Players look at what they see in training and then make their own selection decisions. They can and do live with disappointment, as it is a part of true squad football. What I mean by true squad football is when all of the squad can be selected on merit because they fit with tactics and are good enough to compete. When players see others being given starts they don't believe they deserve,or played in a way that they believe is wrong, then they will inevitably express that opinion.
Some managers will speak the truth when they say they expect players to be banging on their doors when not selected, but some say that when the reality is they can't tolerate the implied criticism. I think Bruce does not like criticism.
I have regularly defended Paul McShane on here and, earlier, on the HDM site. I believe he is a decent CB and a half decent RB. I believe he has a passion for the game, a passion to win, that I would wish to see in every squad member, but, unfortunately, I don't.
This falling out with Bruce has been coming for a long time; why wouldn't it? He is dropped for long periods, he is then brought in and gives MotM performances, he wins praise and is then dropped. I said it six months ago and I'll repeat it again, Paul McShane should leave and enjoy the remainder of his playing years elsewhere.
Steve Bruce is impressing me less with each game that is played. The cry of injuries and suspensions is masking his strange need to tinker and reinvent players as something they are not. Changing his team selection to match the opposition is fine, many managers do it, it does not mean they don't know what their best eleven is. Losing the majority of games, picking starting elevens that need early, half-time subs (which then leaves us vulnerable to playing with ten men or eleven including walking wounded), making subs to defend a lead that loses that lead because he changes a positive attacking attitude to a negative defending struggle, all of this is poor management, poor coaching.
Paul McShane is a symptom, not the real problem; Alex Bruce and him are of an ilk, but I prefer Macca as a CB. I always find it a sad state of affairs when, to explain why one player should play, the options have to be slated. This malady we have with Macca is a deeper thing and it is why a squad of decent players just can't seem to turn the corner to where they should be, they lack the direction they should be getting from the manager.
The Burnley game was a watershed of negativity. Players didn't turn up against a team they knew they could and should have beat at home; they were sent onto the pitch with no confidence, no passion, no idea what it is they are expected to do. We watch the games and we, if we are honest, are all too frequently left in the same mind set. But Bruce knows, doesn't he, so that's alright then, it will turn around, won't it? After all, it's only been a short blip, hasn't it? In Bruce We Trust.