I apologise in advance for indulging my thoughts with an article, and they do disagree with the majority on there, however I thought I would offer my opinions on where we are at the minute. I think I am the 1 person in the world who wouldn't make a change at this moment in time. I remember very well Reid reaching a similar point and us making a nightmare appointment in Wilkinson, and ending up going through absolute hell!! If we do make such a change it must be in the summer. I am very confident that Bruce will lead us to a mid table finish, yes this may not be what we initially hoped for, but at the end of the day despite losing to Wigan I cannot see us finishing below them, Blackburn, Wolves, Swansea etc. Now I have been thinking a lot about this and have looked at our club when Bruce arrived and how things have gone. During Bruce's tenure I think he has done pretty well in the transfer market. In terms of players being brought in I don't think there is one that I think has been an awful decision (maybe the Bramble one being a tad misguided!). The likes of Bent, Gyan, Sess etc are excellent players and performed well for us. In terms of transfers out it gets a little more mysterious. We really don't know a lot about the circumstances surrounding Bent and Gyan leaving but I think we all agree that with either of these we would be 6 or 7 points better off than we are now! Now I am not 100% convinved at Short at the minute. Yes he seems to have the club at heart and I know he likes to be behind the scenes, but he is chairman now so really needs to come out and be a bit more vocal at this tough time. If he is going to sack him that is his decision, but if he is not then he must back the manager both in terms of his job, and in the transfer market. This lack of convincing in Short is mainly down to the figures. We all agree Bruce took over a very average squad who struggled to stay up. He has slashed the wage bill by getting rid of most of Keane's flops, and has spent very little in terms of net transfers. For this he should be applauded in my opinion. Please don't get me wrong, I am unhappy at how we are performing, and I am sure Bruce and Short are too. But I firmly believe we must stick together at this point. I know you will quote the home record in 2011 in response to this but lets weather the storm, stay behind the team and try and turn this round. Us fans have not created a decent atmosphere in the SOL for a few years now and we all have a role to play. Anyway those are my thoughts, please feel free to disagree/agree.
Agree 100% about Short. They say actions speak louder than words. Well we are getting neither from our elusive owner.
There is always, always a risk that sacking a manager mid-season could result in a replacement manager who: 1). Is even worse 2). Can't stop the slide, even if they're good Just look at us when we got relegated: - Kevin Keegan first - Then once he resigned, Hughton took temporary charge (I suspect a similar situation will happen with Sunderland whilst a replacement is looked for) - Joe Kinnear took charge and then left due to ill health (he was crap anyway) - Hughton took charge again - Shearer took charge, but it was too late There were an unfortunate series of events, but we fell foul of a mixture of choosing the wrong replacements and also struggling to stop the slide of form. This was only a few years back as well. Don't get me wrong, a new manager could turn things around completely, but there's always some kind of risk.
One of my fears is O'Neill if I am honest. Yes, he appears to be highly regarded but IMO he is very overrated. Did a good job at Leicester (similar to what Reid did at SAFC he just got out at the right time), did well at Celtic (as did Strachan!), but the at Villa I feel he spent a fortune and threw the toys out of the pram as soon as it got a bit heated in the boardroom. This really is my biggest fear. Chop and change whoever you like in the summer but appointing the wrong man mid-season is a recipe for disaster!! Who knows it could work out beautifully, we sack Bruce and climb quickly into the top 10 and I will be happy to be proven wrong!
O'Neill is about image a lot. He's left of his own accord and opted to choose his next managerial position very carefully, therefore putting himself on a pedestal. He hasn't rushed and he's been out for a long while, despite being apparently sought after, so this has gave him a rather special aura. You just have to be on the ball to conduct yourself in this way and, most importantly, know when to get out at the right time. I have no doubt he's probably a good manager, but he's managed his reputation very well. He might turn the fortunes around, but you have to wonder what he would request to do it. After all, he left Villa in the lurch because he wasn't given enough cash to play with.
Apparently ONeil is out of work taking care of his wife who was battling cancer. Saying that if he came to us and demanded millions to build his won team and Short was prepared to back him, then i'd be happy to see what he can do. Personally don't think he is the man for the job but i doubt he'd put up with his players rolling over like they are for Bruce. I think Bruce is good enough to get us mid table again, Oneil would probably get us top 8 IMO but only after a few seasons.
I couldn't disagree more with this tbh. O Neill is all about substance and not image. He went to 3 cup finals with an average leicester city team, winning twice. If also won a shed full of trophies at Celtic, breaking a 9 year stranglehold by rangers. You also neglected to mention that he had taken an average Villa to 3 consecutive top 6 finishes, improving points tallies year on year. In fact, every pundit had them down as the next big thing to break the then top 4 stranglehold. He walked away when Lerner went back on his word. The same team he had taken to 6th were almost relegated when he left, proving what a terrific man manager he is. He would be fantastic for us imo. I have no doubts at all.
i'm with Cest on this..O'Neil would be a great appointment, the feel good factor would come back straight away. We could look forward to something decent instead of the crap being dished up at the moment
Hi Tractor I have to say that your thoughts on this matter should be taken seriously. Making a reckless change could be very dangerous for the club. The candidate's names bandied about on here have been less than inspiring, or just plain daft. There is some merit in 'better the devil you know'. There is also some merit in an idea called The Peter Principle, whereby a person rises to the top of their ability and then stops. They simply don't know enough to go any further. For me, this is where Bruce is now. Fair play to the guy, he's improved our standing in the EPL up to this season, but when it's come to making that next step, he's been found wanting. As has been said ad infinitum on here, his tactics, selection etc etc are not those of a man comfortable in what he's doing. For these reasons, he has to make way now. I don't see him improving the squad in January or next summer because he doesn't know how. He's reached his ceiling. And I don't think this is all about losing Bent/Gyan/Welbeck - yes that was a huge problem for us, but has no bearing on the midfield problem or stupid last-five-minute substitutions. I was sat on the BiB/BoB fence for quite a while - all it gave me was a sore arse. The club needs to take action now and send him off with our blessings before fans truly turn on him (Saturday could just have been the tip of the iceberg). As for comments about O'Neill, people really need to look at the facts of his management career and not base it on whether he was a Sunderland fan or not (he wasn't, he was a Charlie Hurley fan) or some vague notion that he was lucky with the teams he had. He's a brilliant manager, but whether he'd come to us is debatable.
This is a very, very dangerous thing to say mate. Never assume that you can't finish below anybody. 3 years ago I thought it would be impossible for us to finish below Hull, but it happened.
