JE- Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 3 minutes ago, terrytini said: I take on board the views of those who say Bruce has always wanted us to play like we did second half and there is merit in some of it IMO. But it can reasonably be countered by pointing at selections, systems, and performances which show the opposite. Even as recently as last night. Gardner was selected ahead of Hourihane - which one provided the football ? Maybe as with many things the truth is it's a bit of both. It is also a point that the setup was forced upon him by the likes of hogan being injured there is no way he would have dropped him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 1, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted March 1, 2017 I don't mind playing ugly. Perhaps it's just me. I've never been a one for all the Pep football. Or even the McLaren 'way', which is a bit more relevant. Get into them, show a bit of quality whenever possible, fight for every inch. Win. That's all I want. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post markavfc40 Posted March 1, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted March 1, 2017 42 minutes ago, JE- said: The reason we are in this mess in the first place is due to poor managers buying poor players and who are not up to the modern standard of today's footballing world and next season will be alot harder than this season Poor players? we have purchased some of the best players in this division. The likes of Hourihane, Lansbury, Kodjia, Chester, Grealish, Hogan, Adomah are some of the most technically gifted, in their position, players in this league. There is nothing modern standard about the Championship anyway it is very much a blood and guts battle and that is arguably where we have been found wanting at times with teams raising their games against us wanting to take the big scalp and us not handling that. Next season won’t be tougher for us. By then we will have a squad of players that will have been together for at least half a season and then had a pre season together which is vital. The novelty for some clubs of playing Aston Villa will also have worn off slightly. The teams coming down also aren’t going to be any better than Newcastle and Brighton who are going up. There is a lot of tripe in this division and on paper we are far better than 90% of it and whilst the game isn’t played on paper I expect to see a positive end to this season which will be the springboard, along with a full pre season together, to see us hit the ground running next season. Welcome to VT by the way. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 10 minutes ago, JE- said: It is also a point that the setup was forced upon him by the likes of hogan being injured there is no way he would have dropped him Straw man. Can't be proven or denied, yet you can still use it to confirm your bias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dappadan Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 So much of football relies on the mental aspect. You only have to look at Liverpool and Leicester this season for that. The way I see it our club has become depressed over a long period of time and we are battling hard to get out of the depression. For me a manager like Bruce is exactly the right person to get us there mentally. Whether he is tactically good enough in the long run is debatable but stability and growing a different mentality is absolutely key for now. There appears to be a growing rapport with the fans, the players and the manager at the ground despite adversity and this can only help going forward. Every player on the pitch seems to be putting in a shift at present and all seem very understanding of fans frustrations. I listened to Hourihane last night on talksport and he was very honest in his assessment. We as fans will always be there but I truly believe that now we have a club full of people who really care which we haven't had for a long time. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 1, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 1, 2017 54 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: I don't mind playing ugly. Perhaps it's just me. I've never been a one for all the Pep football. Or even the McLaren 'way', which is a bit more relevant. Get into them, show a bit of quality whenever possible, fight for every inch. Win. That's all I want. I've said this until I'm blue in the face. If bruce plays horrible, long ball, direct football all next season and we win the Championship, no **** will be complaining Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 1, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 1, 2017 1 hour ago, terrytini said: Even as recently as last night. Gardner was selected ahead of Hourihane - which one provided the football ? Gardner was selected ahead of Hourihane because Hourihane wasn't 100% having missed the last game through injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 3 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: Gardner was selected ahead of Hourihane because Hourihane wasn't 100% having missed the last game through injury. Source ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 5 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: I've said this until I'm blue in the face. If bruce plays horrible, long ball, direct football all next season and we win the Championship, no **** will be complaining I think you underestimate football fans capacity for a good moan. There are some Albion fans still moaning about Pulis. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 5 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: I've said this until I'm blue in the face. If bruce plays horrible, long ball, direct football all next season and we win the Championship, no **** will be complaining I think the point most are making is when we play a proper mix like in the second half last night we are a far more dangerous side than when we are over cautious. I agree that many ( although not all) couldn't care less if it's pretty or not, but we have good quality players in the side wjo can do much more than play 'horrible long ball direct football' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 I don't think Stevo is disagreeing with that. I'm certainly not. Only that a win is a win is a win. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_c Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 12 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: I've said this until I'm blue in the face. If bruce plays horrible, long ball, direct football all next season and we win the Championship, no **** will be complaining Probably not, but no team will win the Championship playing horrible, long ball, direct football. There's too many managers out there now, that can set up a team to counteract that style. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerner's Driver Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 13 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: I think you underestimate football fans capacity for a good moan. There are some Albion fans still moaning about Pulis. Oh, you should never underestimate that, but f*** me does it become wearing sometimes when people go on and on and on and on. As they do, again and again, making the same point in a slightly different way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a m ole Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 I think the gripe from some has really been that the style of football hasn't been effective. Although, I'm sure there will still be those that moan when it does produces results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 3 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: Yes. I think that was December 18th? You expect too much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted March 1, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 1, 2017 (edited) I just think back to RDM, he was a nice enough guy but has virtually no tactical awareness, and just isn't a manager in my eyes. I tnink Steve Bruce has a completely different footballing awareness to RDM (not saying anyone has made that comparison just that he is a recent example of a non-manage thrown in at the deepend), he may not play beautiful football and have slightly 'ugly' tactics sometimes, but that's different to having no tactics at all. I don't expect to change people's minds, but winning is all I want at the moment, and next season come to think of it. When we're back in the Prem we can have the luxury of a 'philosophy' which is attractive, etc. edit - made my point clearer Edited March 1, 2017 by alreadyexists 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 1 hour ago, Stevo985 said: I've said this until I'm blue in the face. If bruce plays horrible, long ball, direct football all next season and we win the Championship, no **** will be complaining I'd complain, personally, not about winning the league (obviously) but because we'd have become an absolutely terrible football team to watch. I don't follow Aston Villa to see us "win things" (I mean, for **** sake, 1996 was it?) - I'd much rather see us play football that was entertaining. I pay money to be entertained, not to be bored but watch us scrape a 1-0 win. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 43 minutes ago, a m ole said: I think the gripe from some has really been that the style of football hasn't been effective. Although, I'm sure there will still be those that moan when it does produces results. Yep, there were people who wanted MON sacked after 6th place finishes. The performances IMO do not indicate that we can put the sort of run together that will achieve promotion next year. The derby game on paper is a great result. But scoring from a set piece and hanging on for dear life is not getting a team promoted over a whole season. More performances like the 2nd half yesterday will make me believe in it more. At the moment though, Bruce looks like he will keep us as a midtable championship team. Hopefully that can change. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted March 1, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted March 1, 2017 58 minutes ago, jon_c said: Probably not, but no team will win the Championship playing horrible, long ball, direct football. There's too many managers out there now, that can set up a team to counteract that style. I agree, but that wasn't really my point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 2 minutes ago, DCJonah said: Yep, there were people who wanted MON sacked after 6th place finishes. The performances IMO do not indicate that we can put the sort of run together that will achieve promotion next year. The derby game on paper is a great result. But scoring from a set piece and hanging on for dear life is not getting a team promoted over a whole season. More performances like the 2nd half yesterday will make me believe in it more. At the moment though, Bruce looks like he will keep us as a midtable championship team. Hopefully that can change. Agree with all this... apart from the last bit. Bruce is a good enough manager to get us higher than midtable. Things do take time to settle - we'll be a better team after the summer .regardless of what happens from now to the end of the season - (i.e: we could win every game for the rest of the season, we'll still be a better team after the summer). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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