Mark Albrighton Posted November 25, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted November 25, 2017 Yes fair play, Steve. I had major doubts and thought we needed a change but he’s turned it around nicely. I still have some slight reservations but the results are very, very good and that’s the most important thing. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 We need to stop winning games to prove that this Bruce-ball doesn't work. It's just all going wrong right now. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NurembergVillan Posted November 25, 2017 Moderator Share Posted November 25, 2017 16 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: There is something special happening to Villa. Something we haven't seen for around 10 years. It's not good football and times it can be pretty boring and frustrating to watch. But the players now believe they will win every game. This is bigger than good football. This is a mental thing that has plagued us for years. I posted in here a few weeks ago, saying that we can start expecting more in terms of performance when the confidence of victory is firmly instilled. Just as the fans weren't feeling like we'd win every game because we'd only won a few, the same was true of the players. I know my mentality has changed, and I can see that of the players is changing too. There's a little bit of nonchalance starting to appear, in a good way. Albert's first goal, Hutton running at people, Snodgrass with a back-heel in the box, Davis with some stepovers. We're getting the belief that is hard to breed after being so pathetically shit, and having such a turnover of players and managers, for such a long time. Just as I posted back then - not the finished article, but we continue to improve. We started from a low point, and we're creeping back to where we ought to be. Today wasn't Brasil 1970, but it was certainly very, very comfortable. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farlz Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Much better performance than Tuesday, we did play some nice stuff at times today which mainly come through Snodgrass. Good win and we keep that momentum going, well done Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommo_b Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Terry, Samba, Adomah, Johnstone, all looking like smart signings from Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Tommo_b said: Terry, Samba, Adomah, Johnstone, all looking like smart signings from Bruce. Adomah? Guessing you mean Onomah? Edited November 25, 2017 by sne 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted November 25, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted November 25, 2017 I know it’s fashionable on here to criticise “Bruce-ball” And I do realise that we are quite a direct team. But if there was ever a game that shows you the difference between our football and real hoof and hope football, it was today. Ipswich’s only plan. Hoof it down the middle. As for us, a very good display. Ugly first half whilst never looking in danger. Dominated the second and looked as comfortable as can be. It was easy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RimmyJimmer Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 4 hours ago, VILLAMARV said: This this and more this. Not worth wasting valuable time and energy.....apart from this post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 Very comfortable win today. Well done Bruce. Has made us solid and hard to beat, now seeing the dividends higher up the pitch and confidence is flowing. Teams will now fear us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 There is one stand-out thing for me and that is we are fielding pretty much the same team every week. We haven't managed to do that for a very long time and maybe that has a lot to do with results at the moment. Must be a positive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 5 hours ago, Grasshopper said: I think you are Massively underestimating the intent from last season. The Board appointed RDM and invested heavily with the absolute intent to get us promoted. After 10/11 games we were looking far from promotion candidates and they made a decision to replace a manager with a record of 1 promotion from this league with another with a record of 4 promotions from this league. I repeat FOUR PROMOTIONS The board invested further in January, yes to continually improve the squad (who wouldn‘t), but to push the expenditure to the point that meant - Failing to get promotion would leave us with nearly zero leeway regarding ffp for future investments whilst still in this league - suggests more than 50/50 that promotion was still the intended target at the point where the jan window closed. At some point Bruce stated 10th was the target, but maybe my memory serves me wrong, it wasnt the presser after the 3-0 defeat to Brentford the day we bought Hogan for 15mill (or was it 5/10/12mill?) Reality dictates, we didnt get promoted, Bruce was given another chance. These are facts AFTER the decisions and intent initially set out by the board. Where i have an alternative view is four promotions yes......but in terms of preparation, no comparison from the repair job he had to do with us. He bought a player in Hogan for much money at our level and it hasn't worked out....that is/was a set back.....and is having further effects on FFP Bruce wasn't given another chance, reality won the day and an understanding of how long these things can take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 (edited) Another solid, enjoyable performance. There was a swagger about us in the second half in particular, I was surprised we didn't go on to hit them for 4 or 5. I guess that's the next step for us. Get either Davis or Onomah amongst the goals and start battering teams. On days like today we have it in us. Edited November 25, 2017 by dont_do_it_doug. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 6 hours ago, srsmithusa said: Effort maybe yes.....but he can't change their ability to a major degree. equally, he can't magic up replacements, he has to go with what he's got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 2 hours ago, bobzy said: We need to stop winning games to prove that this Bruce-ball doesn't work. It's just all going wrong right now. I get this post is in jest but it's pretty patronising as well. The Bruce criticism was justified. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 2 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: I get this post is in jest but it's pretty patronising as well. The Bruce criticism was justified. It's not patronising. It has been told that we cannot be promoted whilst playing in this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 2 hours ago, NurembergVillan said: I posted in here a few weeks ago, saying that we can start expecting more in terms of performance when the confidence of victory is firmly instilled. Just as the fans weren't feeling like we'd win every game because we'd only won a few, the same was true of the players. I know my mentality has changed, and I can see that of the players is changing too. There's a little bit of nonchalance starting to appear, in a good way. Albert's first goal, Hutton running at people, Snodgrass with a back-heel in the box, Davis with some stepovers. We're getting the belief that is hard to breed after being so pathetically shit, and having such a turnover of players and managers, for such a long time. Just as I posted back then - not the finished article, but we continue to improve. We started from a low point, and we're creeping back to where we ought to be. Today wasn't Brasil 1970, but it was certainly very, very comfortable. Incrementally, it was progress.......a conduit to success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAV1 Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 8 minutes ago, TRO said: Where i have an alternative view is four promotions yes......but in terms of preparation, no comparison from the repair job he had to do with us. He bought a player in Hogan for much money at our level and it hasn't worked out....that is/was a set back.....and is having further effects on FFP Bruce wasn't given another chance, reality won the day and an understanding of how long these things can take. The purchase of Hogan was a very expensive and very avoidable mistake. Ok some players just don’t work out, but we should have had enough knowledge of how he plays and said, good player but doesn’t suit the style we play. In general I’m greatly encouraged by our recent results and I can’t see that changing managers now would help particularly. That time has passed. My worry is, and always has been, that I fear that we’re not winning many games particularly convincingly and we could easily go on a poor run. Yes I know that can happen to any team, but the poor start has left us no room for manoeuvre. Results wise we seem to have turned a corner, but in my opinion not performance wise, and so that leaves us fragile. If we were dominating most games, like Newcastle last year and Wolves this year, then I’d be convinced we’d reached a different level. We’ve done well recently and I congratulate the whole team, including Steve Bruce for that, with the caveat that those results were all against average/poor teams. That’s not a criticism as you can only beat what is in front of you, however a few good results against some of the better teams in the division, starting with Leeds hopefully, would really boost confidence. If we can do that, then teams will really fear us and the team will have a deeper and more resilient confidence. Flat track bullies or real promotion contenders? We’ll find out soon enough. UTV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 (edited) 5 minutes ago, bobzy said: It's not patronising. It has been told that we cannot be promoted whilst playing in this way. By around 3-4 posters. The rest were genuinely concerned that our movement and ability to hold the ball could end up costing us. All I'm saying is this kind of post having a pop at those against Bruce just keep the endless debate going. As things stand you are right about Bruce. Be the bigger man about it. Edit: We're far from being promoted yet. Edited November 25, 2017 by Vive_La_Villa 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 2 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: By around 3-4 posters. The rest were genuinely concerned that our movement and ability to hold the ball could end up costing us. All I'm saying is this kind of post having a pop at those against Bruce just keep the endless debate going. As things stand you are right about Bruce. Be the bigger man about it. Edit: We're far from being promoted yet. Don't worry - the flip side of this will be posted when we next fail to win a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 4 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: I get this post is in jest but it's pretty patronising as well. The Bruce criticism was justified. Who are any of us to say, that this was not a part of his plan.....but we were just getting a little ahead of ourselves. The Bruce criticism was only justified, if folk felt it was necessary to give it......for me, i was prepared to wait and take a rain check......these things take time., only appreciated by the patient. todays game was much about containment in the first half and we opened up more in the second......but we got the win. In the early days of SB we was work in progress and to a lesser extent still are.....so the criticism of early days was premature in my view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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