Yesterday I felt low and disinterested, I badly needed something to pick me up, give me that shot in the arm, today, following my morning walk, I logged onto not606 and there it was. A brand new Bruce Out thread. Now don't get me wrong, many have the Bruce out view and others, like me, are far from convinced. Everyone has every right to voice their opinions so I'm not having a go, saying you are bad supporters, giving out abuse or any of the other wild claims I sometimes read. So why oh why does it give me that shot in the arm, put that positive head back on, simple really. Tomorrow we have a big game, the first in a pack of 4 big games, 4 games that we all agree, I think, will go a long way to deciding our season and Bruce's immediate future. Will Bruce be sacked today, no and that is the only point I keep making, he will be with us and surely we all want him to succeed over these next 4 games because that will mean our club will have been successful. By calling for Bruce out now, last night or today, is like saying I hope we lose, I know nobody is saying we want to lose but its that message that comes through. My head is not in the sand, I am well aware of how delicate our season hangs in the balance and the last thing I want is a relegation battle. To me its very simple now, its crunch time, its get 100% behind the team and the manager, however hard that may be, because we need to do all we can to ensure we get the victories needed to start the momentum going the right way. Get it right and relegation will be further away and the top ten will be nearer. We will still have problems and the clubs next challenge will be to satisfy me in the transfer window. Get it wrong over the next 4 games then I think it will be Short saying Bruce out and he is the only one that counts. Many will be happy with Bruce gone but the table would make grim reading. Best outcome for me is simple, success for Bruce for the remainder of the season and a top ten finish, I don't think he can take us higher. Then let Short review things and if its Bruce out then will be the right time with a new man in for the summer window. So its back to positive head and back to winning ways against Fulham, what was that, what if we lose, lets worry about that if it happens not before we start.
You and your head will no doubt reserve judgment until 5pm tomorrow. A win and a good performance for me is essential, otherwise Mr Gloomy will be back.
I really sincerely hope so, my hopes and expectations will be on a roller coaster beginning when the team sheet is read out in the car on the way to the match. Has our manager learnt from his mistakes or is he going to compound them!
If he goes with Bendtner up front and Sess in the hole.................................................well, he will be slaughtered if we dont win. Ji has to be given his chance or what was the point of buying him (other than some Korean PR) and Noble HAS to be on the bench after his display midweek or whats the point of having reserve games at all. Sess over to the right, Ricco on the left and Bardo and O Shea full backs with Vaughan and Colback in the middle for me. Meyler isnt fit enough and Catts cant pass as well as Colback. JI and Bendtner have to play as a front 2 though.
Be positive Steve Ffs... Steve Bruce is hoping his team's recent form will help him overcome Fulham for the first time as Sunderland manager. Manager Steve Bruce is yet to win a game against Fulham since taking charge on Wearside. Bruce believes his team has hit form just at the right time to help put that unwanted record to bed. Last year Sunderland picked up a point at Craven Cottage, but lost 3-0 in the return fixture at the Stadium of Light. The previous season saw both sides play out a goalless draw on Wearside, whilst Sunderland slipped to a 1-0 defeat in London. Ahead of Saturday's game, Bruce told safc.com: "Since I moved to Sunderland we haven't had a good record against Fulham. "Let's hope we can go and play and put that record to bed and get the result that we need this weekend. "We've played well lately and we must maintain that. If we do that and keep the standards that we've set in recent games we'll be okay." Like Sunderland, Fulham have picked up maximum points on only two occasions in the Barclays Premier League this season and both teams have ten points on the board. "Martin Jol will have been hoping for a better start for Fulham in the Premier League," Bruce continued. "Fulham are a very good team with some very good players. They're an established top-flight team and this is their 11th consecutive season in the league, which is a remarkable achievement for a club of that size. "They've got good players up front. Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson are a real threat - it will be a tough game Or have the new 007 viagra. It'll make you Roger Moore.
Your positive post is sending me negative signals! I have to ask why are these 4 games any bigger than any other 4 games? For me, the only reason they are BIGGER is because thus far our results have been very poor. After a mere 11 games, we are talking about BIG games. IMHO this is what its going to come down to with Bruce year in year out... we are going to be looking for the 4 crappest teams in the league other than ourselves and hope to God that we can beat them... Therefore under Bruce, we are likely to experience groundhog day year in year out. My assessment of the situation is that we are in a relegation battle already because even IF we win the next 4 games, we then have a run of what would appear on paper to be difficult games and we will be heading back to towards the 1:1 ratio of points per game that we currently arn't quite achieving and on target for another 38-45 point season. In terms of the bigger picture, if this is what your happy with... (looking for 4 big games that we look asthough we are potentially capable of winning and hope that they will stear us clear of relegation) year in year out then life as a SAFC supporter under Bruce will be a very frustrating time. 10,000 fans have already deserted the stadium and I very much doubt that they will become regulars once again until a fundamental change occurs within the club. It's clear the fans are fed up already and for me that is a fundamental problem... The fans count just as much as Short.... If the stadium is deserted he wouldn't have any option but to listen to the fans and take appropriate action and I suspect its only a matter of time before a scenario like that occurs, whether this season or next. However having said that, Bruce has a habit of winning just enough games in order to scrape through. Winning just enough to survive (except the year he relegated Birmingham) and I expect that the next 4 games will bring us a few points. This is life under Bruce... looking for 4 games that we can scrape enough points from and escape relegation. I will be relieved more than happy if we win the next 4 games (which I don't think we will), relief because we are looking safer albeit until the more difficult games arrive. However I don't think I will feel entirely happy because I can see fundamental problems that are likely to resurface season in season out and the doubt last has built up since the start of 2011 will take a lot more than 4 wins to remove that doubt. Last season Bruce screwed up when he brought in Muntari and Sessegnon... Bruce changed a winning formula by replacing Malbranque and Zenden with the afforementioned... When Malbranque was dropped for Sessegnon we went on the 7 match losing streak... Bruce chose to drop players of exceptional pedigree in the twilight of their careers, players that had worked their balls off to such an extent that we looked good for a Europa league position and then dropped those players for two new players, one of which didn't even have any desire to be at the club... How will decisions like this affect the general motivation of the squad let alone the players he dropped? All that hard work undone in the blink of an eye whilst the likes of Zenden sat upon the bench in the twilight of his career viewing all of his efforts and good work being frittered away. Why change a winning formula? Why not leave it as it is and change it if it needs to be changed? How long does it take a manager to learn these basic tenets? So we can see by experience that even if Bruce stumbles upon a team that is capable of stringing results together he is just as likely to change the players which could result in exactly what happened last season. All in all I just don't believe Bruce is a manager that is capable of achieving success of any form that will inspire the 10,000 supporters who no longer turn out to consider spending their Saturday at the SOL as opposed to the TV screen in the local pub. I genuinely believe that as a club we are currently 'pissing against the wind'. As a supporter of SAFC that makes me feel quite sad considering what we could be capable of under the guidance of a manager with a proven CV.
To a certain extent the positive team does pick itself, in that Westy will be in goal, back four of O'Shea, Turner, Brown and Bardsley. Midfield, Sess Vaughan/Gardner and Colback/Meyler (training ground form deciding the CM pairing) and Rico LW, up front Bendtner and Ji, on the bench has to be Noble, the two from CM that did not make the start, the young back(Laing is it?) and frankly forget anyone else. If Elmo and Catts are near the team or if Bardo is not picked or if we go with only one up front the evidence and proof will be for all to see that SB has not got a clue. Having said all that I still want us to win the next few games whatever team SB puts out although we might of course win despite SBs team not because of it!
Clockstand you are totally correct mate. EVERY game at the minute is a big one for the club as we are in a pan ****e at the wrong end of the table. The reason they are all big is because there is simply no room for error. Win and we get some breathing space; draw and the breathing is more difficult; lose and we will suffocate. Failure to win all 3 home games will result in Bruce coming under even more pressure because lets face it, if you cant beat Fulham, Wigan and Blackburn at home, then you cant be classed as a top half football club and we will not progress under the current regime. If it were Villa, Everton and Spurs we were playing things would be different but it isn’t. 3 home games and 3 wins is the absolute minimum we should be demanding from Bruce and failure to supply it starting against Fulham should have us all demanding something completely different come 5pm tomorrow night. Stay by your phone Mr. O Neill. I'm not convinced Bruce will win tomorrow at all.
Cest, still don't know why you are obsessed with MON, as he is more negative than SB FFS. Either way I cannot see SB getting his 1st win against Fulham tomorrow - it will be a bore draw for me in front of a very small crowd. Hope I am wrong though for SAFCs sake. Bart
Good man you know it makes sense please log in to view this image Bart - O Neill has won trophies mate at unfashionable clubs without the need for a kings ransom. I dont know how you can say he is negative. That Villa side that finished 6th THREE years on the trot had some fantastic footballers in it. Just for your info (facts are always better than fiction) in only his second season at Villa, they scored 71 goals which was their highest since the 1981 season and that European Cup Winning team. Year on year he improved their points and places 50, 62 and 64 points and finished 6th 3 times off the belt. He also got them to a Cup Final which they lost to Man Utd. Yes there were flat times (8 draws at home in his 2nd season) but there was a plan and a direction for everyone to see. He won countless trophies at Celtic (not as easy as you may think, just ask Neil Lennon) and got them to a UEFA Cup Final. At Leicester they got to 3 finals and won 1. He is a born winner and a man that can deliver cups. As we will never win the EPL, our only chance of glory is a cup. Bruces record in the cups is shocking, MoN's is fantastic. Now, if you think thats **** fine but I'd give you a kings ransom for a little piece of that at SAFC mate.
You cannot argue with the facts Cestria... This is what you can expect when a proven manager is at the helm. 50, 62 and 64 certainly makes better reading than 44, 47 ?... Infact, Martin O'Neills worst season is better than Bruce's best season! Martin O'Neill would bring back the mentality that Reid brought to the club, the mentality that inspired Sir Niall to return all guns blazing.
Martin O Neill would for me anyway, be the very best appointment the club would have made in my lifetime. I think after 3 years of MON, we would all be happy clapping, stepford wives, as he would deliver a strong and well built SAFC team and squad. Another 3 months of Bruce and I think we will all be at total war. Lol
Steve Bruce reminds me of when Ian Duncan Smith led the Conservative party. A quietly spoken man with little in the way of action. In contrast Keano was the exact opposite. Perhaps the next appointment will be a balance inbetween the two. Step forward Martin O'Neill!
