Dreams come and then they go. Whether promotion this season was a good or even reasonable dream to have, it looks to have all but faded away Saturday afternoon when Aston Villa drew 1-1 with Burton Albion, snapping a four-game win streak.
The Good
I’m going to have to fish around here…Perhaps it was that Villa were applying some pressure at the end? To be honest, apart from not losing and going five unbeaten, there just wasn’t much good to take away from this one. It was a lost opportunity. We were always needing others to stumble to climb into the playoffs even if we won out. But you’d like to see the side doing everything within its own powers to determine its destiny.
The Bad
Not seizing the moment and instead putting in a subpar performance in a match we should always have been expecting to win and should very much have been wanting to win. No doubt Burton were going to do everything in their power to give us a game, but I don’t think we gave them enough in return.
Having gone up 1-0 so early, seeing Villa unable to capitalize and put Burton away was troubling. Yes, Kodjia went down, but even being able to call on Hogan, Hourihane, and Grealish from the bench, we couldn’t find a second. That’s a lot of supposed talent, and money, on the pitch to no real effect or threat against a side 13 points below us.
More troubling was that even though the performance was lacking, the general thrust of the game remained the same as we’ve seen for a couple of months, now. I’d written before that I’m okay with picking a starting place, building up from the basics, learning to defend and all that. And I still am.
What I have to point out is that I’m not necessarily ‘seeing’ improvement in the way we’re executing this approach. It might sound silly saying that we should be expecting to beat teams having been so shortly removed from establishing ourselves as one of the worst Premier League squads in history. And perhaps the time frame is unreasonable. But I’ve been hoping for week-on-week improvement, and haven’t really seen it.
The Ugly
Not finding the fight to sustain the late promotion push, however thin the chances. All the players brought in know why they’re at Villa. But at the end of day, they didn’t seem overly inspired by the prospect of getting themselves back on the big stage. I understand the number of games played in the last week, and perhaps the lack of inspiration was down to some tired legs. Or some still-fragile psyches.
Final Verdict
The reason I thought I’d write up post-match thoughts using this Good, Bad, and Ugly gimmick was to help myself stay objective. Sometimes there’s nothing truly ‘ugly’, you just make something up for fun. But there’s almost always a mix of good and bad in a game, so I’m trying to maintain an even-handed approach. And not be too wordy.
At the close of the routine this week, I still find myself unable to be decisive. When I look at where Villa were this time last year, I’m obviously more hopeful. Winning has been fun, and I’ve enjoyed it. Villa have rebuilt some sort of confidence and expectation. And if Bruce is doing what I’d previously said I’d be okay with him doing, then fair play, that’s how he’s going to proceed.
However, despite the clean sheets and good run, I have the sense that we’ve been as close to getting beaten 4-1 as we have winning by that margin.
You can look good, bad, or ugly winning 1-0. And right now, I’m not necessarily seeing improvement in our play.
It’s still edgy, tense, and often fortuitous at the back for us. We’re still not holding the ball well. We’re still ceding control in the sense that it’s all well and good to sit on a lead and play on the counter, but in large portions of these games we’ve been unable to clear our lines, and show some composure or authority. We haven’t been in control of that 1-0 lead.
Or course, perhaps it’s too soon for that. Turnarounds come in many varieties. And things could well have been so bad that to expect anything more than what we’re seeing would be asking too much.
We have seen bright patches of play, and gotten off to several good starts that haven’t yielded as many goals as one would’ve hoped. We’ve seen some wonderful individual moments. However it’s looked, we’ve still conceded just two in nine. We’re unbeaten in five now, coming off four wins in a row.
I’m wanting to be convinced as much as anyone, but I’m still waiting. I’m a patient person, and I think there’s enough to warrant patience, despite the shortfalls we can catalog.
At the same time, I still couldn’t tell you with any confidence just what sort of foundation we’ve set for next season. Will we be better off than we were to start this one? Most certainly. Will it be good enough? That remains a question for me.
Over to you.
The Author
John Clark
John is co-owner of AVL, and has followed the Villa since the '70s. A journalist by trade, he is, by most accounts, a very nice person. You can follow me on Twitter @JClarkKohoutek. It's an astonishing experience. Or a complete waste of time.Comments 69
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Hello, John.
Thank you for the accurate GBU summary for BAFC vs AVFC.
As you say, we will start off a lot better next season. There’s stability at the club. Though, we won’t earn promotion until some glaring deficiencies are worked out, especially the heavey reliance on our hitman, JK, there is some optimism to be had. We know where the deficiencies are. Can they be successfully addressed? Yes. Will they, and will Villa earn promotion in 2018? That, as you said, remains a question.
I’d like to see Green played ahead of Amavi on the wing. Like SB, I don’t know what else to do, except play more young Villa players. Blood them. They also need to sort the GK question asap.
JC,
A perfectly balanced summary of things: well said.
I totally agree that the future is difficult to determine by what is going on just now. I’ll only say now what I’ve said before – the sheer act of sweeping a lot of the defensive wobbles out of the way and getting back into a winning trend is a big plus in my book. Particularly after what we’ve endured in the 5 years prior to 2017.
But – will we get promotion based on just what’s happening now? No.
Will we see better footie next season? I don’t know.
We can only see what pans out over the summer. I feel there will be improvements, but whether they’ll satisfy everyone may be doubtful.
But – despite my buddy’s remarks and losing opti support – I’m still more opti than not.
Thanks JC as usual our thoughts are pretty similar only You don’t get labelled negative 😉
Maybe its because I see so many glaring problems to be solved I forgo mentioning the wins/clean sheets as the way they are gained as you rightly say is less than authoritative, I tend to see those as obvious rather than an upward trend in method considering the playing staff.
On to my favourite subject the RDM comparison, it does at least prove we could with his squad and approach pin teams back even if we still had that inability to put the chances away while on top and ultimately ran out of steam or got rumbled. Would for instance RDM’s approach with Lansbury and Hourihane as the two mids yielded more goals? the defensive part could well be down to Jedinaks leadership and obvious game reading and height? we bought leaders/positive role models in personality only apart from Jedinak and why he is not captain I’ll never know.
It wasn’t perfect by any means but did it warrant another 7 players changing? or have we just brought in Physicality to solve a lack of planning and coaching? Could also unfortunately be financial but thats another story. Were they also brought in with one eye on the future or SB’s answer to us not scoring? I do think its the latter but somehow he has managed to negate the best goal scoring chance creating mid-fielders in the division with his tactics.
I have no truck with Bruces counter attack approach as such if its done well as Chelsea, hull, Leicester all do but we don’t do it quickly or accurately enough to create those open chances Kodjia and Hogan would thrive on. I think Lansbury was penned in for the deep lying playmaker role but suits being closer to the forwards.
In short I don’t think we can solve of deficiencies with the 2-3 players we are supposed to be getting in the summer nor do I think they provide a basis for a rebuild if we go up. Hopefully Mason, Lyden and RHM will stake a claim at least next season. I do have to feeling Kodjia and Grealish will be sold.
I will add that surely an almost entirely new playing staff and backroom staff plus their recent winning streak must put the woes of the last few seasons to bed? Football is a pretty simple game and requires desire to win as in all sports, that desire must be cultivated by the manager because in this division we pay very good wages which will negate some players drive to the top. Quite literally they have made it by being here, long contracts for £20-30k a week thats retirement sorted at 30. Wage bills go form £8mil to £35m tops and many are continually in debt and selling their players.
Our spend and wage bill alone is reason enough to be peed off with this season especially when Uefa say we have the 20th biggest wage bill in europe??????
http://www.sportbible.com/football/news-weird-reactions-aston-villa-have-the-20th-highest-wage-bill-in-europe-20170118
http://www.uefa.org/MultimediaFiles/Download/Tech/uefaorg/General/02/42/27/91/2422791_DOWNLOAD.pdf
Mark: “Our spend and wage bill alone is reason enough to be peed off with”
I think this is part of the reason why I remain as opti as I do – ’cause I leave such issues to the club’s chairman to worry about! 😉 Particularly as I have confidence in the chairman.
As a fan I am solely occupied with what happens on the pitch … there’s been enough to worry about out there without all the other nonsense that goes on off it! 😉
JL- ignorance is bliss eh John 😉
With you on that unfortunately If mentality is a big part so is moneys effects. I think Xia has it covered but it also says we are still in the spend to succeed mode, never went so well in the prem either did it. The main reason I wanted a coach that thinks beyond the players market value.
Interesting to see what spurs are doing with their academy ditto Southampton, Ehiogu is spurs U21 coach
Mark,
Well, I am sure you all have an idea of an ideal coach.
Bruce is not ideal, but perhaps he’ll achieve promotion next season. And that’s his essential remit as I see it. He’s there … we’re here (!) … and it’s really a question of what transpires over the summer – in both any new signings and utilising the pre-season effectively.
At the moment I am not happy that the midfield is not doing something better constructively, but I think that Lansbury and Hourihane will prove to be better than simply “journeymen” once the summer is over.
JL- why will they? they have a solid base in jedinak yet they don’t effect games or control them, its almost like we have bought the flash bits of the car and forgot the engine. Why were they successful at their prior clubs? the headline catching players are rarely the sole reason they are successful in midfield, someone has to give them the freedom to perform, our team started the season with to many of those players and seems to have added more imo, taylor being the exception.
Yes Bruce is all about promotion but I don’t believe that is whats needed for Villa, we have now waisted a year of opportunity and don’t appear to have learnt much at this point imo, there will be a lot of movement in the summer I have no doubt. We have Bruce and Round working against each other if Rounds plans are to be believed and they haven’t been shelved.
Very good write up.
Not too down though as we are unbeaten in 9 and conceded 2 goals!! The issue is not seeing us control the game more with the players at our disposal and killing teams off after our early goals.
2 tough games coming up for us in 48 hours, will find out if the players are on the beach or not cause reading and Fulham will be bang up for it.
why for instance do spurs youth players come through looking so adept and capable where as ours are like children in comparison, If Grealish had been at spurs he would be a different player right now imo.
If ever there was a reason for being an opti and being ok with seeing villa finally doing the ugly side of the game well…ie finding ways to win and not get beaten its watching the arsenal last night.
Arsenal ok tapping the ball about neatly looking pretty but god they don’t do the basics, duck out of challenges and lack fight.
Withought doing the ugly stuff your nothing.
Villa seem to have finally got that after years of being weak…now for the part we all want to see…play some decent footy!!
Like JC said should really be seeing that now. had 3 months to settle, on a great run so confidence should be there.
said it before though. Bruce has till Christmas for my final decision on him
Mark
we are sorting the youth team out massively after years of neglect.
round said he could not belive the state of it when arrived.
To be fair I think we have the highest amount of youth teamers who have gone on to play in the champ/prem or something like that….just don’t make it at villa!!
u23s lost 2-0 last night!
why the hell is the villa reading game on sat, the only champ teams. everyone else playing Friday!
Andrew- yes because they are ill prepared and when they go elsewhere they blossom or at least seem capable.
On the defending, we are not defending in a professional manner just more committed imo, organisation goes out the window without Jedinaks presence . Any team that plays one up top like us should be defending well and getting clean sheets.
Andrew- Swansea are top of the league we are 6th, they have a very good youth set up too
not sure about the professional manner bit! we look very good at the back. jedi gets the plaudits, quit rightly but don’t underestimate taylor and chester. they have been superb.
chester completely goes under the radar for some reason but a guaranteed 8 out of 10 every week.
you don’t concede 2 goals in 9 games without having something very good going on at the back.
yeah heard the swans was decent…green and Rusden played last night. get em fit!
Mark: “Yes Bruce is all about promotion but I don’t believe that is whats needed for Villa”
Yes, I understand your point (and have for a long time!) but the issue we have what we ahve. Are you intending to campaign to get Bruce out?
It’s all academic really … and I and academia are not good friends! 😉
Is there a scale of positivity that says beating a team in the second division but never convincingly is better than struggling in the premiership.
Still trying to understand why people think we’ve turned a corner by not being beaten anymore when we were playing in the top division. The difference in level is there to be seen, only Newcastle could claim to have the sufficient resources to maintain their premiership status on their return, so given that all other teams are lesser mortals how is beating the likes of QPR or Rotheram a sign that we’ve progressed. It just says to me that those teams don’t have the know-how to expose our weaknesses.
Our situation is one of massive overspend on players and yet still struggling with ball retention, game control and goal scoring, regardless of playing 10 or 20 games together, the manager and the players have failed to produce a level of football that reflects having ‘better players’ and a manager with ‘character’ (no mention of tactics when Bruce is ever described).
This idea that it’s results first, football second has been and will be our undoing, are Brighton, Newcastle, Huddersfield, Sheff W taking that approach, I don’t think so, not only is it football first it’s football with a view to establishing themselves in the prem. It appears as though this season was a hit and hope to bounce back when the approach should always have been football first and get the results based on good football. A season of continual progression in the quality of our football would have done two things 1. possible promotion or 2. prepared us even better for next season. Next season absolutely requires good football because we’ve seen our shortcomings throughout the season regardless of player or manager.
Right now we aren’t playing attractive football, we aren’t playing efficient football, we’re playing lucky football, conceding possession, not being in control of games, over-reliant on a single forward, that would be found out in the premiership whether inside or outside the top 7. Have we got the players to change this, if so why haven’t we seen the beginnings of this change and the same applies to the manager, given he said it then why are we not being more patient/efficient in possession.
john l
bruce likes journeymen , always has done bit like when lambert said holt was a mans man, we have a bloated squad full of holes 4 rb yet no keeper,reliant on jedi coming 34 to hold a midfield together, then goals only 1 player with more than 5 goals this season at this level, 2/3 players bruce says he needs is laughable.
we need a reliable keeper, another centre half, a centre midfielder, winger and another striker [kodja will be gone] come summer
Andrew- you Don’t concede 13 goals without jedinak in the prior 6 games either if you are good defensively, Jedinak is not a defender either which makes it worse. Yes the combination works but not without him and there is no evidence to support it does.
JL- well I think it will sort itself out, how much will Round watch of us grinding out results? he surely will see its not whats required long term, it may only take another dip.
Darren: “This idea that it’s results first, football second has been and will be our undoing”
Maybe … maybe not. But to my mind you have to get the basics right first, and that is effectively Bruce’s approach.
As Andrew pointed out, what did pretty footie get Arsenal at Crystal Palace last night? And in the Championship it’s getting the basics right that gets you anywhere … not pretty football.
Bruce has got a whole summer to work out his plan for next season and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of that. If it doesn’t work (points wise) he won’t last.
James,
If Codger does go in the summer then it will be for a very substantial fee. But I’m not convinced he will go: he’ll want to go the Prem with Villa i.m.o.
DOR- I think its a case of when your starving any crumb will do
hmmm lets not get too carried away here re keeping the ball.
This is the championship…its mostly crepe! Only brighton and for the start of season huddy have impressed me.
Sheff wed find themselves 6th but have been poor most of season. I have watched a great deal of the games and most of them are crepe inc Newcastle!
This luck thing Is a nonsense and dis credit to the team too. you don’t in a million years concede 2 in 9….be top of the form table after 10 games by just luck!
of course we should be keeping the ball better, and the last 2 games have frustrated me but no way should we dismiss our 9 game unbeaten streak as luck.
My mates a wed fan and they have been on the verge of wanting there manager sacked…says the footys been poor this season!!
JL- what codger wants may be of little consequence he is also 27-8 no spring chicken he’ll go for £20m
leeds
we mostly look at leeds and people think bright young manager team fantastic. I have watched them play lots on tele….they been awful!
away to the blues they were out played and like our kodjer have wood to thank for for scoring.
I really do think impressions/images effect peoples thinking. I always make sure I judge with my own eyes.
I bet all the tea in china if bruce was called Stefan brocety and was good looking from Portugal most villans would be saying how continental we are playing or summin.
coutinho at pool another one. Brazilan with a sexy name…the most over rated player in the prem.
good player but if he was called paul Collingwood from bury he would not be talked about half as much.
gets my goat
this silva guy at hull. done a good job granted. but have you watched hull. defend and counter.
No different to what big sam has done coming in at palace.
silvas talked about as some mystic footballing genius though.
cobblers
dr just tweeted about kodjer! sounds like he will be staying
Hi JL
How long does Bruce need to get the basics right, this is his team and yet the basics can’t see us past high flying Burton. Should we have moved beyond the basics at this point?
Arsenal weren’t attractive last night they were ineffective, so not sure how that relates to my post. Crystal Palace got the basics right, exposed both full backs and pressurised Arsenal into conceding the game mentally after going up 2 zip. Would that we performed like Crystal Palace against Burton we’d all be in happy fluffy cloud land.
So you’ve written off what Bruce should have achieved in terms of getting us playing better football this season in the hope that the summer which accounts for a few fitness generating friendlies to determine a football ethic that will see us get promoted. Eggs/Basket springs to mind. Even though it probably goes against your grain, perhaps in your quietest/darkest moments you may think what a fucking waste of a season this is, in that case.
Bruce and plan in the same sentence, surely this season shows it’s Bruce attempts an idea, changes it back and then complains about how we don’t use the ball . Why you attach some sort of summer footballing epiphany when there is no evidence to suggest he’s capable of creating merely the basics and even that is average to suddenly have a plan, I don’t buy it even in my happiest of happy fluffy cloud land place. The evidence of a plan should be conceived and implemented now, there is no pressure for top six, experiment now, blood more youngsters, that’s a plan.
Hi Andrew
If the gun is loaded, don’t point it at your foot. If the championship is so crap, why are we 11th.
If the championship is so crap and if I believe you that luck didn’t play a role then it must be the case we were less crap on the day. If being less crap on the day given the championship is crap (your words) then why is there a sense of progress. Again, being less crap in the championship in no way compares to where we should be given our resources.
It wasn’t us being efficient in those wins, most reports I’ve read infer a sense of hanging on/parking the bus or periods of the game being under the cosh. If we were so in control we must have just been teasing the opposition letting them think they had a chance against us.
Your mate want to switch to the 70s Hollandesque football we play? what I mean is does your mate want to switch to poor football in 11th or stick with his poor football in 6th, there can be only one answer. Remember it had to be poor football because we’re 11th in a crap championship.
I listened to big Sam last night after the win, he explained excacly how he had planned for arsenal and set out the team in detail using technical footballing terms rather than proclaiming that’s the premiership for you.
I have yet to hear SB explain what we do and why , says his preferred formation is 442 yet his team can’t implement it well, I find myself wishing we had big Sam at least he embraces new technology.
Andrew- is that like he said ayew was staying 😉
Hi Darren
Just saying what I see! What do you think about the championship and the games you have seen?
Its crepe!
We are 11th because we have had 2 managers, 2 teams and 2 or 3 months of crepe results!
prob go up next season being crepe!
Mark
Did the dr say ayew was going to stay?
only remember him saying amavi was staying.
on codja when was last player stayed at villa when a better offer came in, unlike everton who over years have held on to [baines colemen jakelia and others , and then sold for real money rooney lescott and stones].
codja has no ties to villa and his agent will be telling him nearly last chance for move
andrew
on silva , he sure can make a silk purse out of crap bruce left him,on form table since he arrived [sold name players for 20m signed loans and frees]well out of relegation battle
Andrew- yes he did pre season when the sharks were circling mate
mk
think like you january window was last gasp effort to make play offs ,which after start bruce had should really been on,
Andrew crepe or not we have fell short against the top crepe teams on the whole if we are not to be just another yo yo club we need to be more than crepe
Hf yes mate he proclaimed lacked goals from midfield and went out and changed things. I think he was surprised by the results
Across the board, games have equal moments of brilliance and mediocrity but nothing that is consistently brilliant or mediocre. So, there in lies the issue that in the championship being consistently average or above average will get you promoted but it won’t keep you in the prem.
As such our inconsistency 15 wins, 13 draws and 13 losses is no preparation for promotion this season and no preparation for next season, if we were completely shite then there would be clear areas to work on, as it is Bruce hopefully doesn’t have any false sense of security from going on a run that includes beating Wigan and Rotheram and places more emphasis on games like the draw against Burton.
I have two overriding issues from this season
1. Given the amount spent and the supposed improvement in quality, then how do you account for games like the Burton game, the lack of control or efficient use of the ball and
2. Given promotion is the be all and end all, how does next season not only have to deliver that promotion but set us up for playing at a higher standard, too much to fit in in one season imo, something will give
Jg bloody Iphone
poor old burton being given a rough time…before villa match they beat huddy at there place and only lost 1-0 at Newcastle!!!
Is that the hull bruce got promotion with!! No denying silvas done a good job. not sure there clear of relegation though. Getting a tune out of niasse has been there big achievement.
mark
yeah no doubt we have to improve. Really has to be better on the ball with the players at his disposal.
wonder if he will change things next game.
think he should have against burton to be honest.
hourihan has to start. understand resting him for 1 game but he was looking decent before int break.
They’re fighting for their lives to stay in this league, this is a zenith for them, so why not get ‘surprise’ results, it doesn’t matter to me what they do against other teams, it’s how Villa do is the most important and given Bruce and the players would have been aware of their recent results and given there should be some degree of pride playing for Villa then any chance of a lax performance should have been eliminated by Bruce as manager and by the players.
andrew
the doc said ayew was staying at start of season,thats one fault the doc has talking too much
our wage bill must be giving some of board nightmares, seen something last week even with parachute payment we are over 50m worse off thisseason
gabby richards must be costing 6m a year between them
ross 2m
and then hutton a new contract because of previous clause will cost another 1.5/2m bad work by board , after signing delaet and birr
10m on 4 players that i can t see being part of matchday squad
That early goal really knocked Burton but we failed to capitalise on it, they no doubt set out to frustrate then had to come out, and for whatever reason we sat back and let them. Once Kodjia was gone you just knew we would not get a second unless from a corner
Andrew- Bruce has said our players were tired so I assume its rest rather than tactical but its the same for everyone, Burton have played out there skin for 3 games now, Thats where a little keep ball comes in handy rather than sprinting up the pitch
Darren: “this is his team and yet the basics can’t see us past high flying Burton.”
Very good tongue-in-cheek on the high-flying bit!
Darren we are still only talking about 2 points dropped in a run that has seen us only concede 2.
As for not performing against Burton – everyone has said that, and it seems that’s the case, but back in 1959-60 when we got promotion at the first attempt (the season when we scored 21 goals in 3 games!) I recall Villa dropping points in similar circumstances – against teams that Villa should have beaten on paper. In short, this sort of thing happens all the time – it’s nowt new.
Darren: “you may think what a f**king waste of a season this is”
I never get carried away like that, Darren. I’m cool Vanilla!! 😉
If Bruce had been appointed last summer we just might (might!) have achieved a lot more by now.
There’s always next season.
Glad you spotted it JL
Sorry but the past has nothing to do with now, I’ll dismiss your references to 1959/60 out of hand entirely 🙂
james
yeah mate, we have some major outgoings to sort out in summer.
saw a list of 11 men who will prob leave!
Goalini
Richards
cissoko
gill
vertout
sanchez
mcormack
kozac
tisc
elphick
most will go and some with uncertain futures.
if we do only sign 3 players wage bill massively reduced!
Darren: “Given promotion is the be all and end all, how does next season not only have to deliver that promotion but set us up for playing at a higher standard”
It probably doesn’t. But we could say for previous promotion seasons too – like 1974-75, 1988-89. But we got through that difficulty. If we could do it then, why not this time as well?
mark
yeah bruce said same after qpr game too. surprised no changes for burton.
noticed in this league a fair few teams make big changes game by game. like 4 or 5 players a time!
john they say if bruce was in at summer we would be 3rd now!
yes that’s right, just looked it up! said ayew wont be sold in summer! sold him jan! sneaky!
Darren: ” the past has nothing to do with now”
You’re getting very naughty, Darren! I didn’t infer that at all. What I was saying is that when the scenario has changed then you cannot compare like-for-like or merge the two and see compatibility.
The scenario of drawing against lesser teams in 1959-60 is no different to now.
Darren: ” the past has nothing to do with now”
You’re getting very n****ty, Darren! I didn’t infer that at all. What I was saying is that when the scenario has changed then you cannot compare like-for-like or merge the two and see compatibility.
The scenario of drawing against lesser teams in 1959-60 is no different to now.
Andrew- I take that with a whole packet of salt let alone a pinch. Firstly all results this season achieved have been with players brought in by RDM involved, some whom we cannot function without.
So given the same circumstance as RDM he may have done the same, better or worse. Nothing to say his first run of matches would not be like his jan/feb ones considering he had 10-12 competitive games to assess his squad and would of had 4-5 games against poor opposition instead with maybe half his players. Add to that his liking for Gabby and Richards and the likelihood he would of issued a pardon to everyone involved in last season, could of been a right mess.
At least RDM knew his starting formation if feck all else 😉
The problems any manager we turned tom in the summer had was the same, the team had no real strengths, not one department was functioning, Gana wanted out along with half the foreign players. No solid defence no effective attack and no midfield and the manager would unfamiliar with the players to boot. Not a great position to start a rebuild in and its exactly why doing it properly instead of a rush, and involving the youth more was preferable to me than to aim at promotion. Get the basics right and if that got us up so be it, if not we are at least in a position to move forward next season with a plan.
mk
good post
biggest mistake the doc made for me was not clearing the decks completely[gabby richards ayew] at the time, if he wanted RDM for the glory of champions league fair enough but should have made him some kind of advisor .football keeps changing and older managers are struggling even wenger doesnt seem to be able to adapt
MK,
Been working out with some local Jedi…next up is Force lightning. Think it might come in handy.
JC lost me there mate? never was a stars wars fan my younger brother had all the toys and loved it so I acted grown up and pretended I didn’t 🙂
Ha…a little cryptic. The Jedi mind trick encapsulated by “these are not the droids you’re looking for”….ie, “why am I negative when JC says much the same?”
Mark. I’ve tried, but I really don’t understand why you continue to hark back to RDM. He has the worst record of any manager in 134 years of villa history
Things were getting worse under him not better
There are stories about him being sullen behind the scenes and not engaging with staff or players
It is very easy to believe this having seen him at close quarters live at games. He sat expressionless in the dugout unable to influence players or the game and it was hard not to feel sorry for him
However the world of professional football sadly has little place for pity and the Dr did well to get rid of him before he could go any more damage to Villa or himself.
What evidence do you have that he was turning things round. . . real evudencecrather than pity and wishful thinking
robbo mate your a clever bloke how can a manager with 11 leagues games have the worst record? I’d guess he has the least amount of games too? Tim for one had worse with his rebuild if you want to be fair. Add to that Bruces horrendous run in Jan/feb with his new team, were they getting worse? until they won one they were imo, Bruce looked clueless changing personnel and formation by the week.
Can you say RDM would not have turned it around ever? how do you know? he never lost two on the trot for instance whilst not having our three most influential players available for half his time, take jedinak, adomah and Kodjiah away from Bruce and? In jan it was Give bruce time for his team to gel he’s only lost 6-7 on the trot, very unfair in my book, at that point what evidence did you have Bruce was turning it around? we looked clueless until Kodjia and jedinak were back and fit.
You cant allow one man no time to fix things whilst giving the other a free hand and then judge him. Bruce in his jan /feb period stood on the sidelines motionless because he could not believe what he was seeing, he looked a dead man walking, the press picked up on it and next game he was waiving his arms about 🙂
Also what really gets my goat is why do people assume I think RDM’s time was great? I only acknowledge he did some things better than Bruce like attacking while actually results wise not losing a lot and with the circumstances difficult at best for a rebuild. Notice Dr Xia shut his face when Bruce turned up, up until then he had his nose in everything.
Real Evidence? come on how can I have evidence of something that never happened? all I know is we were drawing from winning positions not losing, I’d wager at some point that would stop.
Circumstance count for a lot and Bruce had a better run of games than RDM for his first two months playing 5 of the bottom six, well RDM had already beaten One whats to say he would not of won those? Fulham and Reading both footballing sides again more suited to his approach imo. whats to say with a fit Jedinak and Kodjiah coming good he would not have turned it around? the worse thing that happened was the crowd turning, that sealed his fate more than anything with Xia. He was calling for calm until the booing started.
As far as being sullen you would not have given a crap if he had won would you? so how is that even a problem? was he the first sullen manager ever? I very much doubt it, Saunders was a ball of fun I hear 😉
Mark,
You’ve made the point yourself . . . . None of us have the evidence either way so none of us can know if he could have turned it round.
As we both accept that’s the case then why not just let it rest instead of continually proposing that he ‘might’ have turned it round.
It is fair enough to contrast his attacking style with our current more defensive/pragmatic approach and playing the ‘what if’ card was ok for a while but now feels like an obsession. How about at least throwing in some other managers who may have turned it round, like Lambert (see how he’s doing now) or Garde.
robbo- well I guess I’m no different to everyone saying Bruce will sort it out eventually then , gain Promotion and play better football, have some possession even, or win a game without Jedinak? am I? no proof yet Just opinion based on his recent form isn’t it?
I think its entirely worth mentioning that the worst manager in Villa’s history only lost 3 games under worse circumstances than Bruce, it is still this season after all , JL can mention the 1950’s for evidence that these things happen thats ok but don’t mention the recent past? do you seriously want me to dig up evidence of turnarounds after what seems like failure for you? like that old chestnut Leicester’s great escape. I suppose the team gelling over time is totally not applicable to RDM but is to Bruce? Or even a sports psychologist turning up a week before Bruce did.
As for You “feel ” its an obsession? wheres the logic in that? your bias vs mine , have you been talking to my psychiatrist? 🙂 All I see from the so called positive side is I feel it will all be fine, what is this now clairvoyants vs historical theorists 😉
Robbo- lambert just ended and unbeaten run of 6 games with 5 wins he’s a genius obviously, and at least garde never got his players in Jan to go on a losing streak with 😉
Actually the biggest problem in all this was last seasons squad. Heres a question what would the Bruce summer window have produced? not based on RDM’s rebuild and the points he gained with them obviously.
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New post up to continue this theme…!
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