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Steve Bruce


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5 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

If Bruce is going to stay as manager (please don’t let it be so) he must finally see that you cannot play Brucie Ball without a big lump up front! Kodj, Hogan and Grabban may all be better players than Davis but Davis is easily the most suited to our turgid style of hoof balls! If you insist on persisting with this please at least have the foresight to do it properly!

I know we won but we make it so, so very difficult. Chuffed with the result but I remain unconvinced by the failings of an otherwise likeable man. 

Are you seriously saying we played a lot of long balls tonight ? .................

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I very glad we stuck to the settled 4-1-4-1, well done Bruce! Compared to the first game away last season we pressed higher up and looked more comfortable. We still don't have much ideas going forward, mostly kicking it out wide and then long ball in the channel. Though I thought I noticed at times in the first half that we tried to pass the ball as well, too bad it was no movement in the middle.

I think the players know this system and feel comfortable with it. With Green and perhaps RHM getting more game time we will be more energetic as well. I think what we need the most is a new CB to partner Chester when Elfie is injured.

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It’s early days and results, along with performances, at this point in the season aren’t really an accurate indicator of how the season might progress. So we should all be happy with the three points because one way or the other, they may be vital later in the season.

I’m no SB fan but I can resist any urges I have to knock some of the aspects of tonight’s game. To be honest unless he does extremely well or extremely badly over the next couple of months, I don’t believe his performance as a manager will have a great deal of influence on his destiny here. The new owners recognise that they have come into the club just a short time ago and to rush into a decision of this magnitude is folly. When Steve Bruce said earlier that the owners have told him that it will take time, I’m not sure he realised how much that approach included his position. He seemed comforted by it, but I’m not sure he should be.

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Obviously the result was great and to come from behind to win shows a toughness that he has instilled.

However, yet again our passing and ball retention is really poor, and we play pretty aimless balls into channels for players to chase on too many occasions for it not to be tactical.

The argument that it wasn't pretty but we got the result was had many times last season, and we did win our fair share of games. But you can't keep playing poorly and getting enough results to get promotion - as we saw last year.  

We need more consistent movement throughout the game, not just for short periods, we need to pass the ball better, and we need more focus on playing through the opposition as a team, not relying on individual moments of magic.

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3 minutes ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

I very glad we stuck to the settled 4-1-4-1, well done Bruce! Compared to the first game away last season we pressed higher up and looked more comfortable. We still don't have much ideas going forward, mostly kicking it out wide and then long ball in the channel. Though I thought I noticed at times in the first half that we tried to pass the ball as well, too bad it was no movement in the middle.

I think the players know this system and feel comfortable with it. With Green and perhaps RHM getting more game time we will be more energetic as well. I think what we need the most is a new CB to partner Chester when Elfie is injured.

Generally I agree with the above, except that you didn’t need the last 4 words. :)

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What I don't understand, he always comes out in the interview and says what we all want. Pass the ball quicker, sharper in our movement, more pace and purpose.
Why can't we just get it as default? Why so many times does it have to be suck a bloody struggle. Is it the coaches??

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37 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Yeah we only played it for, ohhhh I dunno, about 45 games last season ?

Oh so we did? 45 games? Really? Nonsense. Absolute tosh.  And even if we did (which we did not) we have not been close to that in pre-season. You know, the period where we prepare for the new season.

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8 minutes ago, Hughes said:

Oh so we did? 45 games? Really? Nonsense. Absolute tosh.  And even if we did (which we did not) we have not been close to that in pre-season. You know, the period where we prepare for the new season.

Do people not watch us play anymore?

That was the formation we played for the entirety of last season. Apart from the couple of games where we tried 3 or 5 at the back. You might call it a 4-5-1 depending on where you place the wide players, but it was the same formation.

As for pre-season, Bruce has said that he wants us to work on 3-5-2 but that we're not ready to play it yet. I'm not sure about it myself but we do lack a plan B at times so if that helps then I guess I'm ok with it.

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19 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

What I don't understand, he always comes out in the interview and says what we all want. Pass the ball quicker, sharper in our movement, more pace and purpose.
Why can't we just get it as default? Why so many times does it have to be suck a bloody struggle. Is it the coaches??

There was a point in the second half when we stepped it up, must have been a good 20 minutes in though as we were shit for the first part of the second half. 

 

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33 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

If Bruce is going to stay as manager (please don’t let it be so) he must finally see that you cannot play Brucie Ball without a big lump up front! Kodj, Hogan and Grabban may all be better players than Davis but Davis is easily the most suited to our turgid style of hoof balls! If you insist on persisting with this please at least have the foresight to do it properly!

I know we won but we make it so, so very difficult. Chuffed with the result but I remain unconvinced by the failings of an otherwise likeable man. 

Davis ain't playing cause of attitude, not talent.

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1 minute ago, Stevo985 said:

Do people not watch us play anymore?

That was the formation we played for the entirety of last season. Apart from the couple of games where we tried 3 or 5 at the back. You might call it a 4-5-1 depending on where you place the wide players, but it was the same formation.

As for pre-season, Bruce has said that he wants us to work on 3-5-2 but that we're not ready to play it yet. I'm not sure about it myself but we do lack a plan B at times so if that helps then I guess I'm ok with it.

Whatever. Watched most games last season but as you tell me I am wrong I must bow to your superior football knowledge. Apart from that I was not even referring to last season but this pre-season, but hey I am sure that is just an irrelevant detail to you anyway. 

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Just now, Hughes said:

Whatever. Watched most games last season but as you tell me I am wrong I must bow to your superior football knowledge. 

You don't need superior football knowledge to recognise what formation we play. 

4 defenders, 3 central midfielders, One striker and two wide attackers. That's what we played tonight, that's what we played all last season.

1 minute ago, Hughes said:

 Apart from that I was not even referring to last season but this pre-season, but hey I am sure that is just an irrelevant detail to you anyway. 

It's very relevant, except you said the players had NEVER played that formation before.

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6 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

As for pre-season, Bruce has said that he wants us to work on 3-5-2 but that we're not ready to play it yet. I'm not sure about it myself but we do lack a plan B at times so if that helps then I guess I'm ok with it.

 

One positive about Bruce is he is as straightforward with the fans as he can be without giving away information that might help opponents. I do like that. he told us he wanted to build the team around Grealish last pre season and was true to his word when Grealish got back from injury. He has told us this season he wants to play 3-5 but we are not ready yet, I have no reason to doubt him on it.  Some of us may not agree with his tactical or play style decisions but I genuinely think he has always been straight with us.

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I don't think Bruce did anything wrong tonight. 

I think Elphick bottled it for their goal and could have tried to head that clear. I don't blame anyone for bad performances, I just think we had players making bad decisions at times.

 I think Bruce saw what every other person would see, that Villa had loads of space down our right first half but didn't exploit it, and second half proved that with both our right sided players scoring.

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2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

You don't need superior football knowledge to recognise what formation we play. 

 

Apparently you do...

Anyway, great result today and I did not see any tears from Jack. He may be off anyway though, seeing that the manager all of a sudden plays a formation which has not been tried  out in pre-season....??

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1 minute ago, ciggiesnbeer said:

 

One positive about Bruce is he is as straightforward with the fans as he can be without giving away information that might help opponents. I do like that. he told us he wanted to build the team around Grealish last pre season and was true to his word when Grealish got back from injury. He has told us this season he wants to play 3-5 but we are not ready yet, I have no reason to doubt him on it.  Some of us may not agree with his tactical or play style decisions but I genuinely think he has always been straight with us.

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.

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