Thoughts on Steve Bruce as he returns with the Magpies | Page 2 | Vital Football

Thoughts on Steve Bruce as he returns with the Magpies

crimsondonkey said:
I don't bear any grudges about Brucie. He did an okay job for us, arrested our descent into oblivion but disappointed in terms of getting us up.

However I really don't rate him as a coach/ manager. He is very agricultural and basic in terms of approach, and I don't like his repeated theme of shouting 'fans panic/ no crisis here' etc, and getting his media chums to big him up when things get difficult.

The thing I like about Dean (this season at least) is that he has been very honest post match and calls the games as most of us see them.
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Yep also fair to say that we're playing better football under Smith and his team than under any other managers since the turn of the millennium.
 
We'll just never know how Smith would have done if he'd take over the team back when Bruce did. As said the toxicity in the club as a whole was awful. If nothing else Bruce used his knowledge, contacts and experience to bring in good people to change the whole feel of the club. Not sure a young up and coming inexperienced manager could have done the same.

I think Smith needed the Bruce era as a stepping stone. Don't think we could have gone straight from where we were to where we are now under SMith.

We'll never know though.
 
Nice Bloke , average manager, but he did a lot of good for us and his legacy is still here to a degree with JT, McGinn (what a signing for the money)
 
DeanoVilla said:
What people do seem to forget is just how toxic the club was when he took over. From top to bottom, from board room, to manager, to players to fans, everyone hated everyone else. It was awful.

He turned that around. He brought in the likes of Terry and Snodgrass who completely revitalised the dressing room. The fans got back on board again and the club and fans all seemed to be pulling in the same direction again.

I do however acknowledge that by the end it had gone pretty much full circle and the atmosphere was getting toxic towards him again. In hindsight he probably stayed 6 months too long, but credit to him for not walking when both his parents died.
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And went through the time none of them knew if they were going to be paid etc, that isn't easy to keep a settled changing room.

Plus, lost both his parents - and really should have taken some time off during that period.
 
as a footnote, i met him and his wife a few years ago in Nando's Touchwood and he is a very down to earth decent bloke .
 
I wanted him as he was the obvious choice at the time, just like Dean Smith was to me.
I'd have sacked him after the playoff final, to be honest as he was never going to cut it but it's worked out ok as he got sacked after he'd proved the doubters right.

He's a bang average manager and how he keeps getting jobs with the rest of his ilk amazes me. Nice bloke, horrible football and no coaching ability at all.
Jack says it was just like the under 9's throw a ball out there and away you go, lads.
As for giving him stick people need to remember the stick they were giving Dean after he lost his Dad and the fact he actually succeeded in getting us up and moving us forwards something Bruce couldn't do.
Bruce right bloke right time, stayed too long
 
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Echo many of the sentiments above, exactly the right appointment at the right time once Di Matteo was sacked, steadied the ship, stuck with it despite some pretty awful personal issues but tactically pretty limited, with some really turgid football at times. We parted at the right time....as Dean and co have proved quite clearly over the course of the following 27 months!
 
The Fear said:
And went through the time none of them knew if they were going to be paid etc, that isn't easy to keep a settled changing room.

Plus, lost both his parents - and really should have taken some time off during that period.
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It is all open for conjecture really. Would Dean Smith have been able to manage under Dr Bullshite and the shady financial dealings? Would Bruce have been able to have done better if the new owners had come in a year earlier?
What we have to remember is that in real terms Bruce has never been in the position to have managed a club that didn't have financial constraints - The Scum with the Dildo Brothers, Wigan under Whelan and now the Toon under Ashley. He has never had owners like Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour where money was not an issue and as such most of his player dealings were at Aldi rather then Harrods and that might be what has driven his football tactics.
Would we be talking about Bruce in such negative terms if Wes and Nas had arrived a year earlier - we will never know really.
 
My thoughts on Brucey are the same as @DeanoVilla

He seems like a very decent man and a decent football manager but he doesn't have the tactical knowledge or coaching ability to become a real top manager.

After a stream of terrible managers for years after MON left, he was able to steady the ship.

Bruce knows a decent player when he sees one. After that, he picks his best XI and lets them get on with it.

No reason to hate. It's a bit of a shame it ended badly but these things always seem to.
 
Ends badly for the vast majority of football managers doesn't it ? Can't think of many who walk away unscathed - Fergie ,
 
I’ve no bad feelings towards Bruce.He came in and steadied the ship when we were in a downward track. He couldn’t raise us to the next level but there are a few we could say that about over the years.
Having said that, I hope his team get’s a right tanking tonight.
 
Silhillvilla said:
Ends badly for the vast majority of football managers doesn't it ? Can't think of many who walk away unscathed - Fergie ,
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Definitely ends badly for Villa managers. The managers we've had in my time as a Villa fan are Big Ron, Brian Little, John Gregory, Graham Taylors 2nd time, DOL, MON, Houllier, Mcleish, Lambert, Sherwood, Garde, Di Matteo and Bruce.

None of them have done anything of note after leaving Villa. Bruce would be toiling back in the championship right now with Sheffield Wednesday if it weren't for the fact that he's a Newcastle fan and bring used to draw the flack for Ashley. DOL, Mcleish, Di Matteo, Taylor, Sherwood either retired or just gave up. MON had a crap spell at Sunderland then a mediocre time with the Irish national side. Garde is in the MLS. Little never managed at the top level again. Gregory ended up managing in Israel and India. Lambert is currently mid table in league 1. Big Ron did manage a few premier league teams after leaving but always in relegation scraps.

Maybe we're cursed or maybe once you've been the boss at the best club in the world it's inevitable you're only going down.
 
He was perfect at the time and exactly what we needed, it's easy tp forget the turmoil we were in. But it was always going to be a short term solution.

I think he's a decent manager at sides like Wigan etc. but I don't think he's cut out for a job like Villa or even Newcastle.
 
JW1985 said:
Definitely ends badly for Villa managers. The managers we've had in my time as a Villa fan are Big Ron, Brian Little, John Gregory, Graham Taylors 2nd time, DOL, MON, Houllier, Mcleish, Lambert, Sherwood, Garde, Di Matteo and Bruce.

None of them have done anything of note after leaving Villa. Bruce would be toiling back in the championship right now with Sheffield Wednesday if it weren't for the fact that he's a Newcastle fan and bring used to draw the flack for Ashley. DOL, Mcleish, Di Matteo, Taylor, Sherwood either retired or just gave up. MON had a crap spell at Sunderland then a mediocre time with the Irish national side. Garde is in the MLS. Little never managed at the top level again. Gregory ended up managing in Israel and India. Lambert is currently mid table in league 1. Big Ron did manage a few premier league teams after leaving but always in relegation scraps.

Maybe we're cursed or maybe once you've been the boss at the best club in the world it's inevitable you're only going down.
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Even the mighty Ron Saunders.....
 
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