We're in a bit of a difficult situation Paul. To sack Bruce now would be harsh, but a run of bad results over the kind of timeframe when serious questions would start being asked would probably see us out of promotion contention anyway. I honestly think we are now stuck with him until the point (it might not come) when we have such a poor run that promotion begins to look unlikely. I can't see him going anywhere if we are in touching distance of the play offs or better.
Anyone still think we've got the best squad in the division by a country mile?
My impressions from the game 1)Bruce wanted to keep a winning team , I understand that however it was clear early on we were struggling and again he sat on his hands and did nothing . 2 up top is no good when the opposition have 3 cbs marking them leaving one spare and a midfielder who are miles away from supporting the top 2 2)2 up front looks attacking on paper but if those 2 attackers are not getting on the ball it quickly becomes a defensive formation where they are just there to try and hold up long balls whilst the rest of the team sit deep3)Wingers on opposites sides ..I know Snoddgrass wants to play on the right but when you have 2 strikers one of which is in the team as a target man you really need to have wingers who get to the byline and cross first time ..with Taylor out we have 3 of the 4 wide players all playing on the ''wrong'' side so all of them had to cut inside it slows the game down and allows the opposition to get back4) CM against the better teams a CM of Whelan and Houriane are going to be exposed with their lack of pace.Both play tidy pass's but go no where with the ball , Wolves on the other hand were spraying pass's , spreading the play and finding gaps .For me Whelan like Jedinek is a holding MF with 2 infront of him.Houriane I want to see further foward ready to get the ball and take shots in dangerous areas no playing sideways pass's in his own half5)Kodjia and Davis where both poor and should of been subbed early or moved around , I would have dropped Kodjia out to the left side , moved Adomah right wing and brough Snodgrass more central to pack midfield to try and get some on the ballOverall Wolves were pretty good and have got some very decent players and I can see them winning the league but we played into their hands as once again Bruce was left clueless on how to adapt.
Quote from: OCD on October 15, 2017, 10:40:13 PMBruce got his tactics wrong yesterday. We couldn't afford to play a right-sided midfielder at right back against a team with a dangerous front 3, just as we couldn't afford to only deploy a midfield 2 against their 3. I would rather we had played De Laet at right back, even if there was a risk that he wouldn't last the 90 and played Onomah instead of Kodjia. One of Bruce's biggest failings must be that despite re-shaping the whole squad, he's only comfortable playing the same 11 each week. He should be able to make tactical changes and rotational changes to keep everyone fresh but doesn't look like he can. We were crap in the first match after the last international break and Bruce held his hands up and said he should have freshened things up yet did exactly the same thing again. Einstein's definition of insanity is to repeat the same actions and expect different results. For the 2nd paragraph I suspect that's because his approach is to tinker about until something works and then flog it to death until it doesn't. His signings don't suggest a plan, his tactics don't suggest a plan, it's all down to if you throw enough quality on the pitch they'll work it out for themselves. I might be wrong but I just don't see how the signings he's made fit into any sort of master plan to turn us into something else, it was all about getting as many options as he could handle and then seeing what happens.
Bruce got his tactics wrong yesterday. We couldn't afford to play a right-sided midfielder at right back against a team with a dangerous front 3, just as we couldn't afford to only deploy a midfield 2 against their 3. I would rather we had played De Laet at right back, even if there was a risk that he wouldn't last the 90 and played Onomah instead of Kodjia. One of Bruce's biggest failings must be that despite re-shaping the whole squad, he's only comfortable playing the same 11 each week. He should be able to make tactical changes and rotational changes to keep everyone fresh but doesn't look like he can. We were crap in the first match after the last international break and Bruce held his hands up and said he should have freshened things up yet did exactly the same thing again. Einstein's definition of insanity is to repeat the same actions and expect different results.
Disappointed but not that surprised that we lost. I thought we might make a game of it and expected a point. The team needs to provide a response against Fulham. We were comprehensively outclassed by Wolves from most of the reports and comments that I’ve read. Have to do better against Fulham. Beat them and a point at least against the filth, with two decent performances and I’ll be reasonably happy. Four points from the next two matches should keep us on track. The only reason I’m saying I’d be happy with a point against the dogshitters is that we’ve often failed to beat them even when there was a big gulf in class in our favour.
Hourihane's booking in the first half really annoyed me. It was a moment that seemed to epitomise everything that has frustrated me about the whole club over the last few years. The slightest hint of trouble and he resorted to the easiest, witless solution, to face the consequences immediately afterwards. No guile or energy to rectify the situation, just trip him up off the ball. Done. Oh, now I'm booked and we have to defend a free kick.It also made me realise that I don't really like many of our players. It's was cynical and snide, much like Lansbury when he got sent off. Kodjia up front was sulky, too easy to go to ground and generally not interested. Then there's Lansbury's mysterious sense of self worth. Taylor was missing for his second straight red tackle since he joined us, the other breaking a poor blokes leg. Then you've got Richards and Gabby. John Terry is our captain. The manager setting out to grind out victories (or just a draw if they're in the top half) with mind numbing football, and then snipping at any fan that dares criticise him. Two of our board members have been fined by the FA for comments on social media. We're by far the biggest club in the league, and have most expensively assembled squad, but haven't yet made it into the playoff spots in the 6 months* we've been down here.I'll be there on Saturday because I love this club, but Christ we're difficult to like at the moment.*Stat provided by Steve Bruce
Quote from: paul_e on October 16, 2017, 12:12:11 AMQuote from: OCD on October 15, 2017, 10:40:13 PMBruce got his tactics wrong yesterday. We couldn't afford to play a right-sided midfielder at right back against a team with a dangerous front 3, just as we couldn't afford to only deploy a midfield 2 against their 3. I would rather we had played De Laet at right back, even if there was a risk that he wouldn't last the 90 and played Onomah instead of Kodjia. One of Bruce's biggest failings must be that despite re-shaping the whole squad, he's only comfortable playing the same 11 each week. He should be able to make tactical changes and rotational changes to keep everyone fresh but doesn't look like he can. We were crap in the first match after the last international break and Bruce held his hands up and said he should have freshened things up yet did exactly the same thing again. Einstein's definition of insanity is to repeat the same actions and expect different results. For the 2nd paragraph I suspect that's because his approach is to tinker about until something works and then flog it to death until it doesn't. His signings don't suggest a plan, his tactics don't suggest a plan, it's all down to if you throw enough quality on the pitch they'll work it out for themselves. I might be wrong but I just don't see how the signings he's made fit into any sort of master plan to turn us into something else, it was all about getting as many options as he could handle and then seeing what happens.I think you've hit the nail on the head.