I cannot defend him. I've tried to give him the benefit of the doubt but the defeat against the scum a couple of weeks ago and the ongoing failure to address our left sided problem during this transfer window have made my mind up about him.
He is a nice man and, struggling now but if I had to make a case I would ask is he the problem or are there bigger problems at the club? Is he the problem or the scape goat. Did he not buy a LW and top striker or was he stopped. Did he let Gyan go or was he told Gyan was gone. Is Bruce the problem or just part of it.
Valid points. We can only speculate on the answers. One thing I'm sure of though is Ellis short must be starting to ask some hard questions of Quinn and Bruce. Him leaving after 80 minutes yesterday tells its own story.
It would cost alot to sack him and we would have to pay compensation to get a manager from another club.
Bruce has a proven track record of doing OK (not brilliant), on limited resources...I think the problems concerning our club go far deeper than the manager, not least the 'crazy' over-expectations of many of our fans...
Whatever is happening behind the scenes. It is Bruce picks the team sets them up to play a certain way, then when it clearly isn't working (again) has no clue how to change it. Is what is happening behind the scenes being caused by what is happening on the pitch. I don't think it was Ellis left, the glimpse I got was a bulkier guy with longer grey hair, leaving.
It seems you now seem to think it is the fans fault MrR going by all your recent comments. Sorry but the last ones to be blamed, should be loyal supporters who are paying a huge chunk of their wages in these difficult times to go and watch SAFC. After paying these large amounts are you saying they don't have the right to voice their concerns? If I went into a restaurant ordered caviare and was served cod roe I would be pissed off. Any other form of entertainment where you feel short changed on your entrance fee would still be ok then?
if you go to see a film but its ****, you dont get your cash back, and you can even read a review about that before you go in, with football you cant, its either going to be a good game or mind numbingly boring, its live so you never know what you are going to get, its like Boxing, it could be over in 30 seconds, or last 12 round but all 12 are a bore fest, or it could be rocky esque, but you cant go to every boxing match, expecting it to be rocky esque 100% of the time, its more like 2% of the time if you are lucky. I do think supporters have the right to bitch and moan, its just when its every single post they do, and they do 100 posts a day +, it gets a bit boring. and then they attack members that have a different point of view, or ORDER them to follow their point of view, I have my own views, and i will stick to them until I feel its time to change them, not anyone else teling me to.
Agreed, as we don't know the full picture.... Brucie may well have had a LW and another striker in mind, but tiz not him who holds the purse strings or does the negotiations.... More likely, with the country still sliding deeper into recession, and costs rising (we're all feeling the pinch) the accountants probably pulled the plug on further expenditure. at least we got a few new faces. Look at Everton - just 2 loanees 'in', and their star man Arteta 'out'.
I think had he not 'blown the budget' on Wickham and Won, 2 players for the future we did not need right at this time, over a left sided midfielder and at least 1 maybe 2 strikers that we DID desperately need for the here and now, I'd go along with this theory of something more deeply wrong. However, that the clubs owner and chairman cleared that deal tells me Bruce was in 100% control of who came in and who went out. Short and Quinn seem to have trusted Bruce to sort things out as he saw fit but when the season kicked off, it was obvious to a blind fool that the balance of the team was all wrong. It couldn't have slipped the notice of the owner who when then was asked about a new striker late in the day, that sufficient recruitment in the right areas had taken place and then Bruce was told to sod off by Short. Gyan obviously saw another season of struggle, was trying to be offloaded by the club (according to his agent and some clubs in France) and had his agent working his strings behind the scene to get a move away had his bank balance turned by the oil rich Emirates. Bruce has been isolated IMO by Short and thats whether Quinn likes it or not. I take NQ's recent silence in team affairs as testimony that the plank is out for the manager and he is slowly walking it now. Shorts patience would seem to be shorter than many of us and its not taken long for him to wield the financial axe on a manager that has lost not one but two of his front line strikers in 9 months now. All is indeed not well but its more the managers problem than the owners. Anton Ferdinand has written this weekend of his disappointment at being told of the managers decision to let him go at SAFC and I have to agree his was a departure not necessary unless it was a case of to get Bendtner and save some pride you have to let one go. For whats its worth, I think the club have known about the Gyan affair for several weeks but had hoped to stave off interested parties. It failed and the desperate scouring of Europe at the witching hour (and failing) to get a replacement in, he was gone in a flash and Bruce looks more and more isolated. A victim of circumstance? Maybe but in life you sometimes reap what you sow and SB's transfer policies in the last 5 windows was one of utter confusion and panic. No discernible pattern of team building can be seen 2 years on from his appointment. Are we a long ball team; a short ball team; 4-4-2; 4-5-1; 4-3-3 or what the hell ever is anyone's guess on a week to week basis. I can tell you now what Stoke City's game plan will be before they get up here net week and their team will know exactly what they have to do as well. Could I even begin to guess what formation Bruce will play, or indeed what players will play where? No I dont and neither do the equally confused and depressed players we have out there. We always complained that Brcue didn't have a Plan B or Plan C. Well lads, I dont think he even has a Plan A at the moment, or certainly not one that worries any opposition we face. I think the EPL smells fresh meat and they are cuing up to stick the knife in further. Only a change of management will stem that flow of blood but the timing is vitally important. It has to be soon while there are 3 or 4 beatable teams to play in the next 6 games and get us off and running or else we will be into the winter weeks on a real downer. A new man needs 12 games to access the squad and make 1 or 2 changes in January. The season can be salvaged but only if the club act now. The problem will be removed if Bruce is removed as I dont feel Short has any confidence in SB any longer. Where this leaves Niall is anyone's guess but he may well be mortally wounded by Bruce's failure as well in the eyes of Short. Only time will tell.
I know i've ripped Bruce apart, but tbf to him, whenever he's spent big money on a player he's come up trumps. I think if we gave him money i'd be confident of him bringing in quality players. Give him 50 million and i think he'd make a cracking team that wouldn't need much tactical guidance, which would suit him down to the ground. If he's having the rug pulled from under him, then he ain't got much chance of success.
