The Official Steve Bruce Thread | Page 21 | Vital Football

The Official Steve Bruce Thread

it might be crazy but the last one was culled after 11 games when we were 16th
17 games later we've cruised up to erm 14th

think he'll need a strong finish to avoid mr twitter's +%-%-([%+%]) guff
 
Nigel Spink reckons it wil take 4 transfer windows to sort the mess out , and you could argue that the summer one was wasted a bit.
 
But Bruce has said [after last night] that we can't buy our way out of trouble, yet he has bought 7 players in during the Jan window. So for Nigel Spink to say that is equally as baffling, it's like trial and error until a formula is stumbled upon. I see no alternative after such an active Jan window but just go with Bruce, of course he has to have time. Quite honestly I am not bothered about getting into the playoffs. I want to see us start playing decent football and just being safe this season. If the lack of promotion spooks a couple of the players into wanting out, then get rid. I realistically see this season as preparing for next. Having said all that this perceived inability to react to changing situations in a game is indeed very worrying.
 
watched him on 60 mins today , Ipswich were getting on top, Villa were not looking like scoring and there he was hands in pockets playing trouser snooker
 
villasince67 - 11/2/2017 20:53

He seems to be like a rabbit in headlights.
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I don't get why is it so difficult he has the best squad in the league!

There was no pressure on him when he came, we couldn't possibly have got any worse and it couldn't have got any lower than being beaten convincingly by the likes of Preston & Bristol City... on the pitch it has.

As with many things in life, it's only as difficult as you make it, he needs to take a step back and see what is happening. We don't need this 3-5-2/5-3-2 bollocks, just build a team of 8 outfield players around Hogan and Kodjia and we'll win.
 
Bunn - Bree (Bacuna in his absence), Chester, Baker, Taylor - Bacuna/Gardner (Holding, whilst Jed recovers), Hourihane, Lansbury - Green, Hogan, Kodjia. With Kod and Hogan switching wide duties.

Surely that would have been a more competitive side yesterday than he put out?
 
Bruce and Calderwood should pay a visit to ask for advice and methods the England rugby coach Eddie Jones successfully employs. Their absence from Bodymoor heath for a few days might even help the new guys to bond better without confusing them some more with their weird idea's on tactics :17:


What is Eddie Jones’ coaching philosophy?

"According to an article penned by Jones shortly after his appointment as England coach, his philosophy in directing any team works on the balance of two key elements of the game: core skills and a healthy obsession with winning.

Jones believes that sport isn’t all about winning – a good coach must find the balance between focusing on team organisation in an effort to win and individual skill development."

“The attention on winning is great in one sense but it does not necessarily produce good rugby players,” Jones wrote in the Daily Mail late last year.

“You have to get that balance between fundamental skills and being obsessed with winning.
“Every session I coach – no matter what the team, whether international, club or school – I include basic, core skill work. It may sound repetitive but you have to work on those skills.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/2441906/eddie-jones-australian-head-coach-england-rugby-union-team/
 
Maybe it's time to ditch the "he has 4 promotions" angle. It's largely irrelevant. There's also the relegations he had, plus the number of times he's changed clubs; only at Blues and Hull has he had a long spell. Bruce needs to be judged on what he is actually achieving here.

Interesting quote from Wikipedia:
"Bruce made wholesale changes to Sunderland's squad, signing 13 players and selling 15 in his first 18 months at the club.[163] On 25 February 2011, Bruce signed an extension to his contract, keeping him at Sunderland until 2014, with chairman Niall Quinn stating that "In only 18 months he has reshaped our squad beyond recognition, bringing in some fantastically talented players. He embodies the ethos of teamwork and the importance of camaraderie in creating a wonderful spirit of togetherness amongst the players and staff".[163]

Bruce was dismissed as manager on 30 November 2011, with Sunderland in 16th position following a poor run of form which culminated with a 2–1 home defeat to bottom club Wigan four days earlier.[164] He later linked his dismissal from the managerial post with the fact that he is a fan of Newcastle United, Sunderland's bitter rivals."
 
I think one thing people are overlooking slightly in their frustration is just how horribly unlucky we've been so far this season, even when RDM was here. How many times have we failed to convert chances (our own fault I admit) but then lost or drew games even though the opposition have had just 1, 2 or 3 shots on target? Yes we are making some mistakes, but the level of punishment seems to be Premier League-esque, despite the quality being lower.

Perhaps that's to do with motivation, in that we're the scalp for the rest of the league because we're the only team playing in this league this season who hasn't been down here for 30-odd years. That will disappear next season when 3 new teams appear. There's a reason why so few teams have gone up at the first time of asking.

I honestly believe that the answer to our problems just lies in finding a way to be more clinical and ruthless.
 
Bruce had 6 years at Small heath and 4 at Hull, if you take those two out he had 6 clubs in seven years. Getting Hull promoted was a good acievement, but his heyday was 1- to 15 yeards ago when he got Small Heath promoted and secured a 9 or 10th finish in the top flight, which was something like their 3rd or 4th best ever finish.

He did that with a hardworking squad and simple tactics - two very solid banks of four taking whatever scraps were on offer. Football has moved on a lot since then,those tactics would never work today. To talk about 'four promotions' glosses over what actual experience he has to offer. Or put it another way, for him to succeed at Villa he has to do something he's never done before, not the same again.
 
Chastitty - 12/2/2017 20:58

Bruce had 6 years at Small heath and 4 at Hull, if you take those two out he had 6 clubs in seven years. Getting Hull promoted was a good acievement, but his heyday was 1- to 15 yeards ago when he got Small Heath promoted and secured a 9 or 10th finish in the top flight, which was something like their 3rd or 4th best ever finish.

He did that with a hardworking squad and simple tactics - two very solid banks of four taking whatever scraps were on offer. Football has moved on a lot since then,those tactics would never work today. To talk about 'four promotions' glosses over what actual experience he has to offer. Or put it another way, for him to succeed at Villa he has to do something he's never done before, not the same again.
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In other words like I said a dinosaur in the modern game
 
I do think there is ways to much over analysing of Bruce and his acheivements/non acheivements.

To last this long in the game as a manager he has to have something. I dont think there was one expert/football commentator that thought his appointment was bad.

Will it work out ?.

No idea.

Will anyone else work out

No idea.

No problem with a balanced fair debate but when i read on here spud this, potato that, blues nose this, blue nose that all i think is those persons never ever wanted him to succeed and are stuck in 2007 when he was blues manager.
 
Melon Donkey - 12/2/2017 21:19

I do think there is ways to much over analysing of Bruce and his acheivements/non acheivements.

To last this long in the game as a manager he has to have something. I dont think there was one expert/football commentator that thought his appointment was bad.

Will it work out ?.

No idea.

Will anyone else work out

No idea.

No problem with a balanced fair debate but when i read on here spud this, potato that, blues nose this, blue nose that all i think is those persons never ever wanted him to succeed and are stuck in 2007 when he was blues manager.
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:1: :1: :1:
 
Bruce actually said in the Ipswich program notes ...

"We've made huge changes in January, which I didn't envisage. The opportunity presented itself and I felt it was the right thing to do"

WTF? He didn't envisage? This just asks a lot of questions but the really big question is can he select the right formation and then get them playing as a team, cos if not we maybe looking for a manager with League One experience [the old Third Division sounds so much better].
 
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