Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[tomd2103]

I think he has got a couple of decisions to make before the weekend as I think it just needs freshening up a bit in a couple of areas.  I think in particular Hourihane needs to come out for a bit with maybe Onomah coming in to give a bit of extra energy. 

Problem is Onomah is a liability - too many giveaway passes and silly fouls conceded. In my opinion.

I think he would be OK in the more advanced midfield role, but there are other options.  I just think Hourihane needs to come out for a couple of games as he is looking a bit jaded. 

[Villafirst]

I think I'd replace Elmohamady with Tuanzebe - extra pace and strength. Could be useful in nullifying Jota. A gamble, but maybe worth it?

Not a chance. Elmohamady has looked solid apart from Saturday's guff. 

His distribution against Sheff Utd was awful although in his defence he did contribute towards the winner.

Trouble is, Elmohamady got skinned several times by 35 year old Lloyd Dyer? Tuanzebe is an upgrade on Elmohamady.

[itbrvilla]

I think I'd replace Elmohamady with Tuanzebe - extra pace and strength. Could be useful in nullifying Jota. A gamble, but maybe worth it?

Not a chance. Elmohamady has looked solid apart from Saturday's guff. 

His distribution against Sheff Utd was awful although in his defence he did contribute towards the winner.

Trouble is, Elmohamady got skinned several times by 35 year old Lloyd Dyer? Tuanzebe is an upgrade on Elmohamady.

His cross and excellent finish aside, I thought Elmo was mostly shit on Saturday, his lack of pace was a concern.

[andyh]

Of course it is far, far too early to make any judgement on how Tuanzebe will turn out, but I felt that in the short time he was on the pitch, playing right back, he got sucked into the middle (centre half position) a couple of times and left a lot a space for them down their left.

I’m sure he’ll be more disciplined when he has settled in.

[chrisw1]

It looks like some fatigue has set in.
He is picking the same players week in week out now.
The challenge is how to keep the team fresh without losing momentum.
A few Adomah. Hourihane Barney looked leggy today.

Week in week out.....remind me of all the points we have lost ? I'm being obtuse I know, but it's like reading comments from an inverse Paul Lambert

I don't see the problem with sticking with a winning team either. It  makes perfect sense to me.

I don't agree with Chicago often, but can see where he is coming from here.  Against Sheffield I think both Hourihane & Adomah struggled to impose themselves on the game.  Hourihane was quiet again against Burton.  I can see some logic in freshening it up, albeit entirely understand the reluctance to change a winning team.  At the very least we need a more creative bench and I would like to see Green, Grabban  & O'hare come into the equation, although with Bruce's reluctance to play O'hare so far this season that looks unlikely.

[AsTallAsLions]

The problem with not changing the team when you can afford to is that forced changes become inevitable. There's no point in breaking Adomah or Hourihane at this stage of the season when there are other options available, or waiting until we lose to freshen things up. That's the sign of a poor manager for me - sure anybody can do that. And if Bruce is looking at recent performances and feeling that the likes of Conor and Albert are undroppable, I just don't know what to say to that.

[john e]

apart from Grealish you can put the rest of our midfielders like balls into a cloth bag pick them out and play whatever comes out it will make no difference they are all about the same standard

[not3bad]

The problem with not changing the team when you can afford to is that forced changes become inevitable. There's no point in breaking Adomah or Hourihane at this stage of the season when there are other options available, or waiting until we lose to freshen things up. That's the sign of a poor manager for me - sure anybody can do that. And if Bruce is looking at recent performances and feeling that the likes of Conor and Albert are undroppable, I just don't know what to say to that.

Well despite the criticism of Albert he had made one and scored one before he went off on Saturday.

[paul_e]

I don't mind him starting the same 11, lets not forget that team was 2-0 up after a little over an hour and, despite not looking their best, was fairly comfortable.  The issue is that the lack of even reasonable replacements on the bench means we ended up looking unbalanced in attack and everything gets a bit messy.  We're effectively playing with 5 defensive roles and 5 attacking roles but we have a bench with the only attacking players being Davies and Onomah (who should be counted as a defensive midfielder really).  Given Tuanzebe covers 2-3 positions and Barny could do  a job at left back in an emergency I'd probably go with: Bunn, Tuanzebe, Jedinak, Onomah, Green, Grabban and one from o'hare/RHM/davies.

[chrisw1]

I don't mind him starting the same 11, lets not forget that team was 2-0 up after a little over an hour and, despite not looking their best, was fairly comfortable.  The issue is that the lack of even reasonable replacements on the bench means we ended up looking unbalanced in attack and everything gets a bit messy.  We're effectively playing with 5 defensive roles and 5 attacking roles but we have a bench with the only attacking players being Davies and Onomah (who should be counted as a defensive midfielder really).  Given Tuanzebe covers 2-3 positions and Barny could do  a job at left back in an emergency I'd probably go with: Bunn, Tuanzebe, Jedinak, Onomah, Green, Grabban and one from o'hare/RHM/davies.

Absolutely agree regarding the bench.  It's most peculiar.

[Risso]

I think Bruce just needs to man up a little bit, and decide who out of Jedinak and Whelan gets dropped from the squad for another attacking player, like Green.  There is absolutely no point in having Jedinak, Whelan and Tuanzebe all on the bench.  If we find ourselves needing to score to change a game, then none of the current sub options really offer much from an attacking sense.

[Clampy]

Agree about the bench. If Adomah has to come off for any reason, there's no-one to replace him unless he puts Grealish out wide which would be a waste. The one to drop out would be Whelan.

[Risso]

Agree about the bench. If Adomah has to come off for any reason, there's no-one to replace him unless he puts Grealish out wide which would be a waste. The one to drop out would be Whelan.

Same here.  It's nice to have such strength in depth I suppose.  When Grabban is fit, he's really going to have a job keeping everybody happy.

[tomd2103]

I think Bruce just needs to man up a little bit, and decide who out of Jedinak and Whelan gets dropped from the squad for another attacking player, like Green.  There is absolutely no point in having Jedinak, Whelan and Tuanzebe all on the bench.  If we find ourselves needing to score to change a game, then none of the current sub options really offer much from an attacking sense.

Agree.  The way we are currently set up, I think we need the following options off the bench:

Sub keeper - Bunn
2 defenders (either a centre back with a full-back who can cover both sides or a centre back who can also cover one of the full-back spots with another natural full-back) - Tuanzebe and Taylor
Defensive midfielder (importannt role in how we currently play ) - Jedinak / Whelan
Attacking midfielder (to come on for either Grealish or Hourihane) - Onomah / Lansbury
Winger (need some pace in the final stages and putting Onomah out there isn't working) - Green
Striker (to replace or partner Hogan in the final stages) - Grabban / Davis

[MoetVillan]

I think Bruce just needs to man up a little bit, and decide who out of Jedinak and Whelan gets dropped from the squad for another attacking player, like Green.  There is absolutely no point in having Jedinak, Whelan and Tuanzebe all on the bench.  If we find ourselves needing to score to change a game, then none of the current sub options really offer much from an attacking sense.

Spot on in my opinion