Are we seeing history repeat itself with Mr Bruce. Looking at the current situation, albeit from the land downunder, it appears that Steve is following the same path he trod with previous clubs he managed. He starts off well moulding a good side out of average players but then success breeds overconfidence and the cheque book comes out. This results in disharmony in the ranks with established players either being passed over or bearing resentment because the new players are on more money. There is no doubt that Steve has the ability to motivate players to play at their best. Notwithstanding this I think that tactically his abilities are short of what is required for top level football. He undoubtedly has achieved great success here at Hull City but even so there has always been niggling doubts about his formations and choice of substitutions during matches. I know this is contentious but I think that Steve is too much of an old school manager. It seems to me that he thinks he can protect a lead in games by trying to park the bus. To do this you have to be very strong tactically and I don't think this is the case with City. I accept that my views are based on watching City on internet stream but I very rarely get the impression that we have dominated a game. I hope I'm wrong but I think we are going to struggle this year to the extent that Steve could be replaced by the end of the season. If this did happen and he was replaced with a more tactically proficient manager I think that with the playing personnel that we have we would be a much better side. I am now leaving for the bunker
Bringing off attackers and piling on defenders is the worst way to defend a lead IMO as it completely relieves pressure off the opponent and heaps it all on you. Defending from the front is the way to do it and maki get other team be cautious of you hitting them on the break. But of course Bruce sees things differently and brings off every striker/attacker and lines us up in a 4-6-0 every single time. Then we never touch the ball in the opponents half for the rest of the game. At one point against Newcastle, when they were chasing the game, their defensive line was actually 10 yards inside OUR half, lined up at the edge of the centre circle. When that happens you know you're doing something really, really ****ing wrong.
Make the subs when we are losing or 3 nil up And taking Jelavic off in the league games must also be a relief to the other defenders If anything last night you'd take off Sagbo and put Jelavic on for nuisance alue alone
yap, yap. kin yap. We have lost one game in the Premier League by the odd goal. Knocked out of the Europa League on the away goals rules and knocked out of the League Cup last night in injury time. Get a grip. You might have a point if we were miles behind everyone else and getting tonked every week. But we aren't. The 'present playing personnel' as you put it are still have difficulty finding their way to the training ground FFS, they've only been here a couple of days. Give them a chance FFS. You sound like the idiots texting Radio Humberside the second the final whistle blew last night......relegation fodder.......Bruce has lost it.........and so on. All of which were read out with glee.
We lost all the games you mentioned because we played ****e. You write as if we have just been unlucky on each occasion.
There's a long way to go and IF Bruce acknowledges changes need to be made then things could turn around. Already out of 2 cup competitions though. And I hope nobody is now saying we were playing world beaters in West Brom like someone did with the disappointing results in the last two games.
Were not the finsihed article and still integrating our new signings into a new formation(which everyone is adapting to) Ball retention hasnt been great, but we need more then one string to our bow at this level. If he tries a new formation and we dont nail it straight away, its tactical ineptitude. If we only have one formation and can only play one way, its tactical ineptitude. If he makes defensive subs its parking the bus, if he keeps going for it - its that old favorite tactical ineptitude BTW we are 10th in the toughest league in the world and we'll be lucky to keep SB - FACT
I'm afraid it's a fact that apart from a good battling performance against Stoke with ten men, we've been rubbish so far this season. The best way to win a football match is to score goals, but in the last two games we've gone one up and then camped in our own half and suffered an onslaught for the last twenty minutes, which is a great way to convert a win into a draw or a loss. We've signed some brilliant attacking players, but they're not much use if you're not going to set up to allow them to attack and the substitutions in the last two games have been appalling. Our squad is way better than last season, but our performances so far have been worse(that's compared to the early part of the season, our performances in the second half of last season were equally poor, in fact, they were not much different to Brown's half season stats in his first Premier League season). We haven't put a team under any real pressure for months(not since Cardiff in February) and it's about time we did.
I was saying just a few weeks ago we have put in some good halves this season (up to that that point at least) but not a full game. You have to play a full game to get the points that you should get, and there's been no sign of that changing since then. Bruce needs to see the problem
You put it in perspective. Playing at these rarified heights the difference between success and failure is small. As a result the difference between success and failure often can be down to just plain old luck. City are going thru a bad patch with regards luck. Lets hope our luck changes and we go on a good run.
Completely agree OLM. We seem to go into a defensive shell after 70 minutes and with everybody back except a lone ineffective striker we offer no threat up front and our defence cracks under the growing pressure. Looking at the highlights of last nights game it looked like we had everyone crowding into our own area on their two goals with no one out. And the substitution of Maguire who hadnt played for weeks was incomprehensible. He looked completely clueless. The frustrating thing is we now have the players who can score goals. The Ben Arfa/Brady combination looks potent and Jelly and Hernandez look real threats while Diame is the goal scoring MF we've lacked and Elmo and Robertson have the pace on the wings to trouble any defences. Lets take a leaf out of Leicesters book and start pressuring the opposition for 90 minutes not 60.
