Brentford away - Boxing Day - 7:30pm

sirdennis - 27/12/2017 07:42

Didn't have to be Pep to know how the game would pan out based on the last 3 encounters against Brentford . If we play against anyone who moves the ball quickly then we will struggle , same for going forward , I can't beleive the number of times Snodgrass slows the game down completely , cut's inside and loses the ball.
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This is the thing with Bruce, I don’t often see a team to nullify an opposition when we’re clearly not favourites. Somehow we wer 2/1 yesterday, but more to the point, we had two holding midfielders against a mid table side who’s quality lie in their deep lieing midfielders and skilful wingers.

Whelan naturally sits deep and protects, in my opinion too deep, whilst Jedinak isn’t fit enough to cover the distance he used to. That said, Hourihane or Onomah in the middle wouldn’t have done much better in taking Woods out of the game but for me the selection was wrong and far too negative.

Re: Hogan - I think it’s a bit of both. Completely agree with the view (it’s almost a fact!) that we don’t play to his strengths. As I put it yesterday, when he came short we played it long and if he wanted it long we put it up into the gods. Johnstone seemed to be hitting Hogan on every goal kick - where is the management calling this out?

As for Hogan, he’s done a Gabby and bulked up but he’s lost the pace I thought he had. He’s not fit but that’s down to the injuries he keeps getting every other week.

As I said before, we need a central midfielder who can get on ball, move it around and support the players around him by looking for the ball. Some of the best players in this league do that, Woods, Cairney, Bannan. Watching whelan turn on the ball is like watching your dad stand in for the local pub team on a Sunday.
 
You can't go into games hoping this is the game when things will change and the penny has finally dropped with Steve Bruce because he is incapable of changing his ways and so it will always be with him.

That result and poor performance was nothing new and only those with blind faith would have thought we would get something out of the game while most of us knew that we would be played off the park and so it transpired.

He looked a beaten man last night (just like his team) as he spouted the usual after match rhetoric full of the usual empty promises and quite frankly enough is enough.
 
I've heard everything now It's Jack Grealish's Fault , I don't think even Steve Bruce could think up that excuse ! :1:
 
Thomas Holte - 26/12/2017 23:10

As the manager, Steve Bruce is rightly getting fans anger but let's not forget Keith Wyness who I understand was his choice recommended to Dr Xia and the players who are generally gutless and appear more interested in their big wages than playing for themselves and their manager.

Steve Bruce has brought this on himself, however, they also should be taking some of the flak Bruce is receiving.
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THIS is a most salient point. If we agree Bruce is washed up... and I can hear the jury shuffling into the court room right now... then the question is far more fundamental.

Do we have faith in those above? Not sure I do.
 
It was against mighty wigan in the league cup and I sat and thoroughly enjoyed a match watching us ping the ball around and hogan scored a couple of crackers. Ok wigan are a league below but over the years I have watched us struggle and lose to teams in league one and below. Of the teams now above us in the Championship steve bruce has been at villa longer than most of them have been in charge of the teams they manage. We know the pattern , we know the style , we know against a half descent side we are found out. It's not to late to take a chance and breathe some life into thd team or sadly watch us do exactly what we did at the turn of this year.
 
I’m not sure I get the finger pointing at Wyness or Xia just yet? Bruce was a logical choice at the time, the money hasn’t yet dried up (we’ll see in 30 days) and the club feels like it isn’t being run into administration like it felt 3 years ago.
 
All the stats from Brentford (2) vs (1) Aston Villa, Griffin Park, 26/12/17 Att: 11,341


<br><br><a href ="http://www.vitalfootball.co.uk/router.asp?7523982">Click here to read the article</a><br><br>
 
cropped - 27/12/2017 09:22


THIS is a most salient point. If we agree Bruce is washed up... and I can hear the jury shuffling into the court room right now... then the question is far more fundamental.

Do we have faith in those above? Not sure I do.
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Big test for them now. Maybe getting rid of RDM after so few games was knee jerk, inexperienced, ridiculous... maybe not getting rid of Bruce will be equally inexperienced and ridiculous.

 
Whelan and jedinak had the mobility of a couple of wardrobes and the passing range .
Made me smile.
 
Are we now suggesting getting rid of RDM was knee jerk or am I misunderstanding?

RDM was a disaster, quite possibly the worst manager since Mcleish given relativity of circumstances
 
Wurzel - 27/12/2017 00:16

I don't care where a striker is played they should be able to score more than one goal in a year. That is Hogan's fault, he is not and has never been good enough for Villa
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There is a pattern though, if it was just one striker I'd agree but it isn't, it is striker after striker (expensive striker, after expensive striker) who we bring in, don't supply or play to their strengths and ruin.

Hogan is good enough if the system is built to how he plays. Hoofing the odd ball at him will not work and we make all our strikers so very average.

Kodjia was different last season (he was half the player this season) because he is one of those rare players who can make chances themselves, out of nothing. Most strikers aren't of that ilk.

I bet we could put Harry Kane in our side and he'd not score either.
 
After Derby away and that last night (Where he just walked past without acknowledging us), if he doesn’t get results in the next couple of games I’m pretty sure he’ll be looking for a new job.
 
BringbakMON - 26/12/2017 23:59

I suppose we only need to limp into 6th place in a poor league
and hope for a decent amount of luck in the playoffs - surely that's not beyond an experienced promotion specialist - errrr

Reckon Mr X is potless so doubt there's much in the way of funds for more ageing ex-Hull players
(Alex Bruce ?) but also doubt they'll have given much thought to a replacement manager or have funds for one anyway.
Some of the most obvious upgrades have already gone - dark days

:26:
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It is a worry. I have no clue if Xia is funded or not. He's a legend for some because he tweets! Not sure how much of his own money has been used as yet, seems to be sales and parachute money thus far, happy to be proved wrong if anyone does have the figures.
 
Melon Donkey - 27/12/2017 08:08

sirdennis - 27/12/2017 07:42

Had to go out last night and where we went had no wi-fi or signal at all , so wasn't able to find the result out until about 10 o'clock. Hugely disappointing , but what was worse was that I kind of knew how we played before I read anything on here. Didn't have to be Pep to know how the game would pan out based on the last 3 encounters against Brentford . If we play against anyone who moves the ball quickly then we will struggle

.
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Where did you go out SD the 1970's ? :17:

Incredible that he set the team up with Jedi and Whelan in the middle. Did he not learn from the previous games?. Why do we always get stubborn inflexible managers?. I would love to have a conversation with him as to what he was thinking last night compared to what we were thinking and all knew was going to happen.
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We went to the Panto (Insert your own joke here). Took my pocket radio , but in the hippodrome you couldn't get any reception for that either.
 
Apparently it's all Jack's fault now then, so the 3 games that he has started this season are the reason we're 8th in the table? He didn't have a good game last night, no player in a villa shirt did but how anyone could think he's the the problem in that team is with all due respect quite beyond me.

I said earlier on this thread that the reason we're in so much trouble is that for the past few years we've relied on 1 or 2 "star" players to dig us out of trouble. We're still doing it. Last season we just got the ball to Kodjia, this season it's Adomah with the added bonus of Terry in defence. We've no style of play, no pattern, no real teamwork. Just a collection of expensive players who look like strangers.

Brentford lost their 2 stars to us and blues yet both of them have thus far failed at their new clubs. Hogan has been starved of any service and I'm not sure what's happened to jota but he looks a shadow of the player who tore us apart a year ago. They lost Hogan and put that Vibe lad in, they lost jota and replaced him with canos who had Hutton on toast last night. They lose an important player and they look at who they can bring in that will fit the system, we just sign a bunch of players and Chuck them on the pitch seemingly to work it out for themselves. It's why we've beaten most of the poor sides in the league yet struggle against anyone who has a clue. Same as last season, nothing is different.
 
onlyteaminthemids - 26/12/2017 21:31

For the umpteenth time, what goes on at BMH?

Can’t pass
Can’t press
Can’t control
Can’t shoot
Can’t head
Can’t attack
Can’t defend

.
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This...
 
Spot on mate - which is why the Manager gets grief.

Most fans can see fuck all is being coached or even instructed, what do they do all week ?

Bruce just eats by the looks of it.
 
The Fear - 27/12/2017 09:52

Wurzel - 27/12/2017 00:16

I don't care where a striker is played they should be able to score more than one goal in a year. That is Hogan's fault, he is not and has never been good enough for Villa
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There is a pattern though, if it was just one striker I'd agree but it isn't, it is striker after striker (expensive striker, after expensive striker) who we bring in, don't supply or play to their strengths and ruin.

Hogan is good enough if the system is built to how he plays. Hoofing the odd ball at him will not work and we make all our strikers so very average.

Kodjia was different last season (he was half the player this season) because he is one of those rare players who can make chances themselves, out of nothing. Most strikers aren't of that ilk.

I bet we could put Harry Kane in our side and he'd not score either.
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So in a year at the club he hasn't headed a corner in, or scrambled a ball over the line from two yards? As I say he hasn't done enough, and I know there is a problem with supply, but surely have we sunk so low that we excuse a player not doing the basics? As for Davis, the lad couldn't hit a cows backside with a banjo.
 
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