Just my opinion but like I suggested a while ago,Bruce has created a side that's hard to beat at this level and all credit to him for doing that. Thing is though,by making us so ridged with little or no imagination around the box,we cannot afford to concede at all for fear of relying on something we simply don't possess, such as player up front who can turn a game in the blink of an eye.
Usually when they send them out it's a bad sign, I can think of Maguire who went out on loan recently and is now doing well, nobody else comes to mind apart from Mcshane a few years ago
We were already hard to beat when he took over. He's spent millions since then and how much have we improved?
There's a worrying parallel between this season and last season now in that you could ask the question about whether the players are doing it for the manager anymore, or earlier in the season when we had so many flat performances but were getting away with it, with Bruce lost for any idea for what the problem was when questioned. It looks like we are probably chasing one spot for automatic now with Burnley getting the job done so 50/50 play-offs, would anybody fancy us in the play-offs against in form teams at the end of the season?
It's different sending a kid out to get experience and an old player you're trying to shift. Jahraldo Martin, lenihan, Maguire and ince are all players who recently went on loan that we hadn't given up on. Jakupovic to orient another.
Our strikers ain't out of form the truth is Hernandez apart when he can be bothered they just ain't good enough, We have had the same problem for a few seasons now. That has to be the managers responsibility.
Agree, Hernandez is a decent striker who will score goals but we give him no quality service. He can head a ball but we never put any pinpoint crosses in & he has a fierce shot but we never play it on the floor for him to run onto. Andre Gray is technically no better a striker than Hernandez. What Burnley do far better than City is give him decent service to feed off.. Swap these 2 players around & Gray would stop scoring because he'd get no decent service from midfield
Have to agree to a point but didn't Bruce want to sign Gray but the club wouldn't pay the asking price
I never get this "not playing for/doing it for the manager" argument. They're professional footballers, looking to maintain/enhance their careers. If anyone adopted this attitude, they'd never be signed by any other manager anywhere again. They lose form, don't fit into their manager's tactical structure, but never consciously "not play for the manager".
