Steve Bruce

[bannedfromHandV]

We seem to lack intensity for periods of games, I honestly don't think its the tactics necessarily, although I think we can all agree Bruce is no tactical genius per se. 

It happens randomly too, sometimes we start games like a house on fire, sometimes we end them that way but we struggle for consistency, it was a running joke for a while that we'd have a good half inevitably leading to a shit half, and vice versa, it's a real rarity that we're just steadily good for the majority of a match. 

Even tonight, 3-1 up against a demoralised shit team, we started drifting off and making silly errors, and it's the whole team more often than not. 

Thats still a cultural issue for me, I think SB has, along with other key individuals, repaired some of the damage but these signings we're making need to help liven us up to be more consistent. 

[GENTLEMAN]

Absolutely spot on with his subs tonight; a usual lament. Well done Bruce

[sne]

8 minutes ago, GENTLEMAN said:

Absolutely spot on with his subs tonight; a usual lament. Well done Bruce

Other than they could have perhaps come sooner I agree.

[VILLAMARV]

2 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

It's strange to me that he wants to play it when we lack quality defenders, but the way I see it is this, and I may be being too optimistic.

We played our usual formation for all of last season. The players know how to play that. We can argue about playing style all we want, but MOST of the time, that formation and our players are good enough to win a lot of games.
Where we struggle are those games where, for whatever reason it doesn't work. If Bruce is working on us becoming effective at 3-5-2 so that we can change things up in those kinds of games and eek out those few extra points here and there that we threw away last season, then it's a good thing.

Again, maybe I'm being too optimistic, but that's my guess at where Bruce is coming from. Whether it will work or not is up in the air. We'll see.

but meaningless friendlies......

[Stratvillan]

My criticism (well 1 of them) of Bruce last year, was the reluctance to give game time to youngsters. Really good to see Green and RHM get game time. Personally I'd start Green. If RHM, COH (when available) etc get 15-20 minutes regularly, at least we can can judge wether they can step up. 

The big issue is the defence - we have to hope that we get Bryan, (Taylor offers little) and a settled central defence (Elphick is a 6/7 games a year reserve a la Samba).

[terrytini]

Well done Bruce.

A 3-1 Win away from home, after being a goal down, only one central defender ( sorry Elphick), and the summer we’ve just had......great to see the character he has built into the team has - apparently - withstood the Play off defeat, players leaving, and the club nearly going bust.

Very pleased, great start, keep it up !

 

 

 

[eholm]

I will never be a fan of Bruce and his style of football but a win is a win. I think he has been told very clearly by the owners that the 'young, quick' players route must be taken by him; I've never heard Bruce talk so much about how slow we were in the first half and that we needed an injection of pace that Green and RHM gave us.

I do not believe that Bruce can change his style of play enough to incorporate the required strategy but at least it was refreshing to hear him talking about how we need 'young players' and that 'we needed to be a lot quicker'. Our team is woefully short of real pace so hopefully the next couple of weeks ion the market will start to address that issue...along with our lack of any creativity (Jack aside).

[picicata]

1 hour ago, Stratvillan said:

My criticism (well 1 of them) of Bruce last year, was the reluctance to give game time to youngsters. Really good to see Green and RHM get game time. Personally I'd start Green. If RHM, COH (when available) etc get 15-20 minutes regularly, at least we can can judge wether they can step up. 

The big issue is the defence - we have to hope that we get Bryan, (Taylor offers little) and a settled central defence (Elphick is a 6/7 games a year reserve a la Samba).

Una poca de gracia pa' mi pa' ti y arriba y arriba

[Vive_La_Villa]

9 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said:

We seem to lack intensity for periods of games, I honestly don't think its the tactics necessarily, although I think we can all agree Bruce is no tactical genius per se. 

It happens randomly too, sometimes we start games like a house on fire, sometimes we end them that way but we struggle for consistency, it was a running joke for a while that we'd have a good half inevitably leading to a shit half, and vice versa, it's a real rarity that we're just steadily good for the majority of a match. 

Even tonight, 3-1 up against a demoralised shit team, we started drifting off and making silly errors, and it's the whole team more often than not. 

Thats still a cultural issue for me, I think SB has, along with other key individuals, repaired some of the damage but these signings we're making need to help liven us up to be more consistent. 

The problem is we more or less looked like that for the most part of last season. We find ways too win games without looking impressive or convincing. I have no problem with that if we win win but the past has shown it inevitably leads to a few costly bad runs in the season.  It’s why I’ve always had my doubts about Bruce whether it’s his fault or not. Only the manager can really address the issue.

I think some new faces could freshen things up. Also a midfielder that gets around the pitch more. I reckon Thor should feature in the defensive midfielder role a lot more this season.  Whelan seems to be a bit laboured.

 

[Stevo985]

2 hours ago, Stratvillan said:

My criticism (well 1 of them) of Bruce last year, was the reluctance to give game time to youngsters. Really good to see Green and RHM get game time. Personally I'd start Green. If RHM, COH (when available) etc get 15-20 minutes regularly, at least we can can judge wether they can step up. 

The big issue is the defence - we have to hope that we get Bryan, (Taylor offers little) and a settled central defence (Elphick is a 6/7 games a year reserve a la Samba).

I'm not sure it's a totally justified criticism to be perfectly honest.

But regardless I think we'll see them get more game time. RHM has a real chance to stake a claim with Kodjia underperforming. And I think the intention is Green to be first choice. Bruce played him plenty before his injury so I think he's the long term plan.

[Bazmonkey]

Same set up same performance.

Great we got a win after the summer we have had but as someone said earlier playing like this will not always work and is more likely to cost us against better teams.

Hull were poor but for better finishing and the result could have been different.

The midfield needs life and energy in the middle...not the wings but in the centre...regardless what formation Bruce puts out we effectively play with 3 in the middle. One of which is Whelan who looks like he will pass out if he moves more than 10 yards.

Too many times last night and last season the midfield are over run...whelan and hourihane naturally sit deep so its no wonder there's no option to go long and hoof it.

I think we would be better with a five man midfield but in a 2 and 3...support for back four but more importantly support in attack.

          

[eholm]

Bruce commnet after the game "“I just went for a bit of experience and know-how in the first game of the season".

Rinse and repeat! He will say he wants to make the team a lot younger but it's in his DNA to default back to 'experience'......leopard and spots...

[Stevo985]

Quote

The Bruce thread would go mental if it was 2-0 to Villa and we only had 49% possession.

I was almost right  

Edited August 7, 2018 by Stevo985

[terrytini]

47 minutes ago, eholm said:

Bruce commnet after the game "“I just went for a bit of experience and know-how in the first game of the season".

Rinse and repeat! He will say he wants to make the team a lot younger but it's in his DNA to default back to 'experience'......leopard and spots...

I would agree he has always tended more towards experience than youth, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that.

However,  call me crazy but I think he, along with his staff, assesses the relative merits of his squad on an ongoing basis. I doubt he would deliberately chose players he thought were inferior to others.

No use picking someone just because they are younger than someone else, and nomgood just throwing them in any how, any time.

He has said we need to be fresher, quicker, and younger. Again, call me stark raving bonkers, but I’m going to believe he isn’t lying.

[terrytini]

57 minutes ago, Bazmonkey said:

Same set up same performance.

Great we got a win after the summer we have had but as someone said earlier playing like this will not always work and is more likely to cost us against better teams.

 

          

Same set up, same performance, and another Win. We actually Win a lot playing like this.

And we beat Wolves, Fulham, Boro, And Cardiff, the rest of the Top 5, last season, playing like this.

Nobody knows what the future holds, but in my view we’ve nothing to fear.

[TRO]

12 minutes ago, terrytini said:

I would agree he has always tended more towards experience than youth, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that.

However,  call me crazy but I think he, along with his staff, assesses the relative merits of his squad on an ongoing basis. I doubt he would deliberately chose players he thought were inferior to others.

No use picking someone just because they are younger than someone else, and nomgood just throwing them in any how, any time.

He has said we need to be fresher, quicker, and younger. Again, call me stark raving bonkers, but I’m going to believe he isn’t lying.

I too don't think he said those things for the sake of it.

He set us up rightly or wrongly to get points on the board.....it was a frustrating game and in terms of ball retention etc, it was low grade.....but he got what he wanted....Momentum.

this team needs strenghtening, that was clear.."..i think we all agree on that......CF and CB priority for me.

However,I thought RHM was effervescent in comparison......but would like to get the boy Bowen in our plans......reminded me of Ray Graydon a bit.

Edited August 7, 2018 by TRO

[eholm]

18 minutes ago, terrytini said:

I would agree he has always tended more towards experience than youth, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that.

However,  call me crazy but I think he, along with his staff, assesses the relative merits of his squad on an ongoing basis. I doubt he would deliberately chose players he thought were inferior to others.

No use picking someone just because they are younger than someone else, and nomgood just throwing them in any how, any time.

He has said we need to be fresher, quicker, and younger. Again, call me stark raving bonkers, but I’m going to believe he isn’t lying.

Yes but he always seems to side with experience due to a perceived lack of trust with the younger players. After watching the pre-season games, I do not understand how he decided to pick Elmo on the wing as opposed to Green. I know that Elmo scored, however, it is this inherent reluctance, on the face of it, to give the younger option a place in the X1 that baffles me.

[Stevo985]

2 minutes ago, eholm said:

Yes but he always seems to side with experience due to a perceived lack of trust with the younger players. After watching the pre-season games, I do not understand how he decided to pick Elmo on the wing as opposed to Green. I know that Elmo scored, however, it is this inherent reluctance, on the face of it, to give the younger option a place in the X1 that baffles me.

I think that's a reluctance that you perceive, but isn't actually true.

If they're good enough, he'll play them. He had Green ahead of Adomah before Green's injury, he's clearly not reluctant to play him. I'd wager he'll be first choice again soon.

Yeah he went with experience last night, and we won 3-1, and Elmo scored, so I think it's justified.

He also gave game time to RHM. 

Plus he's just signed Tuanzebe, apparently to be first choice, and bidding on Bryan, another young player.

 

Yeah Bruce probably does lean towards experience more, maybe too much, but like most things involving him, it's greatly exaggerated on VT. This perception that he never plays or signs young players is just plain wrong.

[Taxahunter]

1 hour ago, eholm said:

I will never be a fan of Bruce and his style of football but a win is a win. I think he has been told very clearly by the owners that the 'young, quick' players route must be taken by him; I've never heard Bruce talk so much about how slow we were in the first half and that we needed an injection of pace that Green and RHM gave us.

I do not believe that Bruce can change his style of play enough to incorporate the required strategy but at least it was refreshing to hear him talking about how we need 'young players' and that 'we needed to be a lot quicker'. Our team is woefully short of real pace so hopefully the next couple of weeks ion the market will start to address that issue...along with our lack of any creativity (Jack aside).

And yet he waited for far too long to make the substitutions. Im not a fan, but as somebody said - a win is a win.

[eholm]

1 minute ago, Stevo985 said:

I think that's a reluctance that you perceive, but isn't actually true.

If they're good enough, he'll play them. He had Green ahead of Adomah before Green's injury, he's clearly not reluctant to play him. I'd wager he'll be first choice again soon.

Yeah he went with experience last night, and we won 3-1, and Elmo scored, so I think it's justified.

He also gave game time to RHM. 

Plus he's just signed Tuanzebe, apparently to be first choice, and bidding on Bryan, another young player.

 

Yeah Bruce probably does lean towards experience more, maybe too much, but like most things involving him, it's greatly exaggerated on VT. This perception that he never plays or signs young players is just plain wrong.

I think any younger signings will be due to his instructions from above as he has alluded to regarding the block on attempts to resign Terry and Snodgrass. We will see if this season he gets on board with a philosophy that is not a natural fit for him. Time will tell, I guess...