The Steve Bruce appreciation thread

Over a reasonable sample time Bruce is statistically the worst PL manager of all time.

End of debate.

the end.

 

He finished 13th and 12th with Newcastle correct?

 

Correct
Means Jack **** though.
First 18 months he relied on Rafa.
Last half of last season Willock scored goals from the bench. Wasn't good enough as an actual midfielder which is what we are now seeing.
This season Bruce would have us in 19th. Next season with Bruce we would not come back up.

 

Let's not go down the road of the could've and would've.

Bruce signed willock

Steve Bruce finished 13th and 12 th that's a fact and the ultimate marker of a season.

There's some fans expected more than 12th on here

 

But that's all we can do is the coulda woulda.

 

Look Bruce did well to finish 12th & 13th, but we as supporters never accepted it because we knew it could never be better than that because Ashley was never going to invest to make us better. Finishing 12th every season was the limit of our ambitions, the difference is if we finish 12th this season with PIF in charge we’ll all be ecstatic and looking forward to the summer window. What did Ashley do the year we finished 5th? Instead of investing 20/30m which wasn’t a lot considering the prize money we’d received we could’ve kicked on and become a top 10 side, instead we ended up with Anita and we went backwards. Bruce bore the brunt of our frustration with Ashley, I’m not saying he was a good manager or that he didn’t deserve criticism but some of the abuse was uncalled for.

 

read my post. I’m talking in PL history.

Put your whatabbouterry to one side and accept he’s the worst of the worst. No grey areas at all.

 

Spot on mate

 

Bruce has a better win% than Howe at Newcastle

 

The clear answer to your question is both.

Both the players and Bruce were part of the problem. Ashley was the cause of and the biggest part of the problem so why you consistently fail to mention him I never know.

But in answer to your question, it’s both. As people have said throughout. You do realise that a problem can have more than one cause, don’t you?

 

You are trying to create a dichotomy that doesn't exist. Was it Bruce not good enough or the players not good enough? The fact is that neither were good enough and nobody on here is saying that either were good enough.

The abuse Bruce got went too far. No football situation should result in personal abuse like that. Bruce did well to get us to the positions he did in his previous seasons, but this season it was clear that his management was awful. Many of those signs were there before but like you say he got enough results to hide it and it is results that matter. However, this season the results stopped and the performances came home to roost. It became clear that he had to go.

Will Howe do better? Time will tell and we haven't had enough time to judge. The result yesterday could well have been different with a decent striker on the pitch or facing a goalkeeper who didn't have a great game. That wouldn't have made the performance any better but we wouldn't be having the same level of discussions today.

The discussion you are having is a moot one. Bruce wasn't good enough and we don't know yet if Howe is good enough. We all know that most of the players aren't good enough.

 

This is exactly the type of mental gymnastics I asked for.

You've all got a new manager I just think you didn't realise until now how poor the players are and now rather than say Hmmmm you know what I ws unfair on Bruce you're all making excuses for it.

 

No - you are the one doing mental gymnastics. You always are. I know you're not stupid so assume it is a device you use to keep discussions and arguments going. You read what you want to read and pick little parts of what people say to try and prove a point rather than looking at the whole of what they say.

 

He reminds me of my 6 year old "im right, im right, no! I'm right, TELL ME IM RIGHT!!"

 

So why wasn't that the argument when bruce wasn't finishing higher than 12th?

You do realise you expected higher than 12th with this side don’t you?

 

No I ask clear questions and I get arguments siding away from the question being asked.

I'm happy to debate the whataboutery also, but not until people answer my question without the ifs and buts

I always concede when I agree if I don't I will not my friend.

I think that's fair

 

Roy, you do know that you do that you do that more than anybody else on this board?

However, you do get answers. They just aren't the ones you want so you keep going and going down the rabbit hole until you can declare yourself the winner and boost your ego.

 

This entire thread is me being fair and asking straight questions mate.

I answer yes or no questions

I don't get that back and I know why.

You're right despite my lunacy I'm far from stupid and when people don't answer a closed question they're essentially Boris Johnson to me

 

Anyway let's not get ancy I love you all but I'll stand on my square until i die.

It's probably my only strength in life

 

It always has been the answer but you never ask that question. You always limit your question to the players or Bruce.
I’m sure you’ve claimed I’ve been “tap dancing” when I’ve given the same answer as above in the past.
Without looking I think you will find my answer related to expectations of previous seasons not this side this season. That last part is due to lack of ongoing investment by Ashley.