steve_69

They really do. Atsu is committed but rubbish.

Back to his best today. Absolutely class performance!

Shoulder? He looks dead! ?

All managers are self centred. If someone offered you £2m a year to do a job you knew were totally incapable of doing, with the guarantee of a huge payout when you inevitably fail, would you take it? It's a total no-brainer. Steve Bruce either knew, when he took the job, just how out of how depth he was going to be in the PL this season and didn't care, or he genuinely and foolishly thought his outdated football management could see us compete this season. Either way you can't blame the fat pudding for accepting the job.

I shudder to think what Bruce's version of back to basics is. I don't think i've ever witnessed at close (ish) quarters someone so out of their depth at the job they've been hired to do. He's right up there with John Carver at this point.

I would happily accept being called Red Bull Newcastle if it meant getting rid of the cockney cancer.

Literally everyone.

And one enigmatic but genius frenchman at Newcastle United

Funny that!

Thinking about something the other day - when was the last time you heard a manager publicly berate his players in the way that Bruce did at the weekend? It just doesn't happen any more, managers tend to deflect criticism away from players or say something succinct like 'we have to do better' and move on. It very rarely gets to the point where the manager properly lays into the players and talks to the media about getting them back in for a Sunday training session. I think the last person i can remember doing is was Tony Pulis funnily enough, with guys like Allardyce and Phil Brown before him. Pochettino's Spurs side got mauled last night at home and in his post match interview he was calm, precise and measured. Even when questioned directly about the players he didn't rant, didn't mention any names and didn't criticise - he just gave a controlled answer and moved on. Seems that's the way the decent managers do it.

He says formost he has always prided himself on an honest hard working team Sounds technical!

I'd be really interested to know what Bruce is telling the players to do. Even some shit managers have a structure, style of play and loose plan that they adhere to, and after a few weeks it usually shows through, even if it isn't effective - lumping the ball long, get it to the wingers and swing crosses in, press high, hit it up to the big man to flick on to the little man, one touch passing, 11 men behind the ball etc. Bruce has been managing for long enough that he must have some repeatable ideas, plans and behaviours that he instills at every club? He can't just go into every job planning on winging it?! I think i've watched all of our games so far and I can't see any sign of a plan, pattern of play or structure, nothing! What exactly is he trying to get the team to do FFS?! What were the teams he got promoted known for? Anyone?

There was a moment against Brighton where he used his body brilliantly to win and retain the ball. He doesn't just have to jump high and get his head on the ball to be better than Joselu. He'll retain the ball far better than Joselu could ever hope to do and that should enable us to create chances. He'll also win his fair share of free kicks as well. Joselu does nothing well. Andy Carroll still does 2-3 things better than most strikers in the PL

Joelinton is big enough for us to start booting the ball up to in the meantime. He might even opt for an old school big man/little man partnership when Gayle is fit. Exciting times

Front foot football. Ah, is that what it was?! Shame really, i was just starting to enjoy it. Limited English managers always resort to direct football that relies on long balls and set pieces. It's been written in the stars since we signed Bruce that we'd become a hoofing team, and the signing of Carroll confirmed it. Creating and scoring goals consistently (on the deck) takes good coaching, intelligence and innovation. Bruce, like Pulis, Allardyce, Hughes, Warnock and a raft of others don't have the brains or coaching skill to get the most out of a group of players from a footballing sense so we'll go 'back to basics', which in shit manager speak means pack the defence, stick a big man up top and try to focus on scoring from set pieces. At the very most it might mean sticking a winger on each side and telling them to get as many crosses in as possible. That is the limit. Unfortunately it has been proven to work from time to time and in Carroll we have one of the best target men in Europe (when he's fit). Ditching the 'front foot football' might actually see Bruce turn this around.

I'd have paid to see that

I dont think i could talk to him without using the words Fuck and Cunt many many times At the very least hoy a fucking milkshake at him.

Can't argue with much of that although I will contest that that game changed when Shelvey came off. It didn't really because Ki did next to bugger all as well. It actually changed when ASM came on and started running at and through Brighton, and to a lesser when Carroll came on as well.

It was said time and time again when Bruce was confirmed that he would be out-thought by every other manager in the Premier League, and Saturday was a perfect example of it. Graham Potter gave Brighton a game plan and it worked. We are arguably better in every position than Brighton and yet they played us off the park, because their manager is better tactically than SB. Not the first time and it definitely isn't going to be the last.

What exactly was it that wasn't working though? Anyone know?! That statement from Hayden suggests there was a plan, but i'm fucked if i know what it was.

The really galling thing is for 12 minutes at the end of the game you could see the potential of the team, basically when they abandoned Bruce's "tactics" and went for it. What the fuck we were doing for the previous 80 minutes I have no idea. The only input i saw from this fat pudding was when he shouted 'time' to one of our players on the ball. Fucking 'time'?! He's a professional footballer you dickhead, if he doesn't know himself that he has 'time' he shouldn't be anywhere near professional football. If that's the sum total of his game management from the touchline we really are screwed.

Steve Bruce's Black n' White army!

No. How've you got the inside track on this signing? Tbh it probably isn't in the 'agent favour' bracket but it didn't many a great deal of sense. Can only assume they must have thought one of Yedlin or Manquillo was off; they can't seriously have thought this guy was a definitive upgrade. It's far too early to judge - he was part of the back line that kept Tottenham at bay, away. We've also played Norwich, who just turned Man City over, and Liverpool who regularly tear teams a new arsehole. It's clear he's never going to be a world-beater but good fullbacks/wingbacks cost £30m+ these days and he cost us £5m, so we shouldn't be surprised. But it really is far too early to say whether he's going to be an upgrade on Yedlin and Manquillo.

And yet he's twice found himself in great goalscoring positions - ok he fluffed both chances badly but i can't remember the last time either Manquillo or Yedlin found themselves in front of goal, or Dummett for that matter

How many times have we been guilty of writing players off after a few games or even half a season, for them to come good and make us eat our words? Give the lad a chance FFS. People are calling for Manquillo to be started now after he was labelled 'the worst player to ever pull on a Newcastle shirt' not long ago. The same happened with Diame before he came good. Krafth has looked poor in his first few games but there aren't many players who have looked much better. Give him until the at least halfway through the season and if he hasn't improved then fair enough, he's legitimately shit. 5 games isn't enough to pass proper judgement on any player who has moved to a new country and a new league.