Aston Villa fans have been taking to Twitter to outline their thoughts on the poor run of form they have been experiencing recently. One of the main topics of question has been Steve Bruce and whether he is the man for the job.
In the early days, they made a bright start to his tenure and it looked like they may have finally cracked it. Villa, though, now haven’t won since boxing day and have slipped down to 14th in the Championship table.
Bruce, who took over in October, didn’t experience defeat in first seven games in charge. That spell was broken by Leeds United, who beat his side 2-0 on the first weekend of December.
Some poor results in December saw the former Birmingham City boss recruit some notable names in the transfer window. The likes of James Bree, Conor Hourihane, Henri Lansbury and Scott Hogan all joining the club at various stages in January. They, however, could not make any impact in their most recent outing – as they went down 2-1 at struggling Nottingham Forest.
Having been relegated last season, Villa fans finally got their long-awaited takeover in the summer as Tony Xia walked through the door, who hired Italian Roberto Di Matteo almost immediately. However, the former Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion boss could do nothing to change the clubs fortunes around. He was sacked after just one win in the opening 12 games – including a League Cup defeat against League Two side Luton Town.
So how have Villa fans rated their new manager and the way the team is performing?
Here is a selection of their tweets that surround the issue.
When Bruce came in what really impressed me was his in game management, he had a plan and made good subs…why has this gone to shit? #avfc
— Oakley Doakley (@Gazoaks) February 6, 2017
Understand sticking with a manager but Bruce was supposed to be a quick fix. If we are going to have to be patient we need better #avfc
— Jon (@jmhart1) February 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/JustJordanFM/status/828616967087128578
It's obvious Bruce isn't on the best run at the minute but stability is key right now, give him until the end of next season at least #AVFC
— ClaretBlueAVFC (@ClaretBlueAVFC) February 6, 2017
Never wanted Bruce and still not the right man to take us forward #avfc
— Kevin Simple (@Avfcvilla1981) February 6, 2017
Bruce has got away with loads of these. wolves,blues,Preston and forest are just a few off the top of my head #AVFC
— Alex Othon (@lovespud83) February 7, 2017
I've stepped back from the Bruce/Villa debate and feel much better than I did. We created a lot of chances on Sat despite being poor #AVFC
— 丁卯 (@hot_diggity_d) February 7, 2017
To those knocking Bruce, I agree we need to stop this rot but are forgetting the diarr state he took over? Allow him the rebuild #AVFC
— Reece 🦁 (@Reece_AV) February 7, 2017
i think villa fans need to stop staying sack bruce ,start judging him next season when he will actually have a pre season to work with #avfc
— Ash Skinner (@Villaboy89) February 8, 2017