Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[SoccerHQ]

So the odds must be decent that Bruce won't finish the season as manager. We can't afford to bin him now but we'll be able to in a few months if he's failing. And we'll spend X millions in fees and wages on Bruce players despite the odds being high that he won't be the manager within a year. Not the greatest master plan i've ever seen.

Doubt he'll last until new year personally. If you look at last year when we had much stronger squad we had a poor start (easier fixtures to start with this season) and then a poor run in December so similar and think he'll be gone.

It's a team managed by Steve  Bruce so inevitable at some point this season we'll go 5-6 games without a win.

Good opportunity for the next manager to come in and be a hero if we're just outside the play offs with half a season to go.

[sickbeggar]

Keeping a manager on the basis its cheaper than sacking him is total mentalism. Say for arguement's sake, Bruce has got us to 6th in december. Then we lose a key player and he wants to bring in a loan player. Do we want a board who don't really fancy him deciding whether he get's that player? I don't. Back him or sack him.

Who says they don't fancy him? He just has very clear objectives and will get hoofed out if he doesn't achieve them.

what are these objectives though? the same as last season on a shoestring? If that's the case then i suggest they don't fancy him.

We can't spend a bucket load of cash even if they wanted to so I don't understand how having less money to spend must mean they don't rate the manager.

you didn't answer the question. seeing we've lost 5-6 key players and haven't got a bucket-load of cash, where do they envisage him finishing. play-off's? mid-table? outside the relegation zone?

[SoccerHQ]

Keep us competitive in the top half would be my guess.

Bottom half and he's out.

Boro were about 9th when they sacked Monk and still finished comfortably in the play offs.

[sickbeggar]

Keep us competitive in the top half would be my guess.

Bottom half and he's out.

Boro were about 9th when they sacked Monk and still finished comfortably in the play offs.

well yeah, so a severely weakened squad with probably 2 or 3 key players to leave in the future. they might as well sack him now.

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

So the odds must be decent that Bruce won't finish the season as manager. We can't afford to bin him now but we'll be able to in a few months if he's failing. And we'll spend X millions in fees and wages on Bruce players despite the odds being high that he won't be the manager within a year. Not the greatest master plan i've ever seen.

*ding*

Not sure dinging is appropriate.  We sack Bruce and we have just a matter of days to find a replacement who is good enough and available/willing to come and who we trust with a transfer kitty. Right now I reckon that pool is a very small and shallow one.  That's the sort of pool we plucked Bruce from.  Do that and there's a fair chance we'll be saying all this again next year.

It ain't ideal but if it buys us a bit of time to attract a proper manager then sticking with Bruce - barrel-shaped, responsibility-shirking tactics-vacuum that he is - for the short-term IS part of the long-term plan.

*dong*

[paul_e]

The next manager has got to be someone who can build a club, not just pick a team. If we have to tolerate a few more months of Bruceball while the new owners scout and land exactly the right man then I can live with that.

I want to see some sane, long-term planning, rather than rushed decisions. I want to see that our new owners are different. Unless the right man is available right now I see no value at all in binning off Bruce for the sake of it. That's the sort of decision-making that leads to appointing someone like, well, Bruce.  We need him to mind the shop while we look for a real football manager.

And I say all that as someone who'd have sacked the excuse-making oaf for finishing 13th.

I'd rather we had got rid of the useless twat before we left Wembley but, given the circumstances, I don't think we've really got much choice but to stick with him for now.  However there's a whole bunch of restrictions I'd put in place, no signings over 27, no loans without a purchase option, no signings in positions where we already have senior options.

I don't think he'll get us promoted and I think the football will be disappointing in the main until he goes but, by insisting that he provided stability by keeping the job title whilst he was on holiday we've backed ourselves into a position with no good options.  First job is a CEO, 2nd job is a Technical director/director of football/whatever you want to call it. I'd hope w can fill both of those roles very quickly but even then we're unlikely to have them both with us before the season starts but once they arrive their priority is to lean heavily on Bruce and make him use our squad better and start giving the youngsters a proper 'blooding' rather than 10 minutes followed by weeks in limbo before another few minutes (basically what he did to O'hare last season).

Like Chelts I suspect he'll be gone by Christmas but the indecision caused by the finances earlier in the summer has robbedus of the opportunity to fuck him off when he deserves it.

[PeterWithesShin]

So the odds must be decent that Bruce won't finish the season as manager. We can't afford to bin him now but we'll be able to in a few months if he's failing. And we'll spend X millions in fees and wages on Bruce players despite the odds being high that he won't be the manager within a year. Not the greatest master plan i've ever seen.

For now we need to use our disposable income on acquiring players to give us a chance of promotion. If it goes to shit, we change, we take stock with the new guy who will have a lesser budget but time to mould it for promotion in 18 months time. It doesn't seem that daft to me.

So if they are more than happy to have someone come in at Christmas and build something sustainable with the aim being promotion in 2020, why let Bruce potentially waste millions now instead of bringing in the new manager and giving him 2 full seasons. End result is the same without X millions potentially wasted on players signed by what sounds to be a dead man walking.

[PeterWithesShin]

So the odds must be decent that Bruce won't finish the season as manager. We can't afford to bin him now but we'll be able to in a few months if he's failing. And we'll spend X millions in fees and wages on Bruce players despite the odds being high that he won't be the manager within a year. Not the greatest master plan i've ever seen.

*ding*

Not sure dinging is appropriate.  We sack Bruce and we have just a matter of days to find a replacement who is good enough and available/willing to come and who we trust with a transfer kitty. Right now I reckon that pool is a very small and shallow one.  That's the sort of pool we plucked Bruce from.  Do that and there's a fair chance we'll be saying all this again next year.

It ain't ideal but if it buys us a bit of time to attract a proper manager then sticking with Bruce - barrel-shaped, responsibility-shirking tactics-vacuum that he is - for the short-term IS part of the long-term plan.

*dong*

It's probably not going to be a bigger pool halfway through the season.

[Brassneck]

If (and it's a big if) there is a plan to change the manager then the new man will already be in place and most likely be preparing to start work on Monday.

Give these people a bit of credit - They haven't become multi-billionaires by having a thought process that runs at the speed of a snail.  They won't have bought the club and then suddenly thought "Oh we must get a new manager, where shall we look?"

It seems that nobody has faith in Bruce and all suspect that he'll be gone by Christmas.  In that case, why wait? Why gamble another season on Bruce getting us thereabouts and then entering the play off lottery?  Why not fast track the whole process and start whatever is planned for December in July?

[paul_e]

So the odds must be decent that Bruce won't finish the season as manager. We can't afford to bin him now but we'll be able to in a few months if he's failing. And we'll spend X millions in fees and wages on Bruce players despite the odds being high that he won't be the manager within a year. Not the greatest master plan i've ever seen.

For now we need to use our disposable income on acquiring players to give us a chance of promotion. If it goes to shit, we change, we take stock with the new guy who will have a lesser budget but time to mould it for promotion in 18 months time. It doesn't seem that daft to me.

So if they are more than happy to have someone come in at Christmas and build something sustainable with the aim being promotion in 2020, why let Bruce potentially waste millions now instead of bringing in the new manager and giving him 2 full seasons. End result is the same without X millions potentially wasted on players signed by what sounds to be a dead man walking.

The answer for me is that the next manager we appoint is, in my opinion, the most important decision the club will have made for years, get it right and we're back in the premier league with all the benefits that come from it and the backing to build a proper sustainable model to take the club forward.  Get it wrong and we're QPR.  We need to sign a few players, Bruce's shitty transfer dealings have left us ridiculous short in some positions, so if the choice is between sacking Bruce and getting a new manager to go with the squad we have (minus a couple of key players) or Bruce picking a couple of replacements for those key players I think we're stuck with going down the 'turd that won't flush' route and sticking with him.

If I'm honest the main reason I'm onside with keeping him for a few months is that Henry as a replacement sets all kinds of alarm bells ringing.

[Toronto Villa]

This Thierry Henry story isn’t going away. Some reports saying he will be announced as early as today. I have no idea how good or bad this is especially on the back of Lampard going to Derby. It would be a gamble for sure but if he brought in the right support staff then maybe it could work.

[Deano's Mullet]

No thanks to Henry

[cheltenhamlion]

So the odds must be decent that Bruce won't finish the season as manager. We can't afford to bin him now but we'll be able to in a few months if he's failing. And we'll spend X millions in fees and wages on Bruce players despite the odds being high that he won't be the manager within a year. Not the greatest master plan i've ever seen.

For now we need to use our disposable income on acquiring players to give us a chance of promotion. If it goes to shit, we change, we take stock with the new guy who will have a lesser budget but time to mould it for promotion in 18 months time. It doesn't seem that daft to me.

So if they are more than happy to have someone come in at Christmas and build something sustainable with the aim being promotion in 2020, why let Bruce potentially waste millions now instead of bringing in the new manager and giving him 2 full seasons. End result is the same without X millions potentially wasted on players signed by what sounds to be a dead man walking.

Bruce won't be wasting lots of money. We haven't got it to waste. The transfer window shuts in a couple of weeks and we got new overlords yesterday. Whether we have an inkling on how it will play out it doesn't make sticking rather than twisting for now a stupid idea.

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

So the odds must be decent that Bruce won't finish the season as manager. We can't afford to bin him now but we'll be able to in a few months if he's failing. And we'll spend X millions in fees and wages on Bruce players despite the odds being high that he won't be the manager within a year. Not the greatest master plan i've ever seen.

*ding*

Not sure dinging is appropriate.  We sack Bruce and we have just a matter of days to find a replacement who is good enough and available/willing to come and who we trust with a transfer kitty. Right now I reckon that pool is a very small and shallow one.  That's the sort of pool we plucked Bruce from.  Do that and there's a fair chance we'll be saying all this again next year.

It ain't ideal but if it buys us a bit of time to attract a proper manager then sticking with Bruce - barrel-shaped, responsibility-shirking tactics-vacuum that he is - for the short-term IS part of the long-term plan.

*dong*

It's probably not going to be a bigger pool halfway through the season.

I agree. In which case we might even have to muddle through until next summer.  If that's how long it takes to find the manager who can take us forward and bring us long-term success and stability then maybe that's just what we have to do. In the meantime I'll just have to use copious amounts of alcohol to get through our matches.

[cheltenhamlion]

This Thierry Henry story isn’t going away. Some reports saying he will be announced as early as today. I have no idea how good or bad this is especially on the back of Lampard going to Derby. It would be a gamble for sure but if he brought in the right support staff then maybe it could work.

It is bollocks.