Despite my best efforts to find reasons to get rid of our manager, he is defiantly staying steadfast and resolute in his position at our club. He is a stubborn little (big really) bugger thats for sure. When it would have been perfectly reasonable for many men to have crumbled in recent weeks, under mounting speculation of the media/fans frenzy, Bruce has remained very focused and at times somewhat removed from the 'mob' (I do include myself in that category) and has steered us to 14th with the win last Saturday v Bolton. In a belligerent, stubborn and pig headed way Bruce reminds me of someone I know very well to be honest. Me and in a way, I have admired him a little more of the past few days for his determination and ploughing on through the **** storm surrounding him. Now, before the fanfare blows and I get accused of changing my tune let me explain a little. My concerns over him as the long term solution to our ambition remains firmly intact. Too many negative arguments outweigh the positives imo and should Martin O Neill have been the option chosen I'd swap managers without a thought. However, it looks more and more likely that MoN is Leicester bound (a huge mistake for both him and us I believe, again imo) so the options to replace Bruce have been halved. Only realistically O Neill and Mark Hughes are available that wouldnt cost £m's to bring in and whereas I would be enthused greatly by O Neill, Hughes is less so interesting for me when all is done and dusted. All the talk of the foreign managers and big names are pie in the sky as firstly they wouldnt come and secondly I dont think for us, where we are, they would be effective either without £100m+ to spend in the transfer market. People like van Gaal, Hiddink, van Basten etc operate at the sharp end of the world football spectrum and we are not even at the sharp end of the EPL. So, whilst still no BiB by any standards, I have to admit defeat and a concession of some ground in my desire to see Bruce replaced. To get rid of him for just 'anyone' would be a huge error imo and if it cannot be O Neill then maybe its a case of better the devil you know than just anybody? A lot of time and money has been invested in this team/squad and to chuck it all away for the wrong replacement may have proven calamitous. As it is Bruce's position, if O Neill does go to Leicester, has been strengthened and maybe Bolton was a watershed for all of us? The clamour for his head seems to have wilted greatly in the past 6 days from all sections of the media/forums/chat rooms etc. I cant remember one Bruce out thread all week and that must be a first since the opening weekend. Has he ridden the storm? Well not quite and a lot of work still needs to be done to state that but he has certainly weathered the opening salvos and who knows, a back to back win this Saturday and some much needed mirth and merriment may well return to the streets of Wearside next week? Bruce has to grasp the nettle here though and realise this folly of 1 up front is destroying his overall credibility and link with many fans. We want to see a Sunderland team play without fear and with some heart and passion, attacking teams and utilising our strengths of some bloody decent footballers in the team. Larsson on the right; Sess on the left; Vaughan in the middle anchoring the team and 1 from Colback (he just grows week by week for me), Catts or Gardener alongside him in the middle. A settled back 4 which for me has to include our player of the season at left back and a strong bench that has Ji, Richardson, Gardener and Catts on it. We do need a striker still and if reports are to be believed we are on the hunt for one in January. If it is this lad Cisse (I know precious little about him to be honest) then so be it. Many lads on here rate him and his stats are amazing, if untried imo at a level required for the EPL. A left back/right back is also a priority as is maybe some pace and guile on the left flank - God I'd love to get Adam Johnson on loan for the season in our ranks - and who knows, Bruce may well just have turned a huge corner. Reverting back to 1 up front on Saturday would certainly destroy this tenuous recovery imo but I still have a niggling feeling he might just do that to flood the midfield and stop Bent and Co rather than impose ourselves on them - thats his major downfall for me a lack of confidence and attacking prowess as a manager - and if he does and fails to impress again at home, he will deserve all the flak and ****e that will again shoot his way again come 5pm tomorrow night. So, come on Steve, dont go backwards now. Keep going forward and make us BoB's regret our original thoughts. Play Bendtner (get him bloody bought as well in January) and Connor up front form here on in and start to give Sess the freedom to do what he does best (as witnessed last weekend) and lets turn this season around. I was amazed to read that a win tomorrow will see us with the same points as at this time last season to be honest, a fact I'd missed in my clamour to see him replaced and a win by a couple of goals and a clean sheet, will see us actually better off in terms of conceded and scored I think as well. I'm keeping the faith and giving this manager the chance again to impress. His resolve has certainly impressed me and his attitude has too but its results that will ultimately decide his fate. Should we go 8th tomorrow night after 10 games then maybe I am the fool and he is not. Another Halloween horror show though and he will need much more of that steely resolve next week again when the critics come back to town. FTM
Read most of that one! Bruce can only ever take us mid-table, I think, not to top 6 or a cup win. He will eventually have to go, but as long as it because our ambition has grown and not because he has failed we will be indebted to him. x
Ya big old softy Cest! By the way, I read that MON has turned Leicester down (bbc gossip) Agree with the 2 strikers. See what happens when he took notice of what we (not 606'ers) were telling him to do (play 2 up front and play players in their correct positions) Love to get Cisse and Johnson in, if Bendtner signs as well it will be a fantastic January window.
Clark looks a shoo-in for Leicester job Leicester want to *interview Huddersfield boss Lee Clark over their managerial vacancy after Martin OâNeill turned them down. Clark has been charge at the League One Terriers since December 2008. Not counting last seasonâs play-off final defeat, Townâs 2-2 draw with S****horpe on Tuesday extended their unbeaten run to 40 games. The 39-year-oldâs odds for the post were slashed on Thursday, and he is now favourite to join the Foxes. Big-spending Leicester are searching for a *replacement for Sven Goran Eriksson, who was sacked on Monday. The Thai-owned Championship club had hoped to quickly and quietly lure back former boss OâNeill, but he is holding out for a Premier League job. Billy Davies is also in the frame but is hampered by previous spells at local rivals Derby and Nottingham Forest. http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...field-as-their-new-manager-article822115.html
thats them screwed then, he loves Newcastle, is a Geordie, enjoys socialising in Newcastle, need I say more. was a joke BTW
one of the things that is overlooked in the Bruce out argument imo, is that it is'nt just him that would be going. Like it or not, Brucie is an established EPL manager and as such brings with him an entourage of assistants, coaches, scouts etc. The cost of clearing that lot out, plus the upheaval of bringing a new lot in, is massive. Remember that most of the squad are his signings (larsson, bendy, gardner, catts etc), they are loyal to him. Brucie's successor would want to bring in his own set of "loyal" players, therefore another upheaval. The bottom line is this, name a single club who ultimately benefits from sacking the manager ? It took fergie 5 years before he got it right at Utd and if the Fob's had got there way at that time, they wouldn't be bragging about 19 titles. It seems that stability is a very underrated commodity around here. Personally I hope he stays and gets it right. He could do with brushing up his interview technique though, he comes out with some right old s**** at times lol.
Cest if we lose on Saturday i think you'll change your tune a little Anyway i was telling you a couple of weeks ago Bruce is here to stay. Like you i don't agree he is the man to fulfil my ambitions for the club and i think he could quite easily relegate us. I do however hope i'm wrong and if he brings us Europe or a cup final i will eat my words about him. I really hope he can do it, i just don't think he can but i'd love for him to prove me wrong...
Unless SB has had some road to Damascus conversion, his manifest problems are there for all to see. He wants to think he knows the best position of a player which is often contradictory to what the players best attributes are. An example is Larsson, he is not a s good as Becks but has a sweet right foot particularly if centring from the right, so SB plays him often on the left. Similarly with Sess, he is not a striker, has pace can dribble and is small...he is a winger. Another problem is setting the team up, how can anybody think playing 4-6 will win games and score goals, it beggars belief. Yet another problem is motivation, he cannot prepare teams for cup games or derbies, as soon as he talks about how important the game is, he somehow conveys his nervousness and the team does not turn up, the same happens with half-time team talks, somehow he manages to demotivate the team and they come out worse! Then more often than not during a game if things are going wrong, most of the crowd have spotted it, but SB and Black stand there for about 15 minutes. looking at aboard wondering what to do rather than making a good decisive change. A good manager would have spotted the problems on the pitch BEFORE us in the crowd and have made a change. His changes, i.e. throwing a couple of apprentice strikers to to save a game with 10 minutes to go are usually too late. So on Saturday I really want us to win, but if we do it will be despite SB not because of him
I'll always respect what he did for us as a player. I used to love watching him. The way it ended though has ensured he will never be welcome at the SOL. In any capacity.
Ha! Ha! Mind you, heading isnt his strong point anyway. I expect that Brown will keep him 'occupied' whenever he gets the ball tomorrow. Or kick the ****er into the middle of next week to put it another way. Lol
