ewerk 30617 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Rafa earned the backing of the fans through those rough patches. More importantly he had the respect and backing of the players. I’m not sure Bruce will have that. With Rafa the players knew that he had a system and a plan for each of them. From what we’ve seen in the two games so far Bruce hasn’t a fucking clue and that will be reflected in the players’ attitudes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddockLad 17280 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 9 hours ago, Dr Gloom said: The beer being poured through the bottom of the pint glass is likely to be the highlight of your day out Quite looking forward to the craft ale concession and on site bakery too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wykikitoon 20155 Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 Bruce has come in and doesnt have a clue on what the f@ck tactics are. He has a forward playing up front on his own who clearly isnt capable of doing so. He is trying to flood the midfield and that isnt working as none are getting forward to help Joleinto out. He needs to sort his tactics out ASAP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 30617 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 "I'm not really into tactics," - Steve Bruce. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 30617 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 For once it's actually worth giving Louise Taylor's full article a quick glance. Quote Shortly after taking charge at Sunderland Steve Bruce was asked if he had considered experimenting with a Christmas Tree formation. "I'm not really into tactics," he replied. At the time that response was easy to interpret as a deliberately flippant or, perhaps, a self-deprecating means of avoiding answering the question. As the seasons passed, though, the suspicion grew that the former Manchester United captain had simply been honest. Arguably one of the principal reasons Bruce is no longer in charge at the Stadium of Light concerns his apparent inability to tweak formations or tactics during matches. Whenever a rival manager re-configured his system mid-game, Bruce invariably failed to come up with a countermeasure. In recent months Alan Pardew, Mark Hughes, Roy Hodgson and, most recently, Roberto Martínez have all seemingly out-thought him as Sunderland dropped points against supposedly weaker sidesthey really should have beaten. If he failed to cut it as a tactician, the 50-year-old did not seem much of a strategist either. Including loans, 30 players were signed – several of whom have subsequently been moved on – during Bruce's two-and-a-half years on Wearside. That represents an unsettling "churn" factor and hardly proved conducive to developing either a clear playing philosophy or strong team spirit. Always rather amorphous, if not downright scrappy, Sunderland's high-tempo style lacked creativity, not to mention control, in central midfield. Unable to dictate play, the team frequently failed to press home early advantages. In many ways Bruce's decision to make the hot-headed, yellow card-prone Lee Cattermole his captain proved emblematic of a rather gung-ho reign during which players such as David Meyler were rushed back from serious injuries only to suffer further complications, the idea of hiring a sports psychologist was dismissed and the manager boasted about his inability to send an email. While Bruce – who did finally learn how to log on last summer when the club issued him with an iPad – may well argue this lack of computer literacy was hardly relevant, many of his peers spend countless hours checking out the latest sports science innovations, researching transfer targets and analysing Prozone statistics on their increasingly indispensable laptops. Unashamedly old school, Bruce believed that motivation was the key to management but the influx of overseas coaches has raised the Premier League's technical bar and despite his relative youth, he has begun to look suspiciously like a man whose era has passed. Unlike many modern managers he did not coach the team himself, delegating that job to his assistant, Eric Black. While Bruce's undoubtedly engaging, humour-suffused, personality had a broad appeal, he fell out with quite a few players, most notably Kenwyne Jones, now at Stoke, and Anton Ferdinand, now at QPR and who had by common consensus finally emerged as Sunderland's outstanding defender when he was sold in August. Shortly afterwards Sunderland's manager was badly let down by Titus Bramble, who faces a crown court trial on sexual assault charges in January. Other bad buys included Matthew Kilgallon, Christian Riveros, Marcos Angeleri and Paulo Da Silva. Meanwhile Craig Gardner, bought from Birmingham for £6m, has barely figured in the first team. There were some good purchases along the way, too, such as Lorik Cana, Asamoah Gyan and, above all, Darren Bent . Unfortunately Bent had become desperate to leave Sunderland six months before his eventual move to Aston Villa in January. Cana headed to Turkey after just a year while Gyan has newly gone to United Arab Emirates on loan. Money evidently played a big part in all these deals, but it does not represent the entire behind-the-scenes story. Something was clearly wrong because, as last season's promising beginning subsided into a post-new year collapse, managerial excuses increasingly became a recurring, if self-destructive, theme. It certainly did not play well with Sunderland fans when the crowd were blamed for harbouring overly "great expectations" or that Bruce constantly bemoaned the difficulty of attracting players to the north-east. More recently, his loudest lament has been that locals would not accept him purely because he had been born north of the Tyne and grew up supporting Newcastle United. Granted, a minority shamefully hurled chants of "You fat Geordie bastard – get out of our club" after Saturday's defeat to Wigan, but the overwhelming majority of supporters did not care about his roots. Moreover their "expectations" were mostly pretty modest. Two home wins since New Year's Day have tried Wearsiders' patience but, contrary to Bruce's theories, many would have taken the odd defeat to Newcastle in their stride had there been signs of progress or a discernible playing pattern emerging. Maybe the core problem was that Bruce never accepted that, sometimes, the devil really is in the detail. Soon after Ahmed Elmohamady arrived from Egypt, Sunderland's manager was asked if the winger would be observing Ramadan and if so, how the daylight fasting might affect his game. The question was met with a blank look. "Is Elmohamady a Coptic Christian rather than a Muslim then?" the questioner persisted. It was an important distinction and the answer should have tripped off Bruce's tongue, but he clearly did not have a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essembeeofsunderland 811 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Tottenham away Watford home Liverpool away Brighton home Leicester away Man Utd home Chelsea away Wolves home Into November and propping up the league? More than likely with a nee tactics and nee clue manager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zerosum 234 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 some tough games there. Queue the “all games are tough in the prem” press comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 13872 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 I still say he’s sacked after Christmas when the shit properly hits the fan. And then it’s a quick phone call to Allardyce. I actually hope he takes us down to fuck with his “perfect” relegation record. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 13872 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 Just now, zerosum said: some tough games there. Queue the “all games are tough in the prem” press comments. All games are tough when you’re shite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zerosum 234 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 2 minutes ago, Ayatollah Hermione said: All games are tough when you’re shite. And have steve bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrokendoll 9239 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 think we'll be bottom after the tottenham game and then it's very likely we'll never move from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitman 2207 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 3 hours ago, essembeeofsunderland said: Tottenham away Watford home Liverpool away Brighton home Leicester away Man Utd home Chelsea away Wolves home Into November and propping up the league? More than likely with a nee tactics and nee clue manager Nil points Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meenzer 15531 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitman 2207 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 2 hours ago, zerosum said: And have steve bruce And have a clueless owner. Bruce was obviously a disastrous appointment to anyone with an appreciation of his level of ability, track record and character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrokendoll 9239 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 i detect a definite air of pessimism in this thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Carr's Gloves 3894 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 22 minutes ago, thebrokendoll said: i detect a definite air of pessimism in this thread! I’m slightly optimistic and I have faith Brewcie will do what I need him to . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wykikitoon 20155 Posted August 21, 2019 Author Share Posted August 21, 2019 I cant see FCB sacking Bruce. He will be our Manager in the Champ next season nee bother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 7 minutes ago, Kevin Carr's Gloves said: I’m slightly optimistic and I have faith Brewcie will do what I need him to . Aye exactly, I expect they’ll hang onto him just like they did with McLaren which will basically mean we’ll be relegated by that point and whoever they pick out of Moyes, Allardyce, and Hughes won’t be able to stop it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper 940 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 4 hours ago, essembeeofsunderland said: Tottenham away Watford home Liverpool away Brighton home Leicester away Man Utd home Chelsea away Wolves home Into November and propping up the league? More than likely with a nee tactics and nee clue manager Could well be propping the table up this Sunday night after Spurs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorthernsoul 1221 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 6 hours ago, ewerk said: Rafa earned the backing of the fans through those rough patches. More importantly he had the respect and backing of the players. I’m not sure Bruce will have that. With Rafa the players knew that he had a system and a plan for each of them. From what we’ve seen in the two games so far Bruce hasn’t a fucking clue and that will be reflected in the players’ attitudes. You's all make fair points, I'm just playing devil's advocate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isegrim 9778 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 2 hours ago, Howay said: Aye exactly, I expect they’ll hang onto him just like they did with McLaren which will basically mean we’ll be relegated by that point and whoever they pick out of Moyes, Allardyce, and Hughes won’t be able to stop it. Ian Holloway tbh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essembeeofsunderland 811 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 All of those teams will see us as their easiest 3 points so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 30617 Posted August 21, 2019 Share Posted August 21, 2019 32 minutes ago, Isegrim said: Ian Holloway tbh English jobs for English managers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinRobin 11281 Posted August 22, 2019 Share Posted August 22, 2019 17 hours ago, ewerk said: For once it's actually worth giving Louise Taylor's full article a quick glance. Frighteningly prescient Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrokendoll 9239 Posted August 29, 2019 Share Posted August 29, 2019 so, in the bottom 3 and out of a cup. back to the cathedral on the hill for an early season 6 pointer with watford. all will be well though by virtue of the fact that as a child, lifelong supporter brucey used to stand on the gallowgate and munch his way through an entire bread trays worth of tanner bags of peanuts. we can't fail but to win. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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