TRO

I don't mean this in a nasty way......but you best comeback when we are fixed.....otherwise, its going to be a miserable time.Personally I love watching us getting gradually better from one month to another....there will be some knock backs for sure.....but the good runs will gradually out do the bad ones and then you know is changing.....apart from watching the games. Whether its a government , whether its a business or whether its a household that has got in to dire debt.....It takes time.....It is callow to think otherwise. If,you are somehow not able to grasp that.....You will beat yourself up over this, but no manager was ever going to fix this in the timescale you are seemingly looking for. I too want wins first, but as other posters have written the football is not entirely right yet, so its not eye candy......the defence is better, but the attacking play is no where near right.....first things first, we have to slowly build on it. You cannot even attempt to link Steve Bruce with the shenanigans of the last 6 years.....its brutal to even think it.....so give him a chance. No one is suggesting that 5 wins is a new trend......there is simply still too much work to do, to get in to that......but the work is ongoing and you are talking as if it has finished. you say "the poison needs to be eliminated"......what on earth do you think he is trying to do. That's the road he is on. He has just had 4 wins in 5 and 4 clean sheets and he is talking in terms of only just starting......He himself has said we are only just starting. What this is tantamount to is going up to the site agent when Canary Wharf was being built and asking when can i see something worth looking at, when they were just putting in the footings in .......The response would probably have ended in............OFF

Ditto. but thats what costs us money.

I'd happily accept any player back.....that is good enough. And they HAVE to prove they are.

Hopefully moving forward, we might try looking at the character of the player too.

We have done it so many times over the years.....unsophisticated scouting...... Guy whitingham instead of Paul Walsh Tony Cascarino instead of Teddy Sheringham we buy Curtis Davies for 10 mill and sell Cahill for 5 mill Idrissa Gueye willl probably go for a fortune. We just looks at stats, before looking at the player....However,I think the new lot are more savvy, so the nonsense is hopefully coming to an end.

Didier Six?

I'm with you......I remember Ken McNaught having c20 games of doubters. then he was just formidable....Some do take some time. I think Scott Hogan will be the business for us, when he settles and gets used to his surroundings.

4-3-3 for me. but I thought Conte's formation the other night against Utd was novel......3-4-3. I suppose it depends on the attributes of your players and the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. but I believe in K.I.S.S.

Sorry, I was just using the comparison of waiting for something to come good.....as I believe it was a good analogy. but yes, I do accept not everyone will agree, so I am with you.

Blimey, you are unlucky......villa fan and remoaner. just kidding mate.....I wished I hadn't mentioned it

I would prefer a Carbone to a Gil.

I don't see the current style of football that we are witnessing as reflective of what the manager wants.i see it as a means to an end to build resilience to restore confidence to secure wins. Its all about priority. I read Terry's(tini) posts with interest and he is beside himself with the style of play.....if it was the finished article so would I be. This team will develop in to something credible and worth watching, but not just yet......culture takes time to change as does belief. it is clear Steve has focussed on the lack of physical attribute in the team, we have been a soft touch for years.....that had to be addressed......but while you are trying to hone those elements it's difficult to concentrate on the finer points at the same time.....its called development......I.e gradual improvement. What Terry sees is not good and we all know that. My salvation is I am absolutely sure this regime will deliver a watchable team that wins. just like Brexit.......we have to wait patiently

Wins.........they make Transition so much more civilised.

Its like the old saying....." you must have seen a different game to me"........ironically, we probably have. ...... because we are watching the game through our own eyes not someone elses and we all have different views in the main. We all have different interpretations of what has been on display.....for me that is the spice of it all, not the frustration. I guess if a 1,000 of us looked at the Mona Lisa there would be 1,000 different versions. Thats Football.

Terry I am not telling you Steve Bruce is anything other than WIP.......Its my defence of that situation, is maybe making you believe I am. Please do not misconstrue what I am saying here. I just happen to believe he is working his way through a car crash and that the things to be put right may take longer than we all thought.....I maybe wrong, but I am convinced I am right. I see what you see on match day and I admit it is not pretty.....but if it was the finished article I would be worried, but its not, far from it. This thing was never going to be fixed quickly by any manager. I accept you want to see better football and I suspect Steve Bruce does too......but he can't fix everything at once. No one can tell you the football is good, if you don't think it is, its your opinion and I respect that......my point is give him time to fix a mammoth task. I repeat myself ......This what we are watching, is far from the finished article (if in fact, there is such a thing, but you know what I mean) Ps No one can convince you Terry, you have to go with your own thoughts. I am comfortable we will have a good side in the not too distant future.....the problem is no one can put a time to that.

..........I'll second that emotion.

He hasn't got the physicality this league requires. sad but its true......slightly built playmakers get taken out very easily, unless they are atuned to it( like last night Chelsea v Man U).....you have to be able to impose yourself phyiscally to give yourself the space to play.

And then he became unlucky and now he is lucky again.

In all of those games, different problems we have had ,have undone us.There are so many, due to the state of the team. its almost folly to try and appraise this season.....its WIP for example. we never had the resilience we have now against Blues.....this team would have beaten them. We had so many new faces in Jan, I can't take the games seriously, honestly.....its so hard to form any reasonable opinion, such was the disruption. Kodjia is a special talent and we need to blend him more in to team play, I think that will happen. but there are plenty of examples of top strikers carrying teams....Suarez,Henry,Shearer. its a plus not a minus. as a part of the rebuild we will get more players scoring. .......don't criticise, as if we are the finished article.....we are far from it.

I have never been so confident as in the last 20 years that we have the right set up and are on the right lines I have witnessed, rebuilds with Ron Saunders, Graham Taylor, Brian Little and John Gregory.....Martin O'Neill to a degree. We are on our way back.....how long it will take, I have no idea, but I will not be put off by a slow build. sometimes ,when it's too quick it's less sustainable.

I don't think you are setting the bar too high.....I think you are setting it too soon. This team will be all what you want to be in due course, we are in transition. you will only see bits and pieces if improvement and it will gradually become more evident like a jig saw puzzle takes shape. some fans want the picture complete before some of the pieces have been picked up. GH I feel your passion and it's commendable, but give the guy a chance and more importantly give him time to do the job, he knows what's required and it's not there yet, we all know that.

I think you are always liable to be criticised when you are in transition......by definition, that's what we are, so he will be trying things to see if they work......absolutely nothing wrong with that on the back of what this club has gone through. As time transpires and he learns and fixes many problems, he will have less trial and error going on and more focus of less things.He has simply had too many things to fix in his early tenure. I am not trying to say Steve Bruce needs a criticism free ride.....but I think it is more appreciative in fixing our ...what was a sunken ship.....but supporting him as opposed to being so judgmental on every move he makes. There is no manager born that makes zero mistakes......by giving the guy a bit of support can work wonders.

The voice of reason.....as always Mark a very well thought through rendition and spot on IMO He has introduced a physicality in to the team that was missing for years and he can now build on that and start focussing on scoring more goals. All these things to be worked on have to come slowly and surely. Like you I am confident we won't recognise this team in the not too distant future. PS I too, am impressed with his calm and composure. UTV

Ditto

Formations are primarily borne out of 2 factors The opposition you face The players you have at your disposal 4-3-3 can morph to 4-1-4-1 and back.....we can play 4-2-3-1.......all these things will be tried and tested. Personally I think 4-4-2 has had its day and is too easy to play against, but hey, I'm not SB ......you have to have the players to get the most out of the system. back to Hogan Hogan for me , reminds me of Defoe......I think he will be dynamite, when he settles and we find a system to suit. SB will blend the team again, but SH has to take his chances when he is playing and make him self impossible to drop. The team will be morphing back and forth over the coming months with players finding their feet and us finding the optimum formation. We are in our early stages of rectification.......We will have some in team in c 12/18 months