I started a thread a few weeks ago asking for anyone to give a valid reason to keep Bruce as manager of our club. To be fair there were a few genuine posts (not counting the mags, who would love us to keep him). After watching that gutless, passion free and totally inept display last night..... Is there anyone now...who would stick with Steve Bruce? If so...please give a good reason, beacause I am struggling to think of any!
In my opinion he is inept as a manager. Consistently failed to address the obvious problems with our team. Nice man yes. Good manager no. And this rubbish about only 6 games etc doesn't wash with me. Is been 9 months of poor performances.
Norwich wont be a pushover at home all season like some seem to think, they wont get beat every game, they will win some. They were well up for it, they pressured us from the off, they were faster than us and had more bite, but playing at home you would expect that, our passing was crap from virtually start to finish, even though it was good the week before, maybe because Norwich were putting pressure on us. It is getting harder and harder to argue for Bruce, but I am still in the Bruce in camp for now, his subs do puzzle me though, Elmo off, Sess left, Larsson right, Ji/Wickham and Bendner up front, its not really rocket science is it (might not have worked as we were already 2-0 down but...)
As an outsider I can't see why any mackem would want Bruce to stay now. Literally the only thing he offers now is managerial stability, i.e. sticking with the same manager for a while. Other than that, very little.
I'm still backing Bruce, simply because I feel it's far too early in the season to judge the many new players he has brought in...Contrary to what seems to be the general opinion, I thought we passed the ball very well for the first 15-20 minutes of the game, but without having the cutting edge where it mattered.... Having said that, I was disappointed in Bruce that he waited until the 65th minute of the game before he dedided to change a formation that was clearly not working on the day.
I am not happy with last nights results but there is no point sacking him now. There is no one better out there we could get, MON is not going to come here. Were going to have to wait until the end of December and see where we are. If were in the brown stuff then that's the time to get someone in with money to spend in the window. To be honest lads the bottom line is they are not going to sack Bruce so we can either get wound up moaning about it or get on and support our team.
I have been a BiB/BoB fence sitter but it seems to me that the display last night was so inept that we have little to lose in changing him. I got bored of having to try to explain to my Mrs why it was we were not deliberately passing to the blokes in the yellow shirts - we were awful. The victory over Stoke papered over cracks - even then we were playing a team post a European fixture and scored by way of deflections and own goals (I know we played well too!). At pressent we are in for a relegation dog-fight - we have a decent enough squad but cannot be put together to play decent football. Hats off to Norwich who pressed well, disrupted us and deserved to win but I heard a snippet from Motsons commentary on 5 live who described our performance as "Very average at best and that is being kind" . We need to put some belief into the players and SB is simply not doing it. Sorry fellow fence sitters but it seems I have fallen into BoB's side of the garden! Happy days
Having said that, I was disappointed in Bruce that he waited until the 65th minute of the game before he dedided to change a formation that was clearly not working on the day. Unfortunately, that's the reason why he must go; he has no idea what to do when Plan A fails to work. I've supported Bruce until now, but I'm tired of the same old excuses. If he can't get the team to perform, who else in the current organisation will? I'm afraid his time is up.
I dont think the performances, until last night, have been OK so far this season. We played ok against Liverpool and got a decent result, the derby we played them off the park in the 1st half - but had no cutting edge - and they scored later on, Stoke was excellent, swansea was ok but could have been better... Last night was the worst performance I have seen this season - no energy and no motivation. Bruce cant blame players gelling this time (and didnt, in fact he slammed them for not performing). Bruce was pissed off with the players and the performance last night. How he reacts now, and how he gets the players to perform the next few games is critical for him - if Bruce is to survive as SAFC manager he needs to use last night as a catalyst. Last night will either be the kill or cure - either way I am Bruce in until we find out which it is....
Ive been a supporter of Bruce through his Sunderland years for a number of reasons (improved squad, poor luck with injuries, mercenaries jumping ship, stability etc etc) however for me hes got one maybe two games to save his job. Brighton game first strike, Norwich game 2nd and anything other then a win against West Brom and at least a decent performance and for me hes got to go.
First post, be gentle please. I will always back the club and whoever the owner/chairman employ as a manager. I have to admit that the Bruce out Brigade made my blood boil with their over (constant) antagonistic view on the this parrticular subject. FACT! Alas and as many a true Sunderland fan has already stated, last nights performance was that inept it had relegation written all over it. I am afraid that Mr Bruces time at the SoL could be coming to an end but that said I will still follow the mighty SAFC whoever they employ (including Mr Bruce).
so will i but the team is very poor at the moment and i cant see it getting any better maybe low to mid table and thats not good enough
Sorry mate, but your statement above, kinda implies that those of us who saw his tactical ineptitude months ago and wanted him out then are not true fans. May just be me being overly touchy this morning but that's my reading of your first post.
Not at all - apologies if it came acorss like that, perhaps you misread or I mis typed. Most likely the latter......what i was trying to put accross was that many fans had stated that last nights performance was inept, that is all.
Keep posting mate. Still gonna pull ya on a couple of things. After last nights dire performance you now think Bruce's days at our great club are numbered? Yet you have a go at previous posters for realising the writing was on the wall last season! Maybe just maybe they were right? Footy great innit!
Losing Gyan, Bent and Welbeck has been a much bigger loss than I think anyone anticipated. While Bendtner holds the ball up well and works hard can anyone really say they would rather have him than anyone of the other 3?
Bruce has nothing to offer. That's been the case for months but some fans choose not to see it. Stick with him and we will get relegated. Our last three away games have been against newly promoted sides (Norwich and Swansea) and the third against a team that was in the third tier last season. We have managed a point and a single goal against all three in five hours football. I'm looking for the positives in that.
