Steve Bruce

[Lerner's Driver]

2 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I feel like we have been here before. lol

We have and no doubt we'll be back there again sooner than anyone had hoped. 

Of course, it's the hope that kills you, but when you think about it, so few clubs, managers, or players ever consistently meet the fans' expectations. 

We all demand success, but over the course of a season, perhaps only a handful of teams meet or exceed the common aspiration, the rest by definition, disappoint or downright fail. 

Barring the occasional brief periods of success, following football is largely a low reward, energy sapping slog. 

I'm beginning to see the appeal of philately.

[AVTuco]

35 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

I can only see Bruce getting sacked if we went on a dreadful run. Aslong as we are around the playoff  spots he's going nowhere. Fail to make playoffs and he will be sacked. Personally I think we will make the playoffs, but not sure we will progress from there. 

Exactly. This is where we are. Only if we drop out of running for playoff spots will Bruce be sacked. If Tony was as trigger happy as this board, he'd have done it already before our current decent run.

And with saying this, I am not saying he's doing a good job, or that he doesn't deserve to be sacked, or that I believe he will turn this around. This is just my observation of the situation. 

[AntrimBlack]

13 hours ago, peterms said:

It would be helpful if journos would press him a little more.  When he makes comments about not being interested in tactics, they should press him about whether that's just a throwaway remark aimed at blocking further discussion of his tactics, or whether he actually means it, and if so, exploring that further.

Instead, interviews come across as banal and superficial.  What did you think of the game?  When will so-and-so be fit again?  They seem to make poor use of a valuable opportunity to explore things in a bit more depth.

I guess they know if they ask awkward questions, they will not be back.

[omariqy]

16 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

If he loses next two I honk he will sacked. Esp a defeat against blose. Losing to two rivals in a month would be difficult for him to survive 

This is the problem. He is always going to be 2 or 3 bad results away from the sack. That's not a good position to be in as a team and as a club. I don't think the fans want him and I think the board quietly know that he is the wrong man.

[lapal_fan]

For what it's worth I think him playing 2 up front against Wolves away from home was quite daring and admirable.  He tried to take the game to them. 

The major problem he had (and most saw) was that he had two attacking wingers in Snodgrass and Albert, Hourihane in CM alongside Whelan.  No matter how you look at it, that's quite an offensive line up.   

I'm not Whelan's biggest critic, I think he can do a job, but like Jedi, his mobility isn't good enough to play in a 2, especially away from home against a side with a lot of technicians and pace. 

I think the major mistake from Bruce is not identifying quickly enough, that we had to revert to 5 in midfield because they were steaming through us and had a lot of the ball.  So we inevitably played much deeper, meaning we had to go long.  That's fine, but we didn't hold it up well enough to enable the midfield to get up to them to help them - a problem with a lack of mobility (ergo, whelan).  If he wanted two in the middle, it should have been Onomah, because he can carry the ball, and has good mobility and stamina.  

Ideally, he'd have taken Davies off (he had a bad game, which is absolutely fine, he's a kid) and stuck Onomah on and told us the break on them and attack in a 4-3-3. 

So whilst I thought before kick off "wow, we're going to try and win here, nice one" - what ended up happening was Bruce not making that 4-4-2 into a 4-5-1, thus we surrendered possession, had to stay very deep, thus meaning we didn't shoot enough or put enough pressure on their defence/midfield. 

So tactically, he was pretty poor imo, despite being brave enough to go for it before we kicked off. 

 

[flashingqwerty]

To add to the above, he even said before the game that 4-4-2 doesnt work against wolves.

That makes his lack of early changes even more confusing and damning for me.

Ok maybe he went 4-4-2 to appear more attacking despite his better judgement.  But to watch us struggle and not change is a disgrace and to change only after cnceeding twice and the game having gone beyond salvage unforgivable for me.

If it were a 1 off or a rare occurence then ok but this happens it more than half our matches.

[Reivax_Villa]

Bruce lacks tactical flexibility and has a very pragmatic approach to the game.

Amongst footballing people Bruce is held in high regard due his career as a player and manager. Currently the only factor that has kept him at this job is his previous success in this league. 

The reality is that his time here has been a failure. 

He has been unable to set us up in any way to attack. This is point is even outlined in this podcast from 3.20

 

 

He has spent money on Hogan, Bree Lansbury but he does not know how to use them in the right way.

Our best players are the players that were here before he joined.  It is only a matter of time before he leaves. 

I am not proud of this current team or even by the way we play. 

 

Edited October 19, 2017 by Reivax_Villa

[Demitri_C]

26 minutes ago, flashingqwerty said:

To add to the above, he even said before the game that 4-4-2 doesnt work against wolves.

That makes his lack of early changes even more confusing and damning for me.

Ok maybe he went 4-4-2 to appear more attacking despite his better judgement.  But to watch us struggle and not change is a disgrace and to change only after cnceeding twice and the game having gone beyond salvage unforgivable for me.

If it were a 1 off or a rare occurence then ok but this happens it more than half our matches.

That was a pretty silly tjing for bruce to say if he was gking to play 442

[lapal_fan]

25 minutes ago, flashingqwerty said:

To add to the above, he even said before the game that 4-4-2 doesnt work against wolves.

That makes his lack of early changes even more confusing and damning for me.

Ok maybe he went 4-4-2 to appear more attacking despite his better judgement.  But to watch us struggle and not change is a disgrace and to change only after cnceeding twice and the game having gone beyond salvage unforgivable for me.

If it were a 1 off or a rare occurence then ok but this happens it more than half our matches.

Thinking about it, he probably wanted to keep faith with the players who had won the last 4 games on the bounce (mostly convincingly).  

So whilst I suppose that's good man management ("why should I get dropped, when we've been winning well and belief is high?") it's bad game management.  

He really needed to change it around either at half time - or certainly as the 1st goal went in. 

He made it difficult for himself. 

[srsmithusa]

46 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

Thinking about it, he probably wanted to keep faith with the players who had won the last 4 games on the bounce (mostly convincingly).  

So whilst I suppose that's good man management ("why should I get dropped, when we've been winning well and belief is high?") it's bad game management.  

He really needed to change it around either at half time - or certainly as the 1st goal went in. 

He made it difficult for himself. 

The bolded part is puting it mildly.  In Texas.... he shot himself in the foot.

I was on the Bruce out train for a long time.  Four wins in a row, AND with visibly improving team performances gave him the chance to prove me wrong.  Most of that dissipated with the molinoux massacre.  He has one game left for me.  (despite the oft repeated implication that Bruce outers have no patience. )    Bomb it on Saturday however, and he's out for me.  Impress, and he gets to try again with the Blues.  That's me.

Sadly, it appears that with Round and Wynessm, he's here for the duration.  Then I get to decide if I just ignore villa until there is some reason to hope, or stay on here with annoyingly monotonous and repetitive reasons to get rid of him.  (because I'll have to vent somewhere, and posting here is better than kicking my dog.)

 

[TRO]

14 hours ago, sheepyvillian said:

Here's a question for you , Tro ,just to lighten the tone .

Did you ever see Jimmy Rimmer, save a penalty for us ?

Did we ever have any against us

[TRO]

6 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

I can only see Bruce getting sacked if we went on a dreadful run. Aslong as we are around the playoff  spots he's going nowhere. Fail to make playoffs and he will be sacked. Personally I think we will make the playoffs, but not sure we will progress from there. 

I think we are between the devil and the deep blue sea.

he is not quite bad enough to sack, but not good enough to meet expectations, so far.

I can see us getting 2 points from these 3 games.

I think he has just been hanging on by his fingernails.

I have always felt that given time he will get some of the things we are all disappointed with on match day, right...I now have my doubts.

 

Edited October 19, 2017 by TRO

[Rugeley Villa]

1 minute ago, TRO said:

I think we are between the devil and the deep blue sea.

he is not bad enough to sack, but not good enough to meet expectations, so far.

I can see us getting 2 points from these 3 games.

I think he has just been hanging on by his fingernails.

I have always felt that given time he will get some of the things we are all disappointed with on match day....I now have my doubts.

 

Exactly how I see it. 

[Demitri_C]

7 minutes ago, TRO said:

I think we are between the devil and the deep blue sea.

he is not quite bad enough to sack, but not good enough to meet expectations, so far.

I can see us getting 2 points from these 3 games.

I think he has just been hanging on by his fingernails.

I have always felt that given time he will get some of the things we are all disappointed with on match day, right...I now have my doubts.

 

Good summary and thats where i am. But the longer the season goes on and we are nlt near top four he will find it morw difficult to survive. 

If fulham win Saturday the opposition maanger seriously needs to be considered as he is the type of manager who would get this team playing attacking football

[dn1982]

4 hours ago, omariqy said:

This is the problem. He is always going to be 2 or 3 bad results away from the sack. That's not a good position to be in as a team and as a club. I don't think the fans want him and I think the board quietly know that he is the wrong man.

He's had enough time to win fans over but the footballs crap and most think he will struggle to get us up. We aren't seeing improvement in style so we have to have sustained improvement in results but we aren't getting that either. Bruce will always be 2/3 games away unless he's in top 3 and playing well but that goes for most managers at clubs that want to go up. The Sheff Wed manager is under pressure already as others will be over time. The most depressing thing is how true your last line is. 

[dn1982]

2 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

Thinking about it, he probably wanted to keep faith with the players who had won the last 4 games on the bounce (mostly convincingly).  

So whilst I suppose that's good man management ("why should I get dropped, when we've been winning well and belief is high?") it's bad game management.  

He really needed to change it around either at half time - or certainly as the 1st goal went in. 

He made it difficult for himself. 

Probably because against Bristol he changed the shape and go to stick for it. That the sums him up to me. Bristol aren't worthy of changing our tactics but Wolves were yet he made the wrong decision both times. He's supposed to be an experienced manager yet makes silly mistakes a lot. 

Edited October 19, 2017 by dn1982

[MikeAVFC]

It's a really difficult situation really. In the 12 months he's been here we've clearly made minimal progress, although we're still within touching distance of the playoffs. But after 12 months, god knows how many millions spent surely we should have been challenging for automatic promotion no? Reality is I think Bruce has wasted a lot of money, and we're not as good as we think we are. The recruitment has been pretty poor Kodjia aside, there appears to be zero planning behind signings, ie Hourihane, who was creating assists left right and centre for Barnsley, in no way suited to a 2 man midfield or a holding player - needs to play further forward. So why do we bypass the midfield with a creative midfielder there? Why not play to his strengths? Likewise Hogan, who is suited to a team playing to feet. What do we do? We lump it to him. Bruce has clearly had zero strategy when recruiting these players - we don't play to their strengths. The likes of Whelan, Lansbury, Mccormack,complete waste of money. Our recruitment strategy seriously needs looking at. The reality is it's a gamble either way sacking Bruce - I really don't know anymore. Utimately it's his squad so we're probably stuck with him now unless we go on a disastrous run. As long as we're in touch with 6th place then he'll stay. But I can't stand the style of football - it's atrocious. 

[TRO]

I could list all the things that i see on match day, that highlight the flaws in this team.

if i did anyone would be surprised that i still have a modicum of faith in him, but its waning.

I would love to run through them with him and see his reaction.

just mentioning one disappointment of many for me...

we have players in the under 21's that are pulling up trees, but get overlooked for senior players who show a shortfall on pace and intensity.

We have released players who have gone on to do well at other clubs, but appear to be not good enough for us.....there is a chasm in evaluation for me.

I can accept, kids struggling to shift senior players if they are winning, but do we have to wait until we start losing before action is taken.....surely games can be analysed and flaws eradicated or dealt with.

I see things the kids are doing but seniors are not.....we cannot keep drifting from game to game with no apparent remedy for our shortcomings and expect the results to be achieved, that is a dangerous game to play.

I am the first to recognise that results are the holy grail, but if we dismiss the content of our play as part and parcel of it all, we are going nowhere......We have to improve our performances, both as a team and individually.

There should be a proactive approach to that and reputations, should count for nothing.He has to get tough with below par performances.

Edited October 19, 2017 by TRO

[AntrimBlack]

9 minutes ago, dn1982 said:

Probably because against Bristol he changed the shape and go to stick for it. That the sums him up to me. Bristol aren't worthy of changing our tactics but Wolves were yet he made the wrong decision both times. He's supposed to be an experienced manager yet makes silly mistakes a lot. 

Considering his experience, he seems surprisingly bereft of ideas, and just staggers unconvincingly from decision to decision.

[TRO]

36 minutes ago, dn1982 said:

He's had enough time to win fans over but the footballs crap and most think he will struggle to get us up. We aren't seeing improvement in style so we have to have sustained improvement in results but we aren't getting that either. Bruce will always be 2/3 games away unless he's in top 3 and playing well but that goes for most managers at clubs that want to go up. The Sheff Wed manager is under pressure already as others will be over time. The most depressing thing is how true your last line is. 

I am not saying the only problems we have lie here......but we just can't get the midfield right.

in general

• They fail to close down
• They fail to read the game
• They fail to impose themselves aerially and win the ball
• They struggle to free themselves from their opponent
• They are too slow to play the ball ( with the exception of O'Hare)
• Too slow to pick out a collegue (with the exception of O'Hare)
• inconsistent in finding their man
• Too slow to get away from an opponent

I could go on

There are far too many flaws there to do any damage to any team.I think its high time the manager was questioned directly on why he thinks these things are STILL in evidence.

We need answers now.

Edited October 19, 2017 by TRO