Steve Bruce

[TRO]

2 hours ago, vreitti said:

I honestly don't think he sees it all, or it's not a great concern for him. I get the feeling he intends to solely rely on Kodjia, with Hogan, RHM and Davis as backup. Wingers seem to be the priority. It's anyone's guess how things will unfold, but If we don't sign a new centerback, I'm ready to proclaim we won't get promoted.

I agree about the centre back......I think SNE made a good observation in his post.

but invariably managers never do what we all want.

[jimcohen]

1 hour ago, TRO said:

well, I'm saying first things first,...... but yes.

Leicester.....are you kidding, Vardy, Kante, Drinkwater,Mahrez were exceptional individually.....3 of them got major moves, .....if your point is valid any prospective buyer would say they are only any good because of the team tactics, so be careful buying them ,they might not repeat it.

well it seems we value different things....if you are referring technically maybe we are better.....but we wasn't physically or combatively better than Cardiff, they were more durable too.....There is more than one ingredient to being better.

If you want my opinion....I love John Terry, but I can think of more dominant center halves in the air.....John is great around good players, because his organisational skills are superb, but one on one, he can have be left wanting, more a sweeper type for me....good passer of the ball.....In this league you can get knocked about.

If these players coming in make no difference, I will have a different view.

I see what you are saying and htik we are mainly on the same page here. 

But on the Leicester point as I think it is critical to our success, yeah, those 4 you mentioned are class, but two things. 1. They were surrounded by average players made better by solid tacticsand 4-6 really good players. 2. They are class, but no better than what the oppo had. Marhrez for example, £60m to the champions to sit on the bench and fight for cup games and sub appearances with B. SIlva etc. 

So what I am saying is, we don't need 11 world beaters, or even "best in this league" players. We need 4-6 filled with solid players around them, with a clear executed game plan and all 11 look a lot better. How good would Vardy look in a 4-5-1 with long balls to his head of chest? But how good was he in a 4-4-2 with a hard working little guy running off him and balls plaid over the top for him to run onto. Danny Simpson = Alan Hutton. Marhrez = Jack.  Not saying they are the same player or as good as each other, but the style and quality within the team and that it is ok to have a few Alan Huttons if you have a few Jacks and a solid well executed game plan. So for me it is less abotu player signings and more about making the most of what we have. 

[jimcohen]

49 minutes ago, dn1982 said:

If we played higher up as a team then the CF wouldn’t have to run wide as much With Jack and McGinn 433 is best formation if played correct and as a 433 not a 451 

yes perhaps, and I agree in a 4-4-2 it would be light weight to have them both as the CM combo, but as the stats and player attributes suggest, what Jack and McGinn bring most is dribbling and crossing. So would one be better employed outwide as they both end up doing in a 4-3-3 anyway. So really formation wise, Jack and McGinn end up with similar roles. Question is do we value a holding CDM more than a second striker. For me, it would depend in the oppo and home or away. But for 50% of the games I would like to see 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 any day over 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 simply as I like 2 up top and it suits our crossing game we clearly play. 

[rodders0223]

If we pull off all these signings, he cannot say he hasn't been backed.

If we get them through the door, IF...then it's top 2 or see you later Brucey. Let the **** handbrake off son and let the good times rolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

 

[TheStagMan]

2 hours ago, TRO said:

and as I pointed out in my many responses....."Lost" was metaphorically speaking.

so Johnstone, Snodgrass, Albert and Kodjia are a myth...... 2 have left the club and 2 are not showing their form of previous seasons......why do you think we are acquiring players.

A team cannot function with the loss of such key players.....I am not sure what part you don't get?

Kodjia is showing glimpses, we might be getting him back........TO FORM.

Johnstone has been replaced by two goalkeepers...... Snodgrass has not been replaced, granted, but we have bought in that McGinn lad who looks like he means business. Kodjia was out for a lot of last season and for the rest was not effective.

So really, for me the issues are a loss of form for Adomah (which was also the case last season) and the loss of Terry. Hopefully Kodjia gets back to being Jimmy Danger following his goal on Sat, which covers off Grabban.

Whilst I agree there are still holes in the team/squad they were holes that existed last season, so to say we have been ripped apart (not you specifically) or lost half our team is simply not true. we have lost three key players, replaced one (Johnstone), have an alternative to another, and are missing a CB.

Whats worrying is that SB when talking about needing more players, does not mention CB. For me, that is our weakest area, closely followed by strikers.

Edited August 22, 2018 by TheStagMan

[TRO]

57 minutes ago, TheStagMan said:

Johnstone has been replaced by two goalkeepers...... Snodgrass has not been replaced, granted, but we have bought in that McGinn lad who looks like he means business. Kodjia was out for a lot of last season and for the rest was not effective.

So really, for me the issues are a loss of form for Adomah (which was also the case last season) and the loss of Terry. Hopefully Kodjia gets back to being Jimmy Danger following his goal on Sat, which covers off Grabban.

Whilst I agree there are still holes in the team/squad they were holes that existed last season, so to say we have been ripped apart (not you specifically) or lost half our team is simply not true. we have lost three key players, replaced one (Johnstone), have an alternative to another, and are missing a CB.

Whats worrying is that SB when talking about needing more players, does not mention CB. For me, that is our weakest area, closely followed by strikers.

Well it seems like this afternoon reinforcements are arriving up front.

CB...I agree.

[sheepyvillian]

If we get these reinforcements, then the emphasis must be on attacking football, it doesn't have to be gung - ho, but it must be attacking with the purpose to control the game. Not give our opponents any sense of frailty. Just like we were when Atkinson and Saunders were flying.

Should these signings happen, then there can be no excuses should we fail.

[This Could Be Rotterdam]

Is he trolling now? Jedinak and Whelan both on the pitch? 

Going up against a footballing side, so instead of playing a positive player and giving them something to think about we play another DM to invite them on. Oh and keep jedinak at CB because Brentford are renowned for their aerial prowess? 

Said it before, say it again, every day he's here is a day wasted! 

[Rodders]

yeah, that's Bruce. So dispiriting. There are decent odds on Brentford if you want to cushion the expected disappointment of a loss. 

[Mantis]

Calling it now - we'll get dominated, barely scrape a draw and Bruce will hardly be able to contain his delight in the post match interview. His intention here is clearly not to lose, rather than to win.

[Fairy In Boots]

Lol It’s like watching mike Bassett in real life at times. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

I know this sounds ludicrous. But does anyone think part of Bruce would welcome the sack? The pressure is really on and the squad is not as strong as last season. It’s quite a healthy payoff he would get too. 

Im just thinking of Lambert in his final season. He just waited to be let go and had been for a while. Was just going through the motions.

[This Could Be Rotterdam]

15 minutes ago, Rodders said:

yeah, that's Bruce. So dispiriting. There are decent odds on Brentford if you want to cushion the expected disappointment of a loss. 

6/1 on Watkins to score and Brentford to win, I'll take it!

[Fairy In Boots]

When do we reckon El-Gahzi will get the nod at CB? 

[Dr_Pangloss]

Mendes needs to find us a new manager

[rbcuk]

So it’s the same team apart from one change and that’s bloody Whelan, he admitted last season he should have changed the team about with that amount of games in a week and still hasn’t learnt, sooner he **** off the better 

[Alakagom]

Okay we lost. All the people saying we need bad result, can we sack him now then? 

[Condimentalist]

Surely can't pin this on Bruce. Played very well today, just ran out of steam a bit. Very unlucky not to win let alone draw.

[Alakagom]

2 minutes ago, PatrickCousens said:

Surely can't pin this on Bruce. Played very well today, just ran out of steam a bit. Very unlucky not to win let alone draw.

Yes we can. The lineup still makes zero sense. And if you say but we played well today, well what about the last two games when we were dire. Consistency may be something needed in promotion candidates. 

We were very lucky to win against Wigan, and luck will always balance out. 

Edited August 22, 2018 by Alakagom

[rbcuk]

2nd half was bloody awful compared to the 1st, Always said i wanted Dean Smith in, he’s proven yet again with his tactics tonight, he’s a better manager than Bruce, making subs at the right time, whilst we have bruce he brings 2 on after we’re 2-1 down, when we needed fresh legs on before.