Aston Villa: Crunch time for Steve Bruce and the Villans

Well, that was a bit crap wasn’t it? Aston Villa don’t like playing on TV and Tuesday night was no different.

A miserable effort against Norwich which culminated in a 1-0 loss and a depressing trip back to the Midlands for the loyal supporters. I think after Jack Grealish’s wonder goal got us out of jail on Saturday that the team would take advantage of that stroke of luck by putting in a good performance in Norfolk but that was obviously not the case and I’m sure none of you want to revisit that so I’ll move on.

The honeymoon period is now over for Steve Bruce. He has rightly received plaudits for re-energizing the club and results have really picked up since he came in.

I do believe that after back to back away losses and just 1 win on the road all season, this hoodoo the team have on their travels needs to be cured if they are to progress this season.

It will not be an easy task even for a man of Bruce’s stature. I don’t doubt Bruce’s ability to guide us into the playoffs but the players need to respond and that is not something they have done for other managers when the going got tough.

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We all know what has happened recent years, after Tim Sherwood kept the club up and took us to the FA Cup final the fans were expecting an upward curve to occur from the team.

However the next season brought horror show upon horror show and when Remi Garde came in after Sherwood was sacked. I think some players didn’t like him and refused to give 100% effort which is a cardinal sin in football.

I do not doubt the current crop are giving 100% for Bruce but I think it will be interesting to see how the players respond to this first real blip of the Bruce reign and whether we’ll see real grit from the team or if it goes the other way and the players wilt under pressure.

Bruce has the bonus of bolstering the squad in January if he feels the squad needs a helping hand and I see that the club have been linked with a number of players already so it’s safe to say he will attempt to improve the team.

There is no doubt that this is where Steve Bruce will earn his money, the task of lifting a team short of form is the hardest part of management and we are about to see if he is up to the task. I’m of the opinion that he is and will sort out the away form before long but it’s fair to say the next few weeks will be a rollercoaster and I’m excited to be part of the ride.

UTV!

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