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Author Topic: Bruce Sacked at last (now official)  (Read 2113385 times)

Offline Clampy

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5055 on: August 26, 2017, 04:26:30 PM »
I repeated it because it's true. The fans at the games have generally been supportive and 'in my opinion' that's telling.

Online PaulWinch again

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5056 on: August 26, 2017, 04:26:32 PM »
Thus far our only win is against a side who are getting hammered by Millwall, Bruce needs to improve us fast.

Offline Rudy Can't Fail

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5057 on: August 26, 2017, 04:28:16 PM »

Offline itbrvilla

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5058 on: August 26, 2017, 04:32:58 PM »
Currently in 17th

18th.
Thank fuck for Reading scoring. I shall sleep easy tonight!

Offline old man villa fan

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5059 on: August 26, 2017, 04:35:21 PM »
Currently in 17th

18th.

and 5 points off the play-offs, the holy grail (was top 2 but expectations dumbed down), yay!

Offline Matt Collins

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5060 on: August 26, 2017, 05:05:24 PM »
Three points off the play offs

Offline old man villa fan

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5061 on: August 26, 2017, 05:14:49 PM »
Three points off the play offs

Doh!  Even better.

Offline Villa75

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5062 on: August 26, 2017, 05:19:59 PM »
12 places off the play-offs.

Offline The Edge

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5063 on: August 26, 2017, 05:21:54 PM »
We have the ground, we have the support, and we have the squad.  By my reckoning we have two players for each position, plus a very capable youth/reserve team:

                                  Johnstone/Steer

Hutton/de Laet  Terry/Richards  Chester/Samba  Taylor/Bjarnson

                                 Whelan/Jedinak

              Hourihane/Lansbury      Onomah/Grealish

Elmo/Adomah              Gabby/Hogan        Kodjia/Snodgrass


Reserve/Youth:

                                       Bunn

                 Bree        Suliman       ?             Clark

                          Lyden        Doyle-Hayes

                                     O'Hare

                         ?       Davis   Green

Departure Lounge:

Gardner
McCormack
Elphick

Without the bomb squadders that's 33 players, plus whoever else I might have forgotten.

Some obvious points:

1 Despite the size of the squad we are light at left back.  Clark is right footed and Bjarnason isn't really a full back.
2 Despite the size of the squad we are light at centre back.  I've included Richards but he should arguably be alongside the other bomb squadders in the Departure Lounge.  And Samba is a risk - possibly too old, and too slow.
3 Some of the youth/reserves are already making their mark in the first team (Bree, Davis and Green) but face an uphill task in getting regular game time given the numbers in the first team squad ahead of them.

So we have the strength in depth.  I can't believe there are many team elsewhere in the Championship who come close.  What I'm less sure about is whether or not we have the manager who can pick a team and style of play with logic and consistency to make the most of the resources now at his disposal.  He got lucky v Norwich. His hand was forced by knocks to Hogan and Gabby, and found himself with picking a 433 team that clicked, with Davis providing an object lesson in holding the ball up and Hourihane the principal beneficiary. He got it right v Wigan. He rested players picked v Norwich and was rewarded with some excellent performances from the youth team replacements. So what does he do v Bristol? He tinkers completely unnecessarily, gives off all the wrong signals in changing shape to 532, has to change shape mid-game when 532 clearly doesn't work, and has to settle for a point when he really not only needed three but also needed a strong confident assertive performance against a team that will finish in the bottom half of the table. I don't get the caution. It's time to assert ourselves in this league, and Bristol away was an opportunity spurned. (And yes we didn't lose, and yes it's an improvement on Cardiff and Reading, but that's setting the bar too low). Dr Tony is clearly giving SB the benefit of the doubt, and the fixtures on the horizon in September are clearly winnable.  We should be comfortably in the upper echelons of this league by the end of September.  If not, it will be without doubt time for another change at the top...

 



     
Good points well made.

Offline Boz

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5064 on: August 26, 2017, 05:22:25 PM »
Thus far our only win is against a side who are getting hammered by Millwall, Bruce needs to improve us fast.

I think it's beyond his capabilities. His remark about the "vultures gathering" after last night's game seems indicative to me of feeling sorry for himself because of the justified criticism he's getting from fans.

Bringing some of the youngsters into the team is the right move but counteracted by the geriatrics he's brought in defence. If Bristol had been able to finish better in the first 15 minutes when they gave us the run around, we'd have been chasing the game for the rest of the match.

He has to go before we are too far behind the top 6.


Offline olaftab

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5065 on: August 26, 2017, 05:22:37 PM »
Quote from Bruce ....

"The vultures gathered sooner than I expected this season, which is perhaps a sign of the times, but tonight we have sent our fans home happy."
WTF😡

Offline Boz

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5066 on: August 26, 2017, 05:23:34 PM »
Three points off the play offs

But much closer to the relegation places.

Offline olaftab

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5067 on: August 26, 2017, 05:28:43 PM »
I thought I saw how Norwich got their second when Terry's immobility stopped him from intervening  to cut out the cross but having read here that Chester was to be blamed for that goal I checked again and yes you can clearly see Chester pouring quick cement on Terry's feet as their pass came in. Poor John the Legend had no chance.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2017, 05:42:47 PM by olaftab »

Online Toronto Villa

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5068 on: August 26, 2017, 05:44:43 PM »
Quote from Bruce ....

"The vultures gathered sooner than I expected this season, which is perhaps a sign of the times, but tonight we have sent our fans home happy."
WTF😡

Cloud. Cuckoo. Land

Offline mr underhill

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Re: Bruce out?
« Reply #5069 on: August 26, 2017, 05:48:11 PM »
i'm already developing a hatred of the league table. How the fuck must Dr T be feeling?

 


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