I have faith he can keep things going. He's introduced a good vibe in the dressing room, as long as the players are happy and enjoying their football they'll put in a good shift. The most important thing Bruce has done, without doubt, is make the players feel they're good enough for the league. I felt with Rafa it was always his show and his results, And the team got in the way of his genius. I think they're a better squad than he gave them credit for and that for me is something I actually enjoy about Bruce. He speaks about them like they're his team and his lads and it's a nice atmosphere around the club. Doesn't surprise me at all that Shelvey is saying he'd like to retire here and is playing out his skin, running to the fans and stuff.
bruce thrives on a squad that 'runs' through the wall for him people like shelvey probably love him we had meyler in a similar role bruce admits himself he's no tactical genius, but what bruce does is, makes a solid team
I don't think Rafa, despite his recent media blitz, has much hope of getting a gig with anyone in the premier league, but I really wish that he did. It is pathetic, the inumerous attempts to rewrite history, both whilst he was here and elsewhere. He has achieved **** all in China. If he comes back to the premier league, I hope it's Everton, albeit I'm sure his fans will claim it's not his fault when they get relegated. Bruce is doing a remarkable job in the circumstances, I suspect he will get a winger and a central midfielder in January and we will see even more gradual change. Once the spectre of relegation has gone - by end of January I predict, and players start to play with more freedom, I'm sure we will be even more entertained watching games.
Looks like Steve is slowly changing opinions. I'm definitely enjoying it more than last season. We will be up and down I'm sure but I feel there is an increasingly good connection between manager, players and fans.
I still think the football is dull and super defensive but whatever it takes to win games. If we can sign one one or two players in the jan window then ideal as it might change things up a bit. I would still like a bit more possession. I watch for us to play not the opposition.!
the thing is everyone and the media has been comparing this seasons points tally with last and simply ignoring the fact we finished last season the 7th best from jan to may, so I think they've been too fast to say he's done a great job.. imo without almiron and max we will lose every single game.. it's a side that can only play on the counter, so once you take those two out the side we have to go long ball and we aren't even good at that.
I'm sure he'll be IN next week if we win. Sadly we got Bruce until the end of the season, and fair enough now because he will keep us up. Sadly, we'll be playing the worst football I've seen since Allardyce. Nobody can still kid themselves this is better than Rafa. Kissing Bruce's arse now shows you actually have some preference issues negating football knowledge. We have Almiron and Saint-maximin and play ****ing awful, genuinely feel sorry for them two playing in this team. It's not even that we don't have players to play to those strengths, we just don't have a manager capable of tactics. The points proven today when both aren't playing, we'd be lucky to score 3 come February without them. I was gutted we got Bruce because it was a waste of a chance. We have an incredible defence, all we needed was someone to capitalise on our attacking talent. I'd rather have taken a punt on Arteta or Bronkhorst if I'm honest. Bruce was a return to Pardew but worse, the football especially.
Whilst I would rather take a chance on an Arteta type I love the fact that Bruce is managing "his club", there's not enough romance left in football. Admittedly sentiment gets you nowhere but I like it. Bruce IN
Fair enough mate at least you're sticking to your guns on Brucie. For me it doesn't wash because I don't see him as a fan. He's a Manure fan and if he had the opportunity there he definitely wouldn't be here. He also celebrated every goal as Sunderland manager passionately and reckoned he had a song waiting for the Geordies for when he beat us. Does anybody know what that song was meant to be by the way? Don't get me wrong, he doesn't owe us anything. I just can't get behind the "it's his club" theory when he turned us down twice before.
I think that every time the team win or draw: IN I think that every time the team lose: OUT Who agrees?
I think it's deeper than that. For me it was more like thinking "oh, ok, so he's worked out a better position for Shelvey and we're seeing the rewards. Bruce In." Then you get a weekend match where a bunch of important players are missing, including our only decent wide players and our creative influence in midfield .Instead of reacting to this and going with a system that might suit the personnel, we stick with the exact same formation, then seem to employ "hoof it" as the tactic. To be clear, "hoof it to the big man" hasn't worked as a tactic since Bolton in the early 2000's. It was rightly derided heavily then and has stuck with Allardyce ever since, and also never worked because defenders are bigger and more athletic. It's an absolute embarrassment that we used that as a means to play and even more embarrassing that Bruce had no clue as to why it wasn't working. We ended up with 4 strikers on the pitch, two of whom shouldn't even be at the club, but instead of pushing up we kept trying a long ball. All of which gets me very, very frustrated with Bruce and his training team. I'm not saying "Bruce Out" solves anything, or is going to happen, but this is an attempt to explain why the manager is so bloody infuriating.