The minimal impact Phelan is having is probably due to Bruce ignoring his advice - that's if he ever bothers asking for it during a match. Of course I'm guessing here, but it's hard to imagine Phelan, with his track record at Man U, watching that xxxxe for first hour last Saturday and not changing things around more quickly. It's worrying to think Bruce was prepared to watch that negative garbage for so long then complain about it after the match.
Don't worry - were back to 3 5 2 now Junior is back - he'll be playing against Rochdale and then he'll retain his place after we win - all part of a cunning plan really
I hope you're right. Playing 3-5-2 worked a treat the last time in the Championship. To be dominant in midfield SB needs to play 3-6-1 with this lot.
I like Steve Bruce, and under his leadership we have achieved a lot. The one thing I wanted when we came down was to rebuild and actually attack teams. Not worry about the opposition, just go out and look to win every single game. We might concede more goals, but you know what, it would be good to watch. Last season at times was very poor to watch, because we didn't give it a go we just seemed to sit back and accept our fate. If we don't win promotion, but we played attacking football, we took teams on and wasn't frightened about the consequences of attacking to much, I would still be happy. Its games like yesterday that annoy me, we where far to slow, no-one supported the strikers and there looked to be no real idea of how we wanted to play. You have seen numerous teams over the years win promotion from the Championship whilst being an attacking team, yet I still get the feeling we are trying to just ground out wins.
We must be the easiest team in the league to predict, stop the wide men getting crosses in then that's job done, as it is elmos had a crap start to the season so we are doing 50% of the opponents game plan for them. Just stop robbo and even if they don't his crosses are hit and miss. Unfortunately between the players and the management team we seem incapable of a plan b.
I agree. It's crazy, but understandable, that some posters are actually not bothered if one of our best players, Elmo, leaves, as it would force Bruce's hand to look to using different tactics. I seriously doubt that this would make any difference as he'd just expect Dave to take over the role and carry on regardless. I don't know whether Bruce is capable of altering his mindset, because, first and foremost, that's what needs to change in order for him to get the team playing attractive attacking football.
The Elmo tactic was fine. The problem is we've already changed it! He barely crossed a ball at Wolves or Charlton.
I was hoping phelan would help change brucies thinking but either he agrees or bruce won't listen. I hope it's the latter or we can cross phelan off the list of potential replacements I'd like him to try 4231 ...................greggs Moses.....Dawson....Davis.....robbo ............thudd......meyler Elmo....diame.....Maloney ........Hernandez I'd prefer us to sign another cm but at least this way we aren't relying on thudd to get forward he only needs to be around the halfway line. We also have snodgrass to come back who can compete with any of the 3 attacking midfielders
If Bruce loses a few and doesn't get many of his targets in, does anyone think he could consider his future
Spot on. Steve Bruce has the tactical imagination of a gnat; he seems to be going backwards as he was better than this. Anyone who maintains that we should be 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 should watch what Pardew did with Palace at the weekend and how he uses the options his squad offers - Bruce seems incapable of that these days. (Don't tell me it is early in the season, because what is more pertinent is that it is quite late in his tenure as our manager and his results and performances for more than 18 months has been poor, very poor.
I think it is unfair to blame the players, as they must take the brickbats for their performance under the instructions they are given - allowing for individual flair (sic) - but those instructions, which begin with the formation as their foundation, are the absolute responsibility of the manager and his coaching staff. I would suggest we have lacked any single bit of spark since Phelan came and Agnew left; although the rot had set in long before that.
'he only needs to be around the halfway line' doing what, exactly? He's a waste of a shirt with his current mind-set and the negative tactics of Bruce.
No matter how much you dislike Bruce you can't discount certain players not putting a shift in as that would be the same for any manager, what you could say is that he signed these players so has made a rod for his own back. Also I don't think you would have been sat at the FA Cup final comparing Bruce to a 'gnat'
Agree with what you say, at the moment we seem like a rudderless ship, no plan or anything in place, we need to be going for it this season as stats show that if a relegated team from the PL don't get back at the first attempt then it becomes ten times harder to do it if not impossible, just look at all the ex-PL teams in the championship.
Then he should deal with those players, it could be argued he does, but inadequately and far too bloody late; he prefers to tinker with players making it impossible to get a true appraisal of them or those around them. I was sat at both the semi-final and at the final. You might re-read my post and understand I actually wrote this: I think he needs a break (retirement?) from management. He made much of his decision to continue as our manager; he said it was a difficult decision and took much heart-searching. He made the wrong decision. I have always respected Steve Bruce, but his unimaginative, uninspiring management is a pale shadow of what he was once capable of. Even with the dreadful injuries we suffered, we should never of fallen to relegation; Bruce lacked both guile and common-sense in his tactical response to his problems - we paid the consequence.
I think saying we should never hve got relegated is wrong. I know I said it earlier in the thread. What I think is that squad should hve been capable of playing well and putting up a fight. The amount of games that team played well in the entirety of last season can be counted on one hand. It has been dreadful. I wish he'd resigned.
