) what he can to get Villa up. I think that will count at the end of the day … (even) with Bruce as the manager.

  178. Mark King

    JL- I don’t think its relevant?

    How is a team now considered poor and of poor quality able to rack up chances under one manager and produce single figure chances under another? of course its relevant when we are discussing the managers ability with the same players. Similarly they could not defend a lead under RDM but have improved in that respect at least for a while under Bruce. It suggests something more than the players ability is at work to me.

    Yes Bruce has produced wins (some very lucky too vs RDM’s perceived lack of luck with several draws) 5 wins coming against the bottom 6 clubs, to me Bruce has had a kinder run of fixtures and the rub of the green in some results.

  179. Mark King

    My personal preference was to build slow and utilise the youth this season and develop a strong base, I always suspected that welding last seasons Flops to another bunch rushed in would end in another balls up, and now I think we could easily continue in that vain if not very selective over our next spending spree.

  180. Paul Pears

    Have to say that the problems have been more about the changes in defence which are responsible for our problems, as a good friend of mine has pointed out, that changes in goalkeeper have far more effect on the team, than any other position.

    Until the QPR game, Gollini had played in every game, except the loss to Preston in the league, and the loss to Luton Town in the cup, and then he is replaced by Bunn, who had an intial good start, but it was against Burton Albion, and now he has been replaced, causing further changes in defence. Maybe we may have performed better, if Gollini had continued in his role with the back four having got used to him. At the same time we had Baker injured and Elphick playing, who has not been settled in the normal back four. Perhaps Bruce has neglected to ensure that the defense was totally solid before tinkering elsewhere.

    JL,

    You may not think that MK’s comments are relevant about producing chances, but I think that it is very relevant, the more chances you produce, the more likely you are to score, no matter what you are talking about. It is a fact of life.

    I also agree about our youth, especially youngsters like Lyden, Toner, Green, RHM, and Davies.

    Remember Clarke, Baker and Albrighton only improved with experience, and being played. How much better off would we be if we had kept Clarke and not bought Elphick??

  181. John Lerwill

    Mark: “…of course its relevant when we are discussing the managers ability with the same players.”

    Compare the two managers by all means, but RDM was never going to get success with a defence/midfield that leaked … as I’ve already said.

    You can hit the opponents crossbar as often as you like but that in itself doesn’t get you goals, and if you’re leaking at the other end then no wonder RDM didn’t get anywhere “with the same players”.

    RDM (as we know) was an attacking midfielder and SB was a centre-back. The trade of the manager showed/shows in what performances we get, and SB simply made things more tight to get more wins. Simples! 😉

  182. John Lerwill

    Paul,

    See my point above to Mark.

    If the issue simply was about creating chances then fair does… but RDM didn’t take much stock of what was happening at his keeper’s end in laying out a game-plan.

    RDM didn’t get it right … either in the purchases made nor in his tactics according to the players he had … assuming that wins is what we needed. And I would say that wins were (and are) needed.

  183. Mark King

    JL- I remember you defending RDM and his lack of luck with the shots we were having 😉 all I am saying is we are capable of more than Bruce is producing with these players regardless of the final result.

    They are not going to play well when we are set up as we are simples. All teams need to do is be busy around us and we are buggered because we don’t move well enough and pass well enough to get past that because we are glued in our half.

  184. John Lerwill

    And added to all that it’s Bruce that has produced four promotion sides…

    I’d say we ought to respect that record and wait and see how he tackles the business of modifications to the squad to get us on a promotion course … if it’s not too late already.

  185. Mark King

    JL- what is losing us games at the moment in your opinion? we are not defending well enough still are we? yet attacking even less, how are we supposed to win games?

  186. John Lerwill

    Mark: “I remember you defending RDM and his lack of luck with the shots we were having”

    Yes, quite so. That does not mean to say that I didn’t think that his departure was not warranted, though. As I said, a leaking defence that didn’t look as though it was going to get plugged.

    But I don’t agree that Bruce can do more with these players if he’s keeping to theme of a tight defence. We need a stronger midfielder (one at least – I’d hoped that Tish would be that man but now I think not) and another striker. Plus a replacement for Hutton that’s good.

  187. runtings

    thanks for the heads up on the unders game Mark

    When Steamer was on here posting about how poor he thinks Bruce is i was scratching my head a bit
    Now i realize exactly why he was saying those things — funny how for all his moaning over the years time has always proved him right

    I am in total despair about Bruce’s non tactics – how anyone can make Lambert look like he should be at barca is beyond me

    I know not all will get it on here but at the same time i keep hearing gabby being defended on here as somehow people see him as an asset — — has there been a worse player earning so much ?

    yes we lack balance but 100mil worth of players can have little excuse against teams that cost less than a large number of villa players

    what is the main cause — very very poor tactics – over caution

    we need to get on the front foot – have much much higher starting positions and get rid of the fear of losing and develop a hunger to go after the game straight from kickoff

    if we lose again i would actually like the club to grab Rowett while we can – we would see a massive difference before even buying a player imo

  188. Heroes-and-Villans

    Youth will get a chance under bruce.

    Put yourself in bruce shoes. Rdm gets booted at villa cause villa are bottom 3. Bruce gets interviewd, chats to dr. Dr says i want promotion now. Now do you really stick in untried 18 year olds to try and get you up. No, no you dont.

    Linked to burys 17 year old def. highly rated with top 4 in prem after him. Villa confident. So thats 2 kids in one day could be getting….round shaking up the youth team.

    Now play offs are gone this is why oll be very interested in bruce team sat.

    Id bet green starts

  190. runtings

    Andrew Green should start – although he isnt a world beater he is one of our best attackers
    Yes p;lay the youth if there good enough and your set up allows them to go try express themselves why not — its not as if Posh didnt walk over grown men with his 2nd string kids vs us

  191. Canadian Villan

    Definition of insanity,
    “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”,. This goes for playing the same old tossers every week, to playing the same kick and hope football, and even taking ex Bluenose managers, does anyone really believe Rowett would be any better than Spud or McUseless. I did think he was doing a good job there, but back awhile so did SB in his time, as John said earlier, we are a BIG Club, and holding your own at a rubbish tip doesn’t mean you can make it where the pressure is ten times more for success, and even the definition of success is different for us than these smaller clubs.
    That’s my two cents worth for this week.

  192. runtings

    CV the one point you just made that stuck with me was ”oes anyone really believe Rowett would be any better than Spud or McUseless. I did think he was doing a good job there, but back awhile so did SB in his time”

    In his time and thare is my main concern — as i believe the game has moved on and this is why someone like Rowett who has embarrassed new ideas and has more modern thnking can over achieve on pennies ——- he has gone look at then now

    in other words the right type of managers make a massive difference to any group

  193. Canadian Villan

    I see where your coming from, but didn’t we keeping changing the driver last year, but the engine and transmission are knackered, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” is insane and I don’t for the life of me see any gain from getting rid of another driver at this point in time. If we can’t get get a new engine or transmission, then at least a super charger and a good tune up would be great.

  194. runtings

    I don’t expect Bruce to leave at this point but i do stand by my points

    If i was running the club i would have employed him n the first place though

  197. Mark King

    CV- last seasons team lacked real strikers , wingers, a competent defence and had a more skilful but equally light weight defence, this seasons at least have forwards and a reasonable defence, the midfield is lacking. I’d wager that if garde was given this lot he would get a tune out of them and probably Tim too. I’m with Runtingz on the tactics with this team. Are we not just as fed up of ever changing squads that suddenly can’t play? I am.

  200. James Gill

    for me bruce should copped on fairly quick midfield was crap and went long ball style 442
    adoamh jedi tisc green
    codja ross
    with rudi as impact sub man u were happy enough to throw fellini in the mix yesterday
    were i rate bruce unforgivable is playing no goal gabby,and not using rhm gabby done more wrong than any other person what other side would let him get 3/4 overweight and not sack him

    andrew
    bruce has never used youth anywhere before ,he given job as short term ,he has failed ,do the honourable thing walk away

  204. runtings

    This blog hasn’t been the same without steamer and his name has been mentioned over and over again since he recently stopped posting

    AVL will never be the same again without him RIP our very own victor meldrew only even more grumpy and funny

    Really gonna miss you fella RIP

  206. Heroes-and-Villans

    I am so so so sorry st75. I am shocked and saddened by this news. Always looked out for his posts, and looked forward to his tales of villa. There are no words, but in time all the good memorys will be held.

    Xx

  208. B6toBrasil

    I am truly shocked,met Gary once, the session we had in December 2013.Another link with the best Villa era,or rather my favourite era Div 3,has gone.Just speechless,shocked and saddened.We will all miss Steamer,his humour,love of the club and music.Glad to have met him.Thanks for letting us know S75.Puts the bickering we get sometimes here into perspective.RIP Gary.

  209. Mark King

    I can’t believe it, words cannot describe how sad I feel about this, met him once felt like I’d known him forever. My condolences ST75 to those he leaves behind Steamer was a jem of a bloke he will be and has been sadly missed.

  210. Paul Pears

    ST75,

    Thank you for giving us the sad news of Steamer’s passing. I just feel totally gobsmacked, having enjoyed the banter on here with both of you.

    Like the posters before me, he will be sadly missed on here, with all of his banter, doom and gloom, but great humour. Should organise a night of curried goat, rice n’peas in the Tavern in his honour.

    Do pass on my condolences to his family an d the rest of the Steamers. There has been a big hole on here since he stopped posting, and perhaps now, we all know why.

  212. Trinity

    I am gutted to hear about Steamer. Sorry for his family at this time all the way down to his “growler”. When I first posted, thought Steamer was a bit sour, but after a while I realised he was genuine about Villa and actually polite in his own way. He always answered questions and posts. I actually sat next to him at VP once. I only know that from a photo of a get together that was posted on AVL in 2011? If I knew he was Steamer I would have introduced myself. Wish I had. Not everyday you meet somebody so resolute. Funny thing, at the game, I thought it might be Steamer by the way he was talking. I will miss him. He was a good man.
    Hope you are okay ST75.

  214. DarrenO

    R.I.P. Steamer, gone but won’t be forgotten.

    Listen lads, there is a hardcore of lads on here who should be better acquainted than just through the internet and this blog. We should put faces to the names and meet up for a Villa game in the future. I’m aiming for another trip end of April, I’d love to meet up with you for a drink and a chat.

    None of us are hear forever before it’s too late for all of us, we should go beyond the facelessness of modern communication/life and meet up under the banner of AVL.

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