A more interesting thread on this subject would be 'Bruce out... if we go up?' If we do go up do people want Bruce to continue at the top level? I'd be happy for him to leave on a high and move on with a more progressive manager who can get the maximum out of the players and rotate the squad when it's needed, Bruce won't get half a season to work things out next year as we will be down before Christmas if that happens.
Its not blind faith at all, and it was said in 20 lines and not one sentence because sadly some things have to be spelt out to those who think we are Real Madrid and not Hull City. So no blind faith from me. I'm a realist. A view based on 50 odd years of solid support for this club.
'Down before Christmas' ? We went down last time under Bruce by one point. So what are your crystal ball predictions based on ?
It's shutting up shop when our lead is anything but comfortable that people object to and in the Premier League we regularly shut up shop from kick off.
OLM has it right, we've had 18 months of mostly crap, Bruce himself admitted about a month ago he didn't know how to address team selection issues. Davies was interviewed at Christmas going on about cracks behind the scenes. Yesterday Bruce got Hayden in and Elmo was replaced, Huddlestone has been benched, all this stuff was suggested on here from the beginning of the season and it's taken him half the season to figure it out. Nobody thinks we are Real Madrid but if Bruce had maximised the squads potential and rotated the squad properly then maybe we would be looking down at Boro now and would have a much bigger gap to Derby. Everybody can see the quality in our squad. That's reality for you not blind faith that ' Bruce will get it right' when patently he hasn't a lot of the time
Any manager with this squad of players who didn't currently have them in the top 4 at least would be failing. I don't really see it as a huge achievement although obviously I'm glad it's happening.
The main thing is we are where are now but lets not re-write history, it's an insult to those who paid to go watch Preston/Rotherham/Leeds away. The away form hasn't been addressed either but Bruce will surely rotate the midfield in future which seems to have been the major failing
It's an insult to those who paid to... We deserve to be in the top 4 at least, this is no achievement.. We expect... I never thought we'd attract Hull Whites style fans and an expectation we deserve owt.
Nobody is saying you can't have an opinion, the point of a forum is to call out people with different opinions and discuss them. The thing with this forum is that it's full of people who don't actually understand what a manager's job is, and think it's as simple as 'if Hayden plays instead of Meyler we would win every game'. Football at this level is incredibly nuanced and complicated and the fact is that Bruce is paid to make decisions you'll probably never be able to comprehend. There's a weird arrogance with football fans in that they think they know more about their squad than the manager who is privy to a boatload of information they aren't.
Yesterday we got the team most of us had wanted to see for some time, how did that pan out? It's not arrogant to state what you think should happen, particularly when it turns out to be correct. Exactly the same thing happened with Huddlestone earlier in the season, it took Bruce forever to see what had been obvious to the rest of us for months. It's certainly true that Bruce makes decisions we can't comprehend, his substitutions are often particularly baffling.
Maybe it was just as much to do with the fact that Charlton genuinely are a poor team, and not just in the way people say every team we beat are poor so they can slate Bruce? This is a team that recently lost 5-0 to Huddersfield. You seem to actually think that all a manager has to do is pick a team. It is clearly much more complex than that and Bruce is obviously exceptional at it, as he has a 100% record of getting promoted from this league. It also speaks volumes that people who actually understand his job (other managers) have absolutely nothing but praise for him. You could simplify any job in the way people on here do with managers. I could be a doctor, all you have to do is save peoples' lives. It's pretty undeniable that you have an agenda against Bruce for some reason and saying we've played defensive football is quite patently rubbish as we are the highest scorers in the league. You only have to look at some of the teams below us to see how lucky we are to have Bruce.
I didn't say deserved, perhaps you need to work on your reading comprehension skills? I said that with this team of players we should be in the top 4, as it's the best squad in the division IMO and I imagine the most expensive. It's no different to expecting Manchester City and Arsenal to be challenging for the Premier League as they have the best squads. Chelsea had the same expectations but the manager could not get the best out of the players so was sacked. It's not arrogance and I would still support city if we were looking at relegation, but the fact is that the squad we have and the money we've spent SHOULD be good enough to get automatic promotion if the manager utilises them effectively.
How many relegated teams piss the championship. Saying that Bruce should have done better last season with the squad he had is a reasonable argument. Thinking that a more 'progressive' manager would have kept us up is a sound belief. It may well have been the case. But then, would these 'progressive' managers have been able to assemble such a squad. Could they have attracted the players to get us promoted, then strengthen further to a level that had us survive comfortably and take us to a cup final. I doubt it, but who knows for sure. How did it go for Gary 'progressive' Monk this season. I'm a Bruce fan but I don't blindly agree with everything he does . I've been just as frustrated by some of his choices. But there's some on here that almost think promotion would be despite him. It's just not that bloody easy.
I didn't say you did. I was generalising. If I'd wanted to quote you, I would have quoted you. Maybe you need to work on your reading comprehension more than me? I've noticed a lot more of the sentiments expressed I mentioned, not quoted, and I find it baffling. Different generations thing probably.
Why do posters on here need to be constantly rehashing old debates just so they can say "I told you so"? People have a right to their own opinions, but we just won 6-0 FFS so let's move on and enjoy the good times while they last.
I said in the summer, after a season of negative and largely poor football, that I was indifferent as to whether he stayed or went. I believed he was more than capable of taking us straight back up, he has a great track record of doing so, but even assuming he did, I didn't really fancy another season of negative and largely poor football. Nothing has happened to change that opinion.
I hate the way this phrase is gospel on here. In those 18 months we played some good football and had some great wins and draws in the PL. as well as losses. yet it's made out as 18 months of purgatory on here.
That was the team you and most wanted for some time? What when Snodgrass wasn't fit enough to play!!! Ye right. Was it that when we were unbeaten with meyler in the middle of midfield for that great run. He was **** before it, undroppable during it and **** again after it.
Can you tell me what you mean by negative football? There was some guy on here the other day that said attacking football is not about creating chances, I don't even know how you talk to someone who comes out with stuff like that. We've scored more goals than anyone else, surely the point of attacking is to score goals? If so, then who in this league is better than us at it? You only have to look at Fulham to see what happens when you disrespect this league and think you can play kamikaze football and outscore everybody. Sometimes a bit of caution is necessary.
There were a few decent performances and results, but overall we were very poor over that period, feel free to rewrite history should you wish, I'll stick with the reality.
