no surprise .. I got chatting to a Villa fan on the train before the start of the season, so even before things went tits up for Brucie .. she really knew her stuff .. anyway, the opinion was that Bruce is too 'old school' and lacks tactical awareness .. she suggested that last season John Terry was the guiding hand that got them to the play off final, only to lose to Fulham .. Bruce depended too much on Grealish for creativity and had too many older/past it players in the squad (exacerbated by lack of purchasing funds ?) .. having said that, perhaps a last minute injury time penalty miss has cost him his job prematurely
the new owners have spent a fortune on buying the club and now want a new manager to protect their investment and before they release the cash to refurbish the team .. my money is on yet another foreigner to come in as manager
Not having a go at you mate, but it always cracks me up when fans accuse a bloke like Steve Bruce, who has been in the game for fourty odd years professionally of ‘lacking tactical awareness’.
The bloke has been around the game since the early 80’s, has played hundreds of games for Man United, played in the Champions League, won the ECWC and countless other prizes, do Aston Villa fans honestly think that he doesn’t understand football tactics?
He missed out on promotion via the PO Final last year, and has had a mixed start to the season this time round, and has now been sacked – absolute madness.
The same at Charlton when some of the clowns on here accused Phil Parkinson - small matter of 500 Football League games as a player and 200 games as a manager before coming to Charlton - as being 'tactically naive' - it used to proper crack me up.
The irony of some Sunday league pub player on here accusing a bloke who has been in the professional game for 30 years of being 'tactically naive' seemed to escape many people!
The criticism of Bruce and Parkinson may or may not be sound but, equally, Karl Robinson has managed for 450 matches but not many would accuse him as being a tactical genius. Equally, I've been playing House of the Rising Sun for over 40 years on the guitar but it doesn't make me Eric Clapton. Sadly.
Robinson never played League football - arguably the lack of such involvement in the pro game on the playing side may be behind his lack of tactical flexibility.
In fact, this makes it even stranger really because I don't doubt for a second that Robinson could bore you senseless with a tactical analysis of every game he manages but would still fail to see the glaring flaws in his rigid system.
no surprise .. I got chatting to a Villa fan on the train before the start of the season, so even before things went tits up for Brucie .. she really knew her stuff .. anyway, the opinion was that Bruce is too 'old school' and lacks tactical awareness .. she suggested that last season John Terry was the guiding hand that got them to the play off final, only to lose to Fulham .. Bruce depended too much on Grealish for creativity and had too many older/past it players in the squad (exacerbated by lack of purchasing funds ?) .. having said that, perhaps a last minute injury time penalty miss has cost him his job prematurely
the new owners have spent a fortune on buying the club and now want a new manager to protect their investment and before they release the cash to refurbish the team .. my money is on yet another foreigner to come in as manager
Not having a go at you mate, but it always cracks me up when fans accuse a bloke like Steve Bruce, who has been in the game for fourty odd years professionally of ‘lacking tactical awareness’.
The bloke has been around the game since the early 80’s, has played hundreds of games for Man United, played in the Champions League, won the ECWC and countless other prizes, do Aston Villa fans honestly think that he doesn’t understand football tactics?
He missed out on promotion via the PO Final last year, and has had a mixed start to the season this time round, and has now been sacked – absolute madness.
The same at Charlton when some of the clowns on here accused Phil Parkinson - small matter of 500 Football League games as a player and 200 games as a manager before coming to Charlton - as being 'tactically naive' - it used to proper crack me up.
The irony of some Sunday league pub player on here accusing a bloke who has been in the professional game for 30 years of being 'tactically naive' seemed to escape many people!
The criticism of Bruce and Parkinson may or may not be sound but, equally, Karl Robinson has managed for 450 matches but not many would accuse him as being a tactical genius. Equally, I've been playing House of the Rising Sun for over 40 years on the guitar but it doesn't make me Eric Clapton. Sadly.
That’s 450 Karl Robinson post match excusesInterviews ....
When Steve Bruce was sacked last October, Newcastle were second bottom of the PL and in serious danger of going down. Yes Eddie Howe spent a few bob but the improvement of those players already at the Club has been totally out of proportion to what their fans witnessed when Bruce was in charge. And they are now third in the PL.
Bruce then found employment at WBA but was sacked this October with them third bottom in the Championship and having won just one of their opening 13 matches. Same players and no window of opportunity but under Carlos Coberan they have won seven of their last eight games and are now just one point off the Play Offs.
Coincidence? I really don't think so. Bruce has had a good run but he is from a different era and if any club ever seriously thinks about hiring his services then they really do deserve all that's coming to them.
When Steve Bruce was sacked last October, Newcastle were second bottom of the PL and in serious danger of going down. Yes Eddie Howe spent a few bob but the improvement of those players already at the Club has been totally out of proportion to what their fans witnessed when Bruce was in charge. And they are now third in the PL.
Bruce then found employment at WBA but was sacked this October with them third bottom in the Championship and having won just one of their opening 13 matches. Same players and no window of opportunity but under Carlos Coberan they have won seven of their last eight games and are now just one point off the Play Offs.
Coincidence? I really don't think so. Bruce has had a good run but he is from a different era and if any club ever seriously thinks about hiring his services then they really do deserve all that's coming to them.
When Steve Bruce was sacked last October, Newcastle were second bottom of the PL and in serious danger of going down. Yes Eddie Howe spent a few bob but the improvement of those players already at the Club has been totally out of proportion to what their fans witnessed when Bruce was in charge. And they are now third in the PL.
Bruce then found employment at WBA but was sacked this October with them third bottom in the Championship and having won just one of their opening 13 matches. Same players and no window of opportunity but under Carlos Coberan they have won seven of their last eight games and are now just one point off the Play Offs.
Coincidence? I really don't think so. Bruce has had a good run but he is from a different era and if any club ever seriously thinks about hiring his services then they really do deserve all that's coming to them.
He'll be here by February
I was relieved on reading this thread that he had not yet been linked with us. Made me panic when I saw it.
Indeed the transformation in the likes of Joelinton and Almiron since he left has put a slightly different slant on the transfer business done under Mike Ashley.
Indeed the transformation in the likes of Joelinton and Almiron since he left has put a slightly different slant on the transfer business done under Mike Ashley.
The other player that doesn't hit the headlines because of the position he's been playing in but the Newcastle fans have been raving about is Sean Longstaff who has played in all of Newcastle's games this season.
It appears that Almiron and Longstaff both made their debuts in 2019 and were initial successes under Benitez but then Bruce took over with an ultra defensive "must not lose" modus operandi. Howe expects Almiron to help defensively but allows him to express himself at the other end of the pitch and his partnership with Trippier is just one of the reasons they are doing so well.
Indeed the transformation in the likes of Joelinton and Almiron since he left has put a slightly different slant on the transfer business done under Mike Ashley.
The other player that doesn't hit the headlines because of the position he's been playing in but the Newcastle fans have been raving about is Sean Longstaff who has played in all of Newcastle's games this season.
It appears that Almiron and Longstaff both made their debuts in 2019 and were initial successes under Benitez but then Bruce took over with an ultra defensive "must not lose" modus operandi. Howe expects Almiron to help defensively but allows him to express himself at the other end of the pitch and his partnership with Trippier is just one of the reasons they are doing so well.
To be fair when Bruce was there the back 4 was pretty much the one they had in the Championship. Signing Tripper and Burn made a massive, immediate, difference.
Indeed the transformation in the likes of Joelinton and Almiron since he left has put a slightly different slant on the transfer business done under Mike Ashley.
The other player that doesn't hit the headlines because of the position he's been playing in but the Newcastle fans have been raving about is Sean Longstaff who has played in all of Newcastle's games this season.
It appears that Almiron and Longstaff both made their debuts in 2019 and were initial successes under Benitez but then Bruce took over with an ultra defensive "must not lose" modus operandi. Howe expects Almiron to help defensively but allows him to express himself at the other end of the pitch and his partnership with Trippier is just one of the reasons they are doing so well.
To be fair when Bruce was there the back 4 was pretty much the one they had in the Championship. Signing Tripper and Burn made a massive, immediate, difference.
Absolutely it did but, even if Bruce had been given the money, would he have signed and got the best out of Trippier, Burn, Pope and Botman for a combined £67m? How many of them would walk into a Liverpool or City side and given how cheap they were, why didn't those clubs, or even United, go for them? They cost less in total than either of Van Dijk or Maguire and yet they've conceded just 5 goals in their last 13 matches and Newcastle have lost one game all season (2-1 to Liverpool). It's one thing to source those players, another to persuade them to sign and another altogether to get them to gel as unit immediately.
That is as much about creating a culture of belief in the system and process as it is about the players As I say, they were second bottom when Bruce left and I sincerely doubt that he would have taken this squad to 3rd in the PL even with those acquisitions. But, perhaps, the better comparison is WBA - 3rd bottom and one win in 13 matches when Bruce left but now one point off the Play Offs. With the same players.
When Steve Bruce was sacked last October, Newcastle were second bottom of the PL and in serious danger of going down. Yes Eddie Howe spent a few bob but the improvement of those players already at the Club has been totally out of proportion to what their fans witnessed when Bruce was in charge. And they are now third in the PL.
Bruce then found employment at WBA but was sacked this October with them third bottom in the Championship and having won just one of their opening 13 matches. Same players and no window of opportunity but under Carlos Coberan they have won seven of their last eight games and are now just one point off the Play Offs.
Coincidence? I really don't think so. Bruce has had a good run but he is from a different era and if any club ever seriously thinks about hiring his services then they really do deserve all that's coming to them.
I hear he’s being lined up for us, when Holden is sacked next week.
When Steve Bruce was sacked last October, Newcastle were second bottom of the PL and in serious danger of going down. Yes Eddie Howe spent a few bob but the improvement of those players already at the Club has been totally out of proportion to what their fans witnessed when Bruce was in charge. And they are now third in the PL.
Bruce then found employment at WBA but was sacked this October with them third bottom in the Championship and having won just one of their opening 13 matches. Same players and no window of opportunity but under Carlos Coberan they have won seven of their last eight games and are now just one point off the Play Offs.
Coincidence? I really don't think so. Bruce has had a good run but he is from a different era and if any club ever seriously thinks about hiring his services then they really do deserve all that's coming to them.
deer brucie could u arrange it for us to be in the premierleague relergation zone like you did to Newcstl?
Bruce is hired by clubs who need a manager who can manage on a shoestring. He wouldn't be my first choice now, but it's a bit unfair to compare him to a manager who was handed the best part of £100m to improve the team from day 1. Howe is a much better manager, of course, but I'd reckon Bruce has had more success than failures overall.
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In fact, this makes it even stranger really because I don't doubt for a second that Robinson could bore you senseless with a tactical analysis of every game he manages but would still fail to see the glaring flaws in his rigid system.
excusesInterviews ....Bruce then found employment at WBA but was sacked this October with them third bottom in the Championship and having won just one of their opening 13 matches. Same players and no window of opportunity but under Carlos Coberan they have won seven of their last eight games and are now just one point off the Play Offs.
Coincidence? I really don't think so. Bruce has had a good run but he is from a different era and if any club ever seriously thinks about hiring his services then they really do deserve all that's coming to them.
It appears that Almiron and Longstaff both made their debuts in 2019 and were initial successes under Benitez but then Bruce took over with an ultra defensive "must not lose" modus operandi. Howe expects Almiron to help defensively but allows him to express himself at the other end of the pitch and his partnership with Trippier is just one of the reasons they are doing so well.
That is as much about creating a culture of belief in the system and process as it is about the players As I say, they were second bottom when Bruce left and I sincerely doubt that he would have taken this squad to 3rd in the PL even with those acquisitions. But, perhaps, the better comparison is WBA - 3rd bottom and one win in 13 matches when Bruce left but now one point off the Play Offs. With the same players.
Don’t shoot the messenger;)