Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[paul_e]

He's not played the style he wants to all season as we don't have the balance for 442. Green and Adomah are the only genuine wingers we've got.

There was also different pressures and objecrives; at the start he had the stop the rot and make us hard to beat. It then became necessary to try and rectify some glaring holes and although we bought well, we did far too much in January and that knocked the wind from the grinding progress we'd made. Post Burton, the season has gone and a Gabby inspired 30 minutes, nothing much has happened of positive note since.

I believe he deserves and needs the pre-season to try and find a means of playing that isn't reactive to the circumstances we find ourselves in.

I'd like to see a pre-season that isn't a hastily cobbled together plan, but something we do with care. Goalkeeper, centre half, left winger and so on. Additions and some pruning of the chaff.

Automatic promotion has to be the aim.

Then why did he buy 3 central midfielders and no wingers in January, it's not like he wasn't backed to the hilt.  I also think you're being far too soft on him for the January window, yes we did a lot of business and yes that may have been disruptive but it had started 2-3 weeks before the window opened so you can't pin all of those results on the disruption.  Finally the post Burton stuff is far more worrying than you make our.  This was our chance to start our pre-season work early and instead we've done the same things he's been moaning about for months.  His post-match comments are as repetitive as Lamberts, it's always not good enough but nothing changes.

I agree that automatic promotion is the aim, I just don't see anything from the last 6-7 months to suggest Bruce has any idea how to deliver that.

[john e]

I can't help but think that if we give Bruce another chance he'll be sacked by Xmas following another disappointing run of results, and that'll be another season wasted.

That's it in a nutshell for me.
Would we be crazy to sack him at this point or crazy to keep him given the awful performances week after week? I honestly don't know the right answer. All we can do is hope for the best and pray that the good Dr don't lose interest. Uncertain and worrying times.

We've still been winning games though haven't we? Is it something like 7 wins from the last 12?

It's safe to say if we start next season with 21 points from our first 36 we're not going to be fourth from bottom in this league.

I'd imagine the target pre season would be top 2 so yes if say coming up to xmas we're a good 10 points off that it wouldn't shock me if Xia made a change to try to lift us for the second stage of the season to see if we can go on a run.

I just refuse to believe things will be as poor as this season has been. It's staggering how far off the pace we've been for the vast majority. This really is a rubbish division quality wise and we've done a good job of blending in.

of course we've won some games, we are the biggest team in the championship who've spent the most money,
 even teams going down have won games running into double figures.

the trick is to win enough games in this rubbish league to get into the top two or if your not that good get into the top 6,
 as it happens we are no where near either, and the managment team that has served up this shitfest of a season is exactly the same one people are hoping to do it all again with next season

[Monty]

I think The Edge has put it really well there. We have no choice but to do something crazy, or stupid, or undeserved. Bruce both deserves more time and hasn't earned it. We would be stupid to keep sacking managers and keep putting up with mediocrity. We'd be crazy to think the manager can make all the difference and to blindly keep faith with one who isn't cutting it.

Basically - we're fucked, aren't we.

[cdbearsfan]

I think that's a bit melodramatic, tbh. Reading, Huddersfield and Fulham finished 17th, 19th and 20th last season and are all in the playoffs this season.

It's far from beyond the realms of possibility that we could improve from mid-table to promotion contenders, especially given our financial advantage over our rivals, if we were run competently.

[Monty]

But dammit CD, melodrama's all I've got left. Don't come round here with your sense and your reason and take it away from me.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Big difference is, Reading, Huddersfield and Fulham all have bloody good managers. We, on the other hand, have Steve Bruce.

[Clampy]

Big difference is, Reading, Huddersfield and Fulham all have bloody good managers. We, on the other hand, have Steve Bruce.

But if we had any of those 3 managers and he finished mid-table in his first season, people would want him out. Hughton has been at Brighton since 2014 and he's only just got them up. They gave him time.

[saunders_heroes]

I think that's a bit melodramatic, tbh. Reading, Huddersfield and Fulham finished 17th, 19th and 20th last season and are all in the playoffs this season.

It's far from beyond the realms of possibility that we could improve from mid-table to promotion contenders, especially given our financial advantage over our rivals, if we were run competently.

Spot on. Similar to the argument that Bruce is finished, when he was promoted just 12 months ago. Chris Hughton's team was promoted this season but not last.
I see us improving in the summer and an all out assault on automatic promotion next season. We will go up next year, I'm convinced.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Big difference is, Reading, Huddersfield and Fulham all have bloody good managers. We, on the other hand, have Steve Bruce.

But if we had any of those 3 managers and he finished mid-table in his first season, people would want him out. Hughton has been at Brighton since 2014 and he's only just got them up. They gave him time.

What are you suggesting, we give Bruce a transfer budget of £5m and reduce our capacity to 30k? In their whole history Brighton have been in the PL/Old First Division for a total of three seasons. I would hope you'd see us as slightly more ambitious.

With any of those 3 managers I'd expect to see at least a tiny hint of what they are trying to achieve. With Bruce, nice chap that he is, all I see is him trying to bore us to death.

[saunders_heroes]

Big difference is, Reading, Huddersfield and Fulham all have bloody good managers. We, on the other hand, have Steve Bruce.

But if we had any of those 3 managers and he finished mid-table in his first season, people would want him out. Hughton has been at Brighton since 2014 and he's only just got them up. They gave him time.

What are you suggesting, we give Bruce a transfer budget of £5m and reduce our capacity to 30k? In their whole history Brighton have been in the PL/Old First Division for a total of three seasons. I would hope you'd see us as slightly more ambitious.

But look at the state of the club last summer after we were relegated, we were rotten to the core. You ain't gonna turn that around overnight.

[old man villa fan]

I can't help but think that if we give Bruce another chance he'll be sacked by Xmas following another disappointing run of results, and that'll be another season wasted.

Or we could replace him, and then when his successor is only mid table at Christmas we sack him too. Over the last few years this board has spent much of the time calling for managers to be sacked. They have all been duly dispatched and their replacements have proceeded to do an even worse job. Yet we retain an almost naive faith that all we need to do is keep rolling the dice.

Other than RDM, the last manager we appointed preseason was Lambert.  Even RDM's appointment had the issues of whether Xia was going to be allowed to be the new owner and dealing with the massive fall out of relegation.  Appointing during the season leaves you very few options, as we have found to our expense.  If we are going to make a change, it has to be now or we stick.  We cannot sail on hopefully and see how it goes.  At the end of each season, positions have to be reassessed and the manager almost has to be re-interviewed for his position.  The questions have to be (i) what are you going to do this season to get us promotion and (ii) what are you going to do this season and next preseason to ensure we stay in the PL.  If Bruce stays, he has to change as more of the same will not work.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Big difference is, Reading, Huddersfield and Fulham all have bloody good managers. We, on the other hand, have Steve Bruce.

But if we had any of those 3 managers and he finished mid-table in his first season, people would want him out. Hughton has been at Brighton since 2014 and he's only just got them up. They gave him time.

What are you suggesting, we give Bruce a transfer budget of £5m and reduce our capacity to 30k? In their whole history Brighton have been in the PL/Old First Division for a total of three seasons. I would hope you'd see us as slightly more ambitious.

But look at the state of the club last summer after we were relegated, we were rotten to the core. You ain't gonna turn that around overnight.

Just a tiny, weeny, atom sized hint that he knows what he's doing and I'd give him next season. Sadly, there's nothing there except the usual dross. If you check out the Hull forums from last summer, despite getting them promoted, the majority were glad to see him gone. Under performing with the squad he had, money wasted, crazy team selections and playing players out of position. Sound familiar?

[old man villa fan]

Big difference is, Reading, Huddersfield and Fulham all have bloody good managers. We, on the other hand, have Steve Bruce.

But if we had any of those 3 managers and he finished mid-table in his first season, people would want him out. Hughton has been at Brighton since 2014 and he's only just got them up. They gave him time.

What are you suggesting, we give Bruce a transfer budget of £5m and reduce our capacity to 30k? In their whole history Brighton have been in the PL/Old First Division for a total of three seasons. I would hope you'd see us as slightly more ambitious.

But look at the state of the club last summer after we were relegated, we were rotten to the core. You ain't gonna turn that around overnight.

RDM took the brunt of that though.  Comparatively, Bruce has had an easy ride.

[cdbearsfan]

But dammit CD, melodrama's all I've got left. Don't come round here with your sense and your reason and take it away from me.

You know me, I save all my sense and reason for the politics threads. 😉

[SoccerHQ]

Going back to the argument that Bruce may have peaked or lost his ability. I think there's some truth in that although I believe it is down to the fact that the Championship has moved on and Bruce hasnt moved with it. Specifically, I've noticed that the clubs that have faired well and against who we have struggled, play with tempo.

Bruce's static, passive and defensive style will never get us even into the top ten.

He must change or go.

How do you know it wouldn't get top 10, there were 36 points he couldn't get since he errr wasn't in charge. We've accumulate 50 points under him, not great but not hopeless either (you only have to look across the city at a manager who did have a hopeless record).

The championship hasn't moved on that much given he was managing in this league 12 months ago. You could make that point about Moyes who last managed at this level in 2001 for example so interesting how he adapts back to it next season.