Depending on reports, Steve Bruce might well be living on borrowed time, making tonight’s match with cellar-dwellers Preston North End sort of a must-win just 11 games into the campaign. The parallels with Roberto Di Matteo’s brief and star-crossed tenure are there to be seen: If Bruce does indeed have just two more games to prove himself, then he could also be out after match 12 of a new season.
As we’ve approached this precipice, we’ve heard calls for patience and we’ve heard from supporters who never wanted Bruce in the first place. And of course, it doesn’t really matter what any of us thinks, unless the boo-birds in the stands and polls in the paper are influencing The Compass.
Seemingly, key milestones determining just how much time he has are the imminent appointment of a director of football and the October international break. That’s what the papers are saying, anyway. I will say that the October break does make sense as a moment of assessment.
The reason it makes sense is that it’s obvious NSWE want promotion. And while I thought Villa’s placing in January would be the determining factor, the next two games will take us through one-quarter of the season. And humans tend to like measuring things this way. Beyond that, it also gives NSWE time to assess the January window and a new manager time to do something, whether it’s related to promotion, damage control, or both.
So…Who knows? The drumbeat seems steady, but that doesn’t always mean it’s right. There are doubtless some who would like to see the side vote “no” on Bruce by means of their performances. There are those who would like the side to play their hearts out and maybe still lose due to Bruce’s mooted deficiencies. There are those (and quite likely the large majority) who will want Villa to win, because we always want Villa to win.
I’m not going to comment on the various perspectives because I’ve seen them among fans the world over. Different paths to the waterfall.
Me, I’ll only speak for myself, and I always root for Villa to win. I don’t have any stock in Bruce failing. I want Villa to go up, full stop. I’ve certainly expressed strong doubts about Bruce getting it right, and those haven’t changed. That said, I have no problem whatsoever being dead wrong, and would be quite happy to see a flood of “I told you so” posts. My ego is fine with that, and the end result is all that matters.
And there it is. The roller coaster always seems to be adding new twists, and we’ll take this in stride like we have all the others.
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 183
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Thanks JC- Me neither I want us to win, this season may be a very important one so its no time for pettiness and even if it wasn’t same applies. I also want us to look like the expensive players we are and go out to win and I don’t think Bruce has this in his locker, or at least he doesn’t seem to know how to defend while doing it. Like his penchant for throwing 4 forwards on when behind he seems to be in forward or reverse.
As far as replacing Bruce? it may be to late for a manager now, I think last may was when we should of changed so that the wealth of talent Bruce won’t use could be accessed, now they are on loans it would hobble a new man. Still if it happens it happens.
PNE are not useless but they conceding for fun presently, they are on -10 GD 11 less than us but have scored 11 goals, 5 less than us.
Never wanted Bruce not because he managed the blues but because he is not a good manager. 2 years on he still wants more,more time , more players. Failing to use what he has, falling out with decent pro s elphik,selling Ross out to his newspaper mates,all while slagging of us villa fans.
Well bunny in and tuenzabe. No elghazi , hogan or bolasie though. At least Thor kept his spot. Looks like 442 or 4132
From needing wingers to playing none
UTV
Nice goal kodjia header. 1-0
Great work by mcginn to supply Abraham 2-0
Fudging ejit’s (my dad”s pet name for me) has been posting in the old blog. Well we’ve had some excitement (the mooning pitch invader) Abraham. Goal.
Not bad look much more lively, tuanzebe looks good, mcginn not as involved but he’s sitting deeper. PNE showing why they have conceded plenty though.
Got to say it, why have we brought in 2 keepers and wingers?
Penalty. Chester off.
FFS Chester sent off 2-1 from pen Johnson our old player
Abraham off for bree and PNE playing like Brazil
I thought they changed the rule, if penalty given it was only yellow, backs to the wall round pegs all along back 4,expect Whelan on shortly
Why didn’t we go 3 at the back? Their running rings around the midfield
Bolasie for kodjia at least he’s quick
Hogan got me but wanted him eith Abraham. Bunn. MOTM.
2-2 we are shit
Or not.
Daniel Johnson has run the game 2nd half, we haven’t got anyone with that intelligence.
Haggis why is it when other teams have 10 men they try harder? Might as well take a few more off
That’s it 3 fucking 2 to the bottom club F off
I think Steve Bruce’s selection will say
“We can’t beat the bottom of the table club, and we’re sh!t”…
If only Chester hadn’t been sent off, if only we could shoot, if only we could defend…I can hear John Lerwell now
Been given another football lesson. Well done PNE. Going defensive , sitting back trying go absorb the pressure hasn’t worked.
3-3 why the shit have they not gone forward the entire second half unreal
2-2
Penalty for villa.
Penalty what the crap did he give them st half time coco?
And wheelan misses
Why Him ????
Was it because he was the only player who was allowed to put it forward 🙂
It’s like Fred Carno’s circus. Tutankhamen needs get his finger out and turf Bruce and Deadwood out pronto
Well don’t know what to say but goodnight
Haggis it’s unreal we had two deadball specialists on the pitch
The only consolation is that I went to the gym tonight and didn’t watch it…
PW- at least we are stable lol
Mark…grim; Bruce will continue spout the rubbish about how close we are and the players are close to gelling.
Play Whelan and Jedinak up front next game
Well, fellers, what a bit of excitement, wasn’t it! 🙂
This is what I’ve written on my site:
With Villa seemingly cruising 2-0 at half-time thoughts of 4 or 5 goals came into my mind, but no. The skipper is sent off after presenting a penalty to Preston. They score and, with 10 men, Villa go into defensive mode with no experienced c-b. With less than 10 minutes to go, the match launches into a remarkable finale, with Preston taking the lead after progressively pulling Villa’s score back, and then – in injury time – Villa equalise! But it doesn’t finish there! Villa are awarded a penalty and with the chance to put Villa back into the lead with the last kick of the match, the much-experienced Whelan misses the opportunity! It’s enough to give anyone a heart attack.
Lovely grub … this is more like football used to be!! Beats worrying about results any day!
I once saw Villa come back from 4-0 down to equalise 4-4 at VP. And drawing 5-5 at Spurs after being 4-1 down. Not quite the same thing here, but the same kind of excitement.
If Bruce is staying. Can we please have a strong assistant manager with the incentive to take over having him know what he has at his disposal. Maybe someone to take penalties that’ has scored more than once in seven years.
No only Bruce taking a pop at fans ,calderwood at it as well ,sack the entire coaching staff they could coach tiddlwinks
Haggis-Steve Austin is needed at VP ASAP. I remember Lyndsey Wagner, the bionic woman, complaining about getting paid a lot less. Nothing has changed in this mad world.
Mark, all good, here on holiday for a week. I guess there’s small comfort in knowing that PNE were also very good 100 years ago.
What on earth do we do with a girl like Villa?
Well, Just home from the game where I almost felt sorry for Bruce, as I listened to him on the radio, coming home, as his emotions almost got the better of him.
JC,
I will save you tomorrow’s leader:
The Good:
Villa play well enough to go into a two goal lead by half time.
The Bad:
PNE bring on Daniel Johnson who gives a master class in how to take a team and fight and win the game, almost.
The Ugly:
Chester committing a foolish foul and giving away a penalty, collecting a red card in the process.
The fans booing and chanting “Bruce Out!” whilst hitting him with a cabbage..
Whelan being allowed to take a penalty and missing with Bjarnason on the pitch!
I am not going to call for Bruce’s head, as unfortunately, I do not feel he will be able to survive the international break, especially now he has no recognised centre back left available on the books.
PP
Sad to hear about SB getting hit with s cabbage. He doesn’t deserve that at all. Also throw in some spuds and pork bones and it could have been a feed for a family. Whoever threw the cabbage deserve to have their eyes squirted with fresh onion juice.
Should never come to throwing veg at someone but please tell me we signed the thrower at least he’s accurate.
Nothing much changed last night, villas vastly more talented and experienced side took it to Preston first half but with little game plan. Second half they stayed in the changing room and when Johnson came on he ran the show with pne passing in near triangles.
Then with all lost they actually attacked with 10 men! imagine that and nearly won. So much negativity displayed by us second half . It was like Bruce was happy with a draw at home , fed up to the back teeth with him.
Waste of a good cabbage!
In trying to avoid over-analysis, I’d agree with JL on it being entertaining, however I’m saddened by the examples he provided of other matches as those games were against top sides not bottom club in the second division Preston. This isn’t about a ‘we are premier league mentality’ as I’m quite aware we are firmly a championship side but the valid comparison is how much did each team cost to assemble and how are we not putting a 2-0 situation to bed.
I suppose you can’t account for individual decision making like the penalty and red-card against Chester but we fell apart in the second half and were lucky to come away with a draw, while scoring a penalty at the death would have been great, it would have papered over the cracks and in reality, unfair on Preston who deserved their point for the second half display.
To JLs point about this bedding in period and Bruce finding a system and a first 11, this better end soon as we have to go on a very good run to get back to this 2 point average, even with that it shouldn’t be how we approach football, the two point average should only be an end of season assessment we need to play players in their natural positions and play a system that gets the most out of the types of players we have.
Not looking forward to the Millwall game, looking forward to the intl break (a Saturday game v Denmark and pints)
Still #bruceout
Darren: “I suppose you can’t account for individual decision making like the penalty and red-card against Chester but we fell apart in the second half …”
Well, down to 10 men of course, but the most serious situation to my mind was that we were playing with two relatively inexperienced centre-backs, with Bree having had little first-team time and only recently been put into a c-b role.
If there is criticism of Bruce there I would have put on Whelan at the same time as Bree to put stronger cover in front of defence. Yes, I know there would be more cries of “defrensive football from Bruce” if that were done, but it was pretty important to get a result last night and (with 10 men) I would have been happy for Villa just to hold on.
But – hey- we did a get a point out of disaster, and this should lead to the generation of anger in the players themselves that they should be doing better.
Roll on Saturday!
Couldn’t help but laugh earlier when MK said we didn’t have anyone with the nous of Johnson!
What is Grealish supposed to be, then? This has highlighted to me that Jack does not have the kind of equipment for a fight such as this, nice player to watch that he is.
Darren: “I’m saddened by the examples he provided of other matches as those games were against top sides not bottom club in the second division Preston.”
Not true actually Darren. The first match I quoted was a second division match in 1960. OK it was against Liverpool just after the great Shanks had taken over, but the point I was making is that it’s good to get football being exciting again, not the turgid systematic stuff that gets churned out these days – by virtually all clubs.
The best entertainment for me was about pre-1966 time. 1966 was when “systems” started to be used more fully. Ugh.
I remember towards the end of the 1961-62 season when someone quite well known made an AVL rant in the Argus about Villa not scoring enough … Villa promptly went out and scored 5, 8 and 5 again (as well as a 3) over the space of 6 matches!
Football always produced the unexpected then – like that wonderful November in 1959 when we scored 21 in 3 matches! Or to see Stan Matthews doing his bit on the wing.
Great days. Now? It’s almost robotic.
Pride in playing for your community and providing excitement are no longer part and parcel of football, in the modern way there is more at stake to the detriment of the game, and in that to get a dig in :), we have a very cautious manager too concerned to what’s at stake as opposed to playing entertaining (almost cavalier) football.
I will make the jump then to say while most football is this way as you say, given our concern is Villa then you’d agree that Bruce’s teams just don’t cut the mustard for you ( you know i’m pushing to join the Bruce out gang 🙂 )and even the overriding systemic version of football today doesn’t appear to have translated into how Villa play as there is nothing uniquely structured in how we play or if there is a structure it’s been proven to be ineffective this season to date.
Darren: “Pride in playing for your community and providing excitement are no longer part and parcel of football”
I’m well aware of that Darren. What I am saying is that the game has lost a vital commodity and now that it’s big business and results are all, then the fans lose their sense of balance because they think that’s the way things should be run.
Results always were important, but there was far more a sense of balance and of individuality as well. Fans have just got worse in their expectations and I totally sympathise with what Bruce is experiencing, especially given that the virtually all the management positions have been (or are in the course of being) recycled. Bruce is virtually the only continuity.
I get where you’re coming from, JL. The game was entertaining and let’s face it as DOR said pride in community and providing excitement aren’t necessarily there. Things have become regimented by systems. Villa’s system (if they had one to start with) broke down, which made for an unusual match.
Therefore, wouldn’t it be better just to go out and entertain? Can Villa get up again by throwing caution to the wind and just having a go? Do we talk about systems too much? I realise there needs to be organisation…
Iana,
Interesting thoughts aren’t they, Iana…
Yes, some sort of plan is necessary in my view as a team needs to know what the overall approach is, but these days it seems to me that it’s done in such a way to reduce the player’s individuality and natural skill.
How to motivate players to give the best of themselves should be the over-riding requirement i.m.o.
JL- Glad you were tickled because its an indictment on our coaching isn’t it?
Bruce has supposedly taken Grealish forward, in truth he’s toughened him up thats where it ends. Jack is nowhere near the finished article as far as football intelligence goes, Johnson on the other end has grown since leaving Villa, same as Bannan at sheff weds, we however have players like Hourihane, Mcginn, lansbury that look nothing like the players they were on Purchase, all made their former clubs tick. So you have to ask what the hell is going on?
Jack like many others we have let go will have to learn his football elsewhere unless we find a manager that can coach or set the team up to suit the players. I’d like to ask you the question “well what is Bruce supposed to be?”
JL- I’d suggest watching Man city as their manager is a student of the game taking tactics from the pre-war era (yes they did have them then to 🙂 ) and blends them together, his teams are very free flowing.
Lately though teams are attacking much more because the next big cash grab is for the far east, if fans follow you because you are entertaining then the rewards are great. Also teams being promoted are playing that way too on the whole, Mourinho’s dire stuff is old hat. I thought the world cup was very good this time around with little defensive stuff too.
I wish Villa were formulaic as at least its a step toward free flowing stuff were players can interchange within a framework, we don’t have one.
Bruce should be grateful.
All he needs now is some bacon to go with the cabbage.
Iang- I despair that the thrower didn’t know a cabbage from a king Edward? Or do villa now sell them on match days fresh from BMH allotment to make ends meet? A bag of chips would of been a step up in comedic thinking and symbolism? or a Balti pie sliding down Bruce’s face as he looks at the camera Oliver hardy style at the whistle. I suppose the thinking was I won’t eat the cabbage before the end ? Or he’d popped in on the way back from tesco’s? Still it’s lucky the bloke didn’t like sauerkraut or picklelilly
I notice that most of the conversation is nothing to do with last night, or the villa, which is fine but…
I listened to the game with some old villa supporter friends my age, one of whom used to work at VP in the 80’s, & it was hard not to hope that something happened [which didn’t entail us losing] which didn’t support the drudgery & life sapping feelings that Bruce to me personifies as Villa manager.
Although it still goes against the grain to wish that we lose to bring it to a head, & the old villa habit of shooting ourselves in the foot is still alive & well.
It’s not just about winning or goals [although it would have been a travesty if PNE lost, & it would have made many supporters ill as it would likely have papered over the cracks of what is wrong at VP.
And the wearing mind numbing Bruce saga is spoiling the enjoyment of supporting the players & my club, & surely it can’t go on much longer.
As it is we have Cabbagegate to look at instead, with self serving moral outrage [in time with the Con conference & stabbings in Dale End] instead of a focus on what is actually going on & finding a solution.
Personally I have no problem with a cabbage being thrown at [& missing] someone, as it is at least humorous, & as the usual objects are, according to Seaman, coins, various containers filled with urine, bottles & darts, it is hard to have a view to attach moral outrage to, to distract myself from the fact that Bruce needs to go, as much for his sake as ours.
Although Dean Saunders mentioned that he had a blow up sheep thrown at him [possibly wouldn’t go down well in NZ Iana].
Sorry Mark, you posted before I got my post off.
baaaa
Had to laugh at the journalist describing the brick like qualities of the cabbage and if it had been on target would have really hurt, how soft are you to be worried by getting hit by a cabbage.
IanG- Moral outrage has been weaponised these days, the lefties/feminists love a bit of Moral outrage along with prompting white knighting, all it takes is a woman to declare she’s hard done by and bingo, men? no they don’t get any breaks, cabbage them.
Problem is the people being outraged are the least Moral IMO. Mind you could of been a WW2 cabbage or was that a pineapple?
Another thing on Jack? he is an attacking player, to get the best give him the ball quickly in attacking areas, don’t have him clearing the lines in our penalty area and running 50 yards with the ball. Tim had a better idea of how to use him and thats saying something.
A lot depends on the type of cabbage. Was it a solid head of white or red cabbage, possibly filched from a Villa kitchen, or was it a nice Savoy, crisp with a good solid centre, or was it a spring cabbage, too soft to have any real effect.
My concern now is that Villa history is repeating itself, where the fans wanted rid of McCleish years ago, so the board obliged and appointed Lambert, who then led us further down a very long slippery slope towards our final relegation. He lasted too long and had he been replaced sooner, we may well have stayed up. Then we go through the Sherwood/ Remi Garde final destruction and appoint DE Matteo, but before he has time to build a lasting side, he is fired, and replaced with Bruce, another long term failure. like Lambert. I just hope if we do replace him, we give time to selecting the right person, and allow them time to build a team.
IanG- What really gave me the pip about the game was PNE made one change at Half time and we rolled over, it was like they had come out with bombs strapped to them and our players were trying to keep their distance, looked more like a game of Tig with us having 4 sometimes 5 DM’s, or a back 9.
PP- Delaney seems to be getting the U23’s playing some good stuff, might be too early for him but he has promise. Might not be the worst to try, Southgate would be a solid choice.
He is sacked at long last
Sky saying Bruce has been sacked apparently, also saw about £2.7m was put into the club this week? probably unrelated.
What amazes me here is the sheer lack of admittance that the match last night provided what football is supposed to provide in the main – some excitement!
Everyone gravitates to criticism and cabbages instead! 😀
And if Bruce is truly sacked then Villa fans should be ashamed in my view.
I’d go so far as to say I’ll give the next manager 2 years or less. I reckon you have to have flashing teeth and gold bracelets to survive at VP these days.
Well it wasn’t me that threw the cabbage. Club website silent on Spud so it would just seem media talk for now.
Went through all the emotions yesterday. I’ve said it many times before like others have. It’s tough supporting Villa. But we did get 3 Villa goals and a missed pen.
I’m pretty much now in resigned mode. The 2 points per game yardstick is not possible
Apparently Calderwood calling fans behind the Dugout C#@ts not the best idea.
JL- Fair play if you enjoyed it but that second half? imagine you had sunk millions into the club? different perspective, Bruce has had a pretty good run at it and its not worked.
I’m thinking its quite likely if Bruce hadn’t started a war with the fans he would still be in charge this Saturday.
If he truly has gone then I’d like to thank Steve Bruce for what he has done for the club, shame it turned sour but it seems clear to me change is needed
for him as much as us, Never felt he was the right fit for the squad inherited but thanks anyway. He looks back to his pre-Villa weight, not good for his health so I hope he takes long vacation.
So, Mark King has loyalties to the shekel shaking sheikhs, eh? 😀
No, Mark, it’s about luck having run out for Bruce. He didn’t ask his captain to get sent off when they were winning 2-0, did he? And you say that Villa came out s-h not prepared to go forward? It was only 10 mins into the s-h that Chester got himself sent off!
Villa didn’t open the match too brightly either, so why pick on the first 10 mins of the s-h?
Without having experienced c-bs on the field after Chester went, Villa were likely to lose by a lot more if players surged forward i.m.o.
Sacking Bruce only brings shame to the club. Or perhaps low standards are what everyone expects these days.
Do you hear of this sort of thing taking place in rugger? I don’t particularly like the game too much but they do get the right kind of fans along to their grounds.
I predict 19 months to the next sacking (if DS, TH, JT , Carlos Kickaball or whoever is lucky).
Yes, Bruce’s time was up and this was the best time to do it but it bugs me how much pressure the next sacrificial lamb will be under to get promoted this season. I think we should all be punished with Sam Allardyce. David Moyes would be too harsh.
JL
John, you’re doing what you accuse everyone else of doing.
When Villa started to play near full time, everyone where I was at perked up from a kind of depression, as at least they were having a go.
It wasn’t just the goals that did this, but they were the result, so shame Bruce sabotaged his own position.
The problem is that it was difficult to forget the rest of the time.
This has been described by ex villa players [& I’m not referring to the one from Cannock] as ‘no apparent plan’, ‘square pegs in round holes’, ‘too many players playing out of position, leading to hesitancy & no one reacting properly in the moment, & us having to shut up shop & park the bus & maybe nicking a goal’.
And as they all say this is not how Villa should be playing.
In the end it was less aggravating to have a laugh & talk about cabbages.
Mind you only in Brum would a cabbage be the weapon of choice.
Yes it was a perfect storm last night for Bruce [& Caldwell], But unless you’ve put yourself into the eye of the storm it can’t be a perfect storm.
I join others in thanking him for his best efforts, & wish him well, both professionally & personally, with the proviso not to go near cabbages.
And sigh a huge sigh of relief, with the reemergence of hope, also with the hope that Purslow knows what he is doing, although not many thought so at Liverpool when he got Roy Hodgson in as manager.
But I would think that the compass aren’t delusional fools, & have a long term view.
Mark
I think you’re right in thinking that if he hadn’t started a war with the fans he would still be here.
But it was inevitable as he treated us with contempt at every press conference, where he obviously believed his own propaganda, & this made what happened possible.
I also think that feeding the lions [fans] red meat doesn’t exactly calm them down, & just leads to more demands.
It was troubling to me how Bruce & many others fall back on the old chestnuts, which just show the limitations.
Old chestnuts don’t make good conkers
Mark
Lefties & feminists?
Have you joined the ranks of the extreme right?
I think it’s more to the point to be a good human being, which by definition doesn’t allow extremes of whatever label is given us as a distraction
Now that it’s official news, I’d like to add my thanks to SB for his efforts over the last 2 years. It hasn’t quite worked out.
I’ve felt for a few weeks now that his heart wasn’t in it. I may be wrong but that is how I thought.
So Steve, go and have a well earned rest with the missus on some Pacific Island and forget the pressure. All eyes are on Compass now as the next appointment will give us a clue as to their thinking. I hope they get it right.
The last couple of years have lead to a kind of apathy at Villa, a disconnect of sorts, where people got tired of more of the same being served up and almost lost interest except for the addiction that is inherent in being a football fan, albeit a pessimistic one.
I haven’t seen any excessive moral outrage on AVL about SB being struck by the cabbage, I presume the UK media is blowing on about it, are they? Even with everything else that’s going on. That seems to be what IanG is saying.
JL
“How to motivate players to give the best of themselves should be the over-riding requirement i.m.o.”
Yes, yes. You are learning my apprentice. And how to do that with these millionaires with no sense of history or community is perhaps the managers most challenging task. All that is left to motivate is the desire to win trophies and work towards an even greater pay-day.
Well as they say, a new broom sweeps clean. Let’s hope it does. Bruce can laugh all the way to the bank now. I wish him good health.
I’m going to have a boilup with porkbones, spuds, pumpkin and watercress for lunch.
It’s 6:35am here, time to get up and go walkies.
Have a good day/night.
IanG,
Well, I find your words inexplicable. The action taken is not good for the club and it’s been brought on by fans who expect too much. There’s now a mood that everything is the manager’s fault when things don’t go to their expectations, despite conditions existing out of the manager’s hands.
Perhaps Bruce is not a perfect manager and was a bit strong in his comments but I say he was right and it’s the fans that need to think again.
Are we going to have this pantomime every 2 years? Looks like it. Unless a miracle occurs.
jbd656,
Hello and well said – apart from the bit about Bruce’s time being up! As I kept on saying he deserved another month at least.
Sacking is too easy.
It’s bitter sweet. I don’t like it when someone looses the plot. And I don’t like it when someone gets punted when doing something he/she believes in.
But the plot was lost, stubbornness prevailed, old traits became, well old traits, and Bruce ended up out in left field with a cornucopia of one cabbage. That cabbage brought everything to a sharp point. The fact it was a cabbage showed a distain for the manager. Sure it was one vegetable but a cabbage? A lot of the fans brought cabbages to the park, only in thought though. That cabbage was an insult. Letting Bruce go today was humane as well as necessary
IanG- No mate no extremes here just sick of people using the Media, sex etc to sway opinion and topple governments. Basically if you want someone sacked claim he raped, touched kissed your hamster etc. In Victorian times women of ill repute used to jump into carriages and demand money or they’d scream rape, its similar to that now and mainly being done by the left, cheapens a cheap profession even more.
How can the results not be down to the manager,only when he has not got any money to spend (Jan 2016 almost 30 m)if chairman doestnt allow loans ( Terry 3m a year,shoddy almost 2m a year etc) new owners come in and give you couple months to prove what happened last 2 seasons wherent your fault but if you just sign a few more players (rightbacks) you would get it right,but what do you(bruce) do fallout out with more players,loan out 1 of only 2 centre half at club and not replace him,fall out with fans when you beat a poor Rotherham at home,no other club would kept Bruce as long and he leaves villa like hull,Sunderland in a mess squads unbalanced all while getting 3m a year in wages.
JI- Villa didn’t come out on the front foot, invited pressure and could of conceded sooner than the penalty, if they had taken it to PNE from HT kick off and not let them settle then Bruce would likely have a job, they didn’t he hasn’t. And yes they could of put pressure on PNE further up the field and gone 3 at the back with 10 men, you talk about exciting games well some of the best I have seen have been teams down to ten men and winning. Once Villa had no choice we were all over PNE.
Sheiks? shekels? what are you on about ? 🙂
JL- Bruce more or less sacked himself, if the new owners are that weak kneed that they feared a revolt then why have they said nothing for the last few weeks? I think they are likely bemused by Bruces conduct and lack of results. We are after all not privy to their demands of Bruce and what Bruce
may have said to keep his job? As I said before he’s been stupid in his choice of words all season about players and fans.
All Bruce sky buddies saying it was because of his history with blues why villa fans didn’t give him a chance 2 years of worst football ever seen at villa park was main reason easy knowing they haven’t watched championship, moaning about his hard summer not knowing who was staying/going no word of failing in playoffs just his record over 20 years, 4 promotions never no word how many times he was relegated
And lest you forget (as I had) the fans may have swayed the owners to give him a chance this season.
JG- heard one bright spark say he got sacked over a missed penalty, unbelievable Jeff
By the way all of his back room staff have gone too, Kevin McDonald in charge Saturday
” Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that manager Steve Bruce and his assistants Colin Calderwood, Steve Agnew, Stephen Clemence and Gary Walsh are leaving their posts with immediate effect after having their contracts terminated. The process to appoint a new manager is under way.
A Club statement issued on behalf of the Board said:“We would like to place on record our gratitude to Steve and his team for their hard work and commitment. We wish them well for the future.
“The process of recruiting a new manager has begun. In the meantime, Kevin MacDonald, Aston Villa U23s manager, will be in charge of the team for our trip to Millwall on Saturday.”
Favourites for villa manager job
Stanley caul more
Leek Clark
Savoy Milosevic
Robbie cabbage
Jasper carrot
Mark
And the actions that led to it were by the rich & entitled.
I think we have to have a larger view, even though the frustration is understandable.
JG
Now you’re a vegetable extremist & down on the honest spud
Ian g
Can’t claim it seen it on fb
As for the cabbage been thrown on last night ,it had more right onthe field than any Bruce side last 2 years
As a man of my word, I said i wouldn’t post until he was gone, so here I am, back again on my favorite site. So I didn’t wish SB any ill, but thank heavens the clueless (place vegetable of choice here) has left the building. No football manager anywhere should load a squad with a dozen right backs and only one center half. Poor K.Mac has now to take a team to Millwall without a recognized center half because of who? The one and only Mr Stubborn Bruce. I am sorry for him as a man, but hell fire and brimstone, he brought on himself, we have no cover in the middle of defense, a decent CB playing on loan else where, a center forward scoring a goal a game with the Kangaroo’s. The guy that kept Messi at bay in the summer struggling to get a game, despite looking one of our best players the couple of time he’s started. Oh, and by the way, I was mid-Atlantic Saturday when the cabbage was thrown, on my home from Brum.
All I ask now is take your time and bring someone in that wants to win games and plays to win games, and not another boring coach who plays not to lose. Win 19 of 38 and lose the other 19 equals 57 points, 38 draws is 38, I here rest my case. And at this stage now with promotion already a distant dream this season, why not give Henry a try, cant be any worse and I for one would rather go down fighting than turning and hiding as Bruce has been doing.
After all the usual suspects, the clear favourite appears to be Paulo Fonseco from Shaktar Donesk…only other close contender is Thierry Henri…
Wont mince my words . Glad Steve Bruce is gone . He was the wrong choice from day 1. I heard the news on the motorway this evening while homebound and its brightened up my week . I read a comment here earlier about giving him another month and it immediately reminded me of an abused wife sticking up for her husband when someone suggests she kicks him out !How much evidence do you need before you see what everyone else sees? Fuck man U , man city ,chelsea , et al , I watched wolves over the weekend and I want what the wolves supporters have .
Dear New owners , we’ve had , McLeish ,Lambert , sherwood and Bruce , please get someone who will let our team play football we can enjoy and get behind .
prox…Good to see you. Canadian Villan, welcome back.
I must say, that happened faster than I thought it would. Ironic that Whelan ended up being the one who sealed his fate. On the evening, anyway. Or the cabbage. Or both.
Was bound to happen, regardless.
Obviously I’ll get a post up, but I thought I had another few days to prepare my Farewell to Steve.
Thanks John . Have been checking in regularly but just too dis-illusioned to offer any opinion .
Canada,
Dont think promotions a distant dream yet , and I’m not keen on Henry . Is Zizu still available ?
Jc
It was too much for Whelan been told kick the ball forward no choice b backwards/sideways
The team KMac picks on Saturday should be interesting.
On one hand he won’t want to change too much, but he has to try & find a balance.
The defence in particular should be of interest
Managers like a challenge apparently, so even Zizou might like the club colours.
But we do have some talented players, especially for the championship.
JG
Don’t you think that’s a bit revolutionary?
JC
Plenty of time for a new page mate.
Let yourself savour the changes, it’s been a while since any real change, especially with the football.
On a serious note, Bruce & promotion wasn’t meant to be for us, as too many things went wrong at crucial times that he couldn’t cope with adequately.
The relief is more that we can now expect the unexpected again
Bad day in some ways as the manager doesn’t get sacked when the club is progressing. However, Bruce has never managed a good football team and has had enough time and money to have assembled a better performing team than he has. One journalist described his side as “shapeless”…enough said. There’s a 50-50 chance that the new regime will be better
“Shapeless” .
yeah , I concur.
Pw
Well they do say the side resembles the manager,
Wengers arsenal
Maureen first Chelsea side and villa under lambert/ Bruce
Just saw the news when I got up this morning – can’t say I am not surprised especially as it is timed to give ‘compass’ the international break to seek a replacement (always assuming they had not already sounded someone out before taking the step).
JL – the fans alone did not cause Bruce to get fired, they have booed and ridiculed many a manager when results have gone against us.
Canadian Villa summed it up concisely – no defenders; it’s not surprising that we had our only one sent off making a desperate attempt to defend when his contemporaries were inadequate in that position.
IanG – I agree the side picked for the next game will be interesting, not least because KMac has a discerning eye for the right player in any situation.
Now it is down to the players to earn their money and prove they are worth it.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1047461292292956160
What????
Clive
1st time I’ve seen it, absolute shocker, a guess at best.
Yes we should see which players are going to earn their obscene wage.
It was good at least at the end of the game to see some pride creep back.
A new day, a new start for Villa, reading thru the comments there are some thanking him for his time bringing stability to a relegated club, RdiM could have done that, it just happened to be Bruce’s name on the door.
And what stability, countless errors of judgement and lessons being learnt around team selection, around transfers in, around public dealing with troublesome players, around buying captains of clubs and prolific strikers and turning them into shadows of their former selves.
Sorry but today is a good day for Villa, Compass weren’t floundering with a tough decision and giving Bruce more and more time to get it right as we run out of games. Same for RdiM.
This is an ambitious ownership team and it appears that drawing against a bottom side isn’t good enough, which is exactly my thoughts. I’ve no concerns on who they’ll bring in as next manager and director of football as long as we scour beyond the manager scrapheap of Moyes/Pardew/Allardyce etc.
We’ve wasted 2 seasons with boom and bust player acquisition and promotion at all costs, perhaps now we can get a manager where good football comes first and that will bring the results we need plus a January window to address defence and get rid of some RBs.
Good luck to Kevin Mac in his one and only game, he’s a cup final to select a team that can win, albeit with a selection headache in the centre of defence.
UTV
Like Robert the Bruce, the poor guy has been hung, drawn and quartered. No mercy.
I repeat – this is one of the saddest days in Villa’s history. I suspect the rest of the season may well be downhill, particularly (as Canada said) “no defenders”. If it isn’t then the new feller will be a miracle worker.
Hi JL
Wasn’t RdiM sacking not the saddest day in Villa history, having taken over a destabilised and relegated club, was sacked after 12 games. What makes Bruce’s sacking more sad than RdiMs, Bruce had two cracks of the whip and failed on both occasions albeit one was at the final hurdle.
IanG- I think the lines of left and right have become blurred and no longer represent rich and poor, the likes of Google, facebook etc deciding what is or isn’t fake news or appropriate? all can be used to guide the public and are being used right now, Free speech is no longer welcome and along with importing voters etc its becoming very one sided imo. Depends what you want to see, more big state government or Free-trade and job creation, as always its the moral template thats lacking.
Anyways enough about that we have a cabbage to chew over.
Darren,
We clearly have different views. I don’t think that RdiM was there more than 5 minutes was he? And he did nothing to sort out the dressing room by the looks of it.
Bruce, by contrast, had at least turned around quite a few things that were wrong and clearly didn’t like anyone whose ego was too big. As I’ve always said, Bruce had some heard-to-understand foibles, but by and large I felt he had to stay to ultimately get Villa back to where they should be. I seriously believe he was just 3 or 4 weeks away from turning things back on the upward path … but now we shall never know.
What a newcomer is going to do at this stage in the season – and with a misfiring defence (with Chester not available this Sat)? I’m afraid of the thought.
Hey ho, we are where we are and now have to suffer the consequences.
… It’s just like Brexit. Chaotic.
Populism is showing itself for what it truly is. A means to creating mayhem.
DOR- spot on with both posts, shame the new man won’t have his full squad to call on, could do with Delaet , Elphick, RMC (an actual no10) Clarke etc .
JL- “suspect the rest of the season may be downhill”
Surely we haven’t even started up the hill yet? where your positivity man? don’t go all mystic meg on us 😉
As yet nothing has happened and the Bruce situation could only really have got worse, for the life of me I can’t see how a new man cannot make a positive impact? If Bruces choice of player for his squad is that bad then how the hell was he going to improve things? change of tactics and a fresh viewpoint are sorely needed imo.
JL- surely RDM had no time to even find out who were the trouble makers? he got rid of all but Gabby who was not in his plans, Bruce brought the bloke back in.
From what I know from people at Villa itself things were still fractured last summer hence, Terry, wheelan etc. So for RDM to sort it out in less than 3 months after the prem relegation? tough ask.
It does appear that cracks are still there or some disillusion certainly from players that played well and were dropped. Populism? not in this case, Bruces history of alienating the fans if criticised is well documented. I’m sure we will hear the truth in time.
Hi JL, As you say our views differ, nothing wrong in that and as you say RdiM had 5 minutes but in the same 5 minutes you expect him to resolve the dressing room issues, slightly unfair on RdiM if you don’t mind me saying.
Bruce clearly created his own dressing room issues, needed JT in part to be his eyes and ears and mis-handled player issues publically when we should have only found out about these things in memoirs.
You were prepared to see the state of affairs in 4 games time (given intl break) and judge Bruce then, no point in what ifs but had that been the situation, I believe there would have been improvement but not sufficient for promotion because of the centreback and goalkeeping issues created by Bruce.
The King is dead, long live the King I suppose, but what gives me heart for the future is this ownership team and a clear intention to get the best available to progress Villa from Purslow down.
DOR- My only reservation is if they bring in a foreign coach to a predominantly British team, will he be able to communicate.
Darren: “n the same 5 minutes you expect him to resolve the dressing room issues, slightly unfair on RdiM if you don’t mind me saying.”
Yes, you could say that, I admit, but at the same time I saw no evidence that he was attempting to do anything. RdiM managed a very good and achieving Chelsea team, I also admit, but in the Championship my impression was that he was at a loss. He didn’t seem to go well at t’ Albion either if I remember right.
Bruce by contrast had a c.v. that spoke of ability to do the job at hand and I believe he would ultimately have got us there.
But we’ll never know, so there’s not much point in saying more. What is done is done.
As I said, the next incumbent is going to have to be a miracle worker. Partly because that’s what the fans expect. If he isn’t he’ll also be out in 18 months.
RDM won WBA auto promotion in his 1st season and gave them their best start ever in the prem. Was sacked later in the season after winning 2 of 10 matches, so no he didn’t do well in the prem came second in the champs.
The only thing that can protect us from the managerial merry-go-round is to find the club a style/ethos and build it around that, then the manager becomes less of a problem. Its what I wanted since relegation, no good bringing managers in with different ideas every season or two.
An understandable reservation in Brexit England, you don’t want Johnny Foreigner coming over there, taking your jobs, using your NHS and dissolving true British culture. Sorry Brexit mention by JL sent me off on a tangent 🙂 I’m joking in case there are Brexiteers on this forum.
Honestly, the calibre of manager will be the first issue for our players, they’ll buy into a manager with pedigree, and I expect the players like us will be checking who it will be and what their football ethos is or success rate. After that comes communication but Bielsa who has an interpreter with him at every post match presser hasn’t done too bad in getting a team playing well and having a structure.
Give players a structure, play players in their natural positions and they’ll thrive, in the same way they would have thrived under Bruce if he’d followed that approach from day one.
Thank god he has gone. Should have/would have gone as soon as the playoff final was lost. But new owners took time to come in.
So excited now. New sporting director and technical director and get someone young, with energy, modern ideas and actually coaches and improves players with an identity.
Paula fonseca linked but probably wont come. He would be a dream.
We got our villa back
to me the legacy of bruce near the end is this….we are now going into Saturdays game with 1 cb who is on loan from utd.
He lost the plot and his decisions was poor, stuborn and not the man to build solid foundations on.
id take rogers, henry, terry, fonseca please god! dean smith any left field young foreign manager.
Mark
Exactly that now we are building from the beginning.
Was reading about dean smith but what I didn’t know is about Brentford. The whole club knows what they want through out the 1st team etc and style of play. smith goes they will still be the same.
Like most people here, I feel that Bruce had more than his share of time, money and support at Villa, and feel that if McCleish or RDM had had the same amount of time, and financial support, they could have done better!!
It seems that my earlier post about Paulo Fonesco is on the money, as he is now the 11/4 favourite, with Henri at 2/1, and Dean smith the other front runner, but there is also talk about Rafa being another possibility if he and Christian Purslow can kiss and make up…
Fonseca…even
No chance of Rogers leaving Celtic, more likely to get Mourinho….!!
Andrew- exactly mate, Smith just aligns with their philosophy. Is he good enough to bring it to Villa? well he did it a Walsall first.
DOR- Spoken to a lot of Europeans to be under any illusions as why they are here and its not the culture/lack of. One Hungarian chap said he’ll do ten years and retire with a pension in Hungary thank you very much at age 40. Meanwhile we can’t afford our own pensioners. One Dutch bloke came in 95 as he got free health and he’s diabetic, cost him a fortune at home. Many have said they are going to go home and claim all the tax they have payed back after getting their various ailments sorted on the NHS, what a system.
Also the new underclass that won’t work because they get more from the state is a sight to see, truly a lost generation or two, Britain is not recognisable as the country I grew up in (not in a good way). And the education system? produces idiots on the whole, and the stabbings? My town now has Polish, Albanian and Somalian drug gangs attacking each other, its a mess.
I suspect things will come to a head in several countries, America looks destined for a Civil war, happy days eh no wonder I want Villa to improve
🙂
Same here in terms of some Eastern Europeans who send money home, live cheaply here but at least are working and potentially paying income tax. We’ve a class of Romanian beggars who contribute nothing to society, are criminal in nature and don’t integrate into the communities they live in and would be no loss if they were sent back home. Equally we’ve a class of Irish who contribute as little to society but nowhere to send them.
Having said that, the diversity of culture and experience is only a positive for Ireland, exposing bigots, who’ve not realised they were racists until confronted by a person not like them, the Irish as victims of racism themselves are particularly quick to quash it here but you can’t get to every ignoramus. Many kids are fully integrated into the Irish way of life thru school and sports, even if their parents struggle, they make the effort for the next generation, although it’s still odd to see boys and girls of African heritage playing gaelic football, the sport and country needs their participation, it normalises the melting pot of cultures as opposed to ghetto-ising it.
Health in Ireland is two tier, think of it as the way the NHS will end up under the Tories, we have the public health system fantastically over-stretched but with highly educated nurses and doctors, this is free to medical card holders (i.e. state paid) and there is the private health side, where we pay for health insurance and this covers hospital costs and part of the cost of GP visits depending on your plan. Private healthcare patients would use the same public health care facilities. Most employers provide healthcare as part of the remuneration package.
Mark
Nothing essential has changed since I was 18, only the names.
Before, our culture [which is not a thing but a constantly evolving entity] was exactly the same, but less lethal [as was the world less lethal].
The Bikers, guys from Trenchtown & Lagos, & the criminal family gangs, were lethal [& mostly not British].
Dor the same could be said for Dublin.
Time & technology have changed the world, with everything coming to head more violently as the weapons are more lethal, & the people dumber [eg the brexit focus on a mythical past.]
Plus the faces are more brown than black now.
The world is now a very small place with no room for a nostalgic view of the past, as the present.
There has always been dumbness so Brexit is nothing new on that score.
But, & it is a big but… , the net to have us in has kept pace with the changes.
The establishments have evolved new ways to do essentially the same control games via their new versions of fakeness, such as evolving a new opium for the large middle classes.
In the UK [France is following us & we’re all following the US who are sadly currently mostly mentally ill & retarded in general], the gov is taking us back to the 30’s & encouraging us to turn on each other & empower them, so we end up with less than we had before [even 10 years ago].
This pattern is not new, but old as the hills.
The more we buy into it, the more solid & real looking it gets, & the tribalism gets more lethal.
There is a way through the dogma that was once helpful & a stability factor that also benefited the people, but is now the problem.
What is needed is confidence in the perception of the moment, not confidence in making it solid by being the evil twin.
We need new smart management exactly like at the Villa, everywhere, to loosen it up for the good of all, as the problems are the same, but instead the powers that be manipulate the shared reality until we get where they want us, & the cycle starts again, with us fighting each other & doing their work for them.
The world is too small for nationalism [a dogma similar to the Football organisations].
This is also my argument for change at VP, where we have to evolve our definitive tribal identity to become more alive, as success is only part of it, as what goes up must go down [as we recently have confirmed].
Therefore the cabbage & the chaos it released, which was necessary.
Bruce
So Bruce is forgotten already.
Well, the players haven’t: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/jack-grealish-breaks-silence-steve-15237160
… but like everyone else they will have to lump it.
Just goes to show that Bruce has more to him than what outsiders give him credit for.
IanG,
Please forgive me for saying, but if we followed your train of thought into a way of life then we’d end up being either depressed activists or super-motivated coach potatoes! 😀
There is a better – grander – outlook to life that’s based on just accepting the world for what it is (warts and all) but bypassing that so-called reality. Indeed, to call it a reality is giving it too much credit.
JL
I was just describing an outer process that blinds us, including a lack of natural justice due to the inner being obscured, so you seem to have misunderstood.
East v west has had it’s day as everything has changed, & the outer is focusing on dogma to replace it.
I’m not talking about inner spirituality directly, although it is unavoidably in there, as is the accepting what is in the moment, at the end.
But not in the usual language, as I’m not trying to convert anyone, just describing outer changes over 60 years.
Then there is the cabbage, which as a symbol is very surreal & far reaching if you have a sense of humour & don’t believe your own moral propaganda [good or bad].
foncesca ruled out along with terry it seems.
I got a feeling it will be Henry with wenger sporting director
Andrew it could be worse, ie Mick Mills
IanG- Just observation but Nationalism? Is that what it is? I suppose when somebodies telling you its not good to like where you live and its way of life, maybe even not like the fact your male or white and your also to blame for the worlds ill’s then you get a little pissed off eventually.
The west is not perfect but has been responsible for a hell of lot of good in the world too. If it wasn’t so then the rest of the world wouldn’t be so hell bent on getting here would they? everyone is running scared of being labelled Racist, rapist, paedophile etc not a lot of truth gets spoken, very handy.
My Girlfriend is Asian and they laugh at the racism stuff, most the stuff they laugh about together would put me in jail 🙂
Whats coming down the line when South Africa goes under will make this look like a party, at present its where the poor go in Africa, when SA are effectively on welfare for food they will be heading north not south. We could just stop the torture and murder of white farmers there but nope we send May there who has a little dance and agrees with the SA governments plans.
The EU have set the standard for me, I’m all for world peace but destroying all thats good about the west and leaving the door open for all those wonderful regimes out there? nah not good. We have destroyed family life, communities etc why not a continent 🙂
JL- The players haven’t forgot Bruce? Jack hasn’t more like, and Jack likes a tweet
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/jack-grealish-tweets-message-support-6701641
In case you don’t read the link its about Sherwood
Jack Grealish
✔
@JackGrealish1
Gutted , thank you for everything
1:41 PM – Oct 25, 2015
A few quotes from Luis Bunuel:
‘God and Country’ are an unbeatable team; they break all records for oppression and bloodshed.
A writer of a painter cannot change the world. But they can keep an essential margin of nonconformity alive.
A paranoiac, like a poet, is born, not made.
Sex without religion is like cooking an egg without salt. Sin gives more chances to desire.
Thank God, I’m an atheist.
For OV:
Age is something that doesn’t matter, unless you are a cheese.
Finally, for you JL:
All my life I’ve been harassed by questions: Why is something this way and not another? How do you account for that? This rage to understand, to fill in the blanks, only makes life more banal. If we could only find the courage to leave our destiny to chance, to accept the fundamental mystery of our lives, then we might be closer to the sort of happiness that comes with innocence.
Ian Taylor
✔
@IanTaylor7
Not a shock really but after the year SB has had, have total respect for the way he handled things with what he had to go through. But it had got to the point where he couldn’t take the team forward. Fresh ideas needed…… identity and style… #UTV
10:03 PM – Oct 3, 2018
Mark
Having spent my life travelling a lot, especially when the world was huge & a mystery, I always ended up gravitating to small villages in the middle of nowhere & hard to get to.
There the whole thing was basic, & very human & generous.
These were results of being a human, due to it being on a smaller scale.
It’s very difficult to see it as a result of being human, in the complex.
As far a TRUTH goes, one has to remember that in the relative world, one man’s meat is another man’s poison.
Then you have Trump
Now I will quietly fart
Mark
Yes I saw the player’s tweets, & only Taylor’s made sense to me.
Many of us knew it would come to that in the very beginning, which is one reason I didn’t want him to be manager.
But it needed a cabbage to break the impasse, which was getting painful.
IanG- One to one people are people and not at all bad unless hungry or pissed off, I doubt if you arrived and told them to change their traditions though or that you’d subjugated them. Seems to me it was much better we didn’t know each other were there 🙂 sounds like you’ve had a great life mate.
Not a fan of Trump but equally not at fan of the People trying to oust him by any means when their own candidate was a nasty piece of work. The Kavanah trial is a farce and they are seeking delay before the voting starts. A lot of them could be in big trouble if he gets the Job.
IanG- I’d be interested to know what you think of the likes of Jordan peterson the Canadian Philosopher? there are few out there on Youtube in whats being called the intellectual dark web, its not its just people talking sense mostly.
IanG: “I was just describing an outer process that blinds us…”
But that’s the trouble… we’re always bleeting about that ‘outer process’ when in fact it’s a figment of imagination, a veil over the truth. We let it blind us. JFK said that “the buck stops here” and that’s more true than he probably realised.
Mark
I’ll have a look
Bart O’Kavanaugh is a nasty piece of entitled white privileged scum as are the Trump party.
As is Clinton, although she marginally creates less internally in the US than him.
The entire political game reflects the dark side with many of them.
But there are some good young ones, but as many are in their 70’s or 80’s, it reminds me of an old Chinese ghost film.
Our entire government is the same, with in my lifetime experience, the Labour Party marginally tried to look after the vulnerable more, but were confined in what they could do after the 60’s, as the other side in that game always uses up everything & leaves a mess with no resources, & makes it impossible to do anything different for the majority, & as soon as they are in they are subverted & blocked by also their own who have ambitions of power not public service.
Shit happens until we evolve.
JL
You’re also a figment of your imagination, & the bleating is a decoration.
Mark
Also the repubs are pulling some fast ones to redistribute all the wealth, & cement their control over the money, using pseudo religion as a justification.
And screw the people.
They have little decency left, only a little pretence of it.
The damage that the greed & misdirection is doing to people & any positive stability in the world is worrying.
Brexit was also influenced by them directly & indirectly [let alone others], so the whole thing was an invalid scam.
As JL says, best not to make it too real, but the result will appear real enough.
You can’t separate appearance & that beyond, as they are one thing.
So I just give love to the cabbage
IanG- Yep its hard to trust anything but yourself and thats questionable and dependant on your previous input as a child to some extent. I think do unto others as they do unto you is a great Maxim, I love having cabbages thrown at me.
Jim Carey said it best.
“When it comes to the US it’s sink or fucking swim”
The consuming desire to accumulate wealth has turned us on ourselves. As a whole we have been forced into this environment of upward financial success.
JL, you seem to turn shoulda, coulda, woulda into truths than no on can refute because it’s impossible to.
Bielsa talking about Steve Bruce having a cabbage thrown at him on Tuesday night: “I don’t see this as barbaric as you do. But that is because you have better habits.”
From Bham Mail
Aston Villa have sacked Steve Bruce – but, rather than the 57-year-old Englishman, it’s his US namesake we’re talking about right now.
American newsreader Steve Bruce has had his say on his namesake’s dismissal today – and it’s pretty epic.
The video journalist took to Twitter to have his say after the Championship giants sacked Bruce.
‘Taking to the social media platform, he fumed: “British soccer manager Steve Bruce has been fired by Aston Villa, which hopefully means my days of being called a ‘bloody w****r’ on Twitter by dozens of UK soccer fans each day are over!”‘
IanG- Frightening how the media make things real very quickly and what people will swallow. Brexit? many voted for the wrong reasons, for me I’m not impressed with the whole EU big Brother thing. Greece, Spain , Italy have never been very good at collecting taxes, there are only three viable counties in it and France are nearly bankrupt. A massive social program has to be payed for mostly by printing more and more money. Brexit or no Brexit there has to be a Reckoning. Right now there is nobody I would get behind to govern.
IanG- Beilsa would expect a bullet
IanG: “You’re also a figment of your imagination, & the bleating is a decoration.”
The first part has to be interpreted and the second part is the trouble in that people are attracted by decoration! 🙂 … and pursue it.
Ian- thats about it, Family and a life well lived ain’t enough sadly
Ian: “JL, you seem to turn shoulda, coulda, woulda into truths than no on can refute because it’s impossible to.”
Intellectually that’s true.
Ian
Yeah, Jim Carey has a lot of experience of being got at, so he should know.
JL – “the buck stops here” was on Harry Truman’s desk, not JFK’s.
IanG- Jim Carey? I think his mom was an addict wasn’t she? troubled man.
Dentist time. Now that’s a raw truth
vivavilla,
Thanks for that.
On that historical point you’re quite right – but JFK referred to it at least! In fact I have the feeling that JFK replicate Truman’s slogan on his desk.
But it was the point of the slogan I was mainly referring to, who did it is not really the point. 😉
In a previous post I meant Mick McCarthy not Mick Mills, who was a good player
Mark
My mother was damaged by the war & suffered from it & sleeping pills for all her life after the war.
What does that make me?
Hardly a logical statement.
Maybe that’s why he was so far out & so good at what he did, you have to be able to stretch boundaries.
By the way, I had a girlfriend from Taiwan, & I know how judgmental they can be to each other.
Mainland China the same, Hong Kong less so, India also, & Pakistan is even worse as is much of the current moslem world these days.
Ian
Just as well you’ve got a keyboard.
Good luck
Looks like we are not far off announcing our new manager, which was inevitable from the start, being just a case of when. Thierrry Henri is now well in front, and the first choice of Sawiris, and the man he wanted in the first place.
Sawiris was an Arsenal season ticket holder and Henri was his idol. so to have him managing Villa is a dream come true for the new owner. Read Aston Villa has a poll, and the fans vote so far is 56% in favour of Henri, so if he is the guy to bring us some excitement and take us forward get on there and vote for him.
There is also the possibility that Wenger may join him as Director of Football, and what a great coup that would be..!!
IanG- Your mothers son? are you saying you have none of your parents traits? I know I have mate, not yours mine 🙂 . I can see my Nan in my mom and her life choices and reactions even now. As for Jim I heard that it was the case recently was all, his dad apparently should of pursued comedy.
I was sat around one of her friends house with her sisters the other night, we had played MahJong and moved on to the Karaoke. They broke into singing a few songs swapping R’s and L’s about and pissing themselves about there Chinese friends, Benny hill would be proud.
PP- Henri is it, well it may go tits up but should be exciting so JL will be happy 🙂
I think they must be near or why sack all the backroom staff? other than swearing at fans.
MK – “I think they must be near or why sack all the backroom staff? other than swearing at fans.”
You may not be aware that the reason Calderwood had a go at the Villa fans was because they had just shouted out at SB “you should have joined your parents” Nice eh? A disgrace to the club just like the other abusive fans.
oldvilla
OV- no not aware but thats awful and don’t blame him.
OV
No wasn’t aware either.
some people are complete dickheads with only one brain cell.
I would react also.
Probably there was a plan for this, so it may be Henri, although am dubious if it is.
Mark
You have to spend time with them to inherit traits.
Sadly this didn’t happen much, was much closer to my grandmother.
Happy for you that you still have the connection
IanG- you might find this interesting or unsurprising
http://techgiants.news/2018-10-03-google-manipulates-25-of-the-worlds-elections.html
RE- OV’s post As I hinted at earlier we are producing a new level of low life.
IanG- wish I’d had more time with my Gran to fair mate much more aligned with her, love my mom but she’s had 4 marriages and me more dads than a man needs in ten liftimes 🙂
IanG- sorry you about your mom, your story sounds similar to my moms, she and her sister were farmed out to different Nans/grans (having different dads) and my Nan bless her liked to work and play.
I was always told 2 wrongs don’t make it right
At least one man happy in America,fellow named Steve Bruce said at least now I won’t be called all them names on Twitter and every where else
“Like Robert the Bruce, the poor guy has been hung, drawn and quartered. No mercy.”
Interesting comparison but you’re mixing him up with William Wallace .
Robert the Bruce died after a long illness. His english enemies suggested it was from leprosy , but some historians think it was most likely cancer .
Steve Bruce was undoubtedly mistreated by some villa fans , but civilised & fairminded fans need not absorb any kind of collective responsibility for these arseholes .
His employers gave him a fair crack at the job but it is clearly beyond him .
Still unsure about Henri . He has a massive ego but he’ll need a lot more than that .
Mark
Reminds me of Harry Harrison’s SF books, like ‘The Stainless Steel Rat’
“Steve Bruce was undoubtedly mistreated by some villa fans , but civilised & fairminded fans need not absorb any kind of collective responsibility for these arseholes .
His employers gave him a fair crack at the job…”
Well said, prox.
The obligatory postmortem is now up.