Mattoon

Are we allowed to call him a dick head, wanker, cabbage head, fuckstain, cockwomble now or is it still sad?

Nice guy Steve has got this. Such a top bloke. Not complicit at all. Just wants what's best for the club. Get behind him. Ffs absolute desperation, it's so obvious, I hope to fuck this doesn't change a thing

Been saying this for the past couple of weeks, he stumbled on that 4-3-3 one game and rolled with it. We had one of the best midfielders in the league at his peak and a striker that came in and hit the net whenever the ball left his boot, more often than not defying the laws of physics. It was a perfect storm that season but he was soon found out, as soon as we were up against it he showed how clueless he was, he just rode a wave of confidence and didn't try and alter anything, just a slap on the arse and get out there and show em your fret aytem

They got nothing but love from the fans from the get go right until the end. Bruce hasn’t. I’m not saying he’s a good manager. His track record suggests otherwise, but also you can only work with that’s in front of you. His career could have gone another way if he’d been more patient but he chose to take jobs at shit clubs. Which eventually ruled him out of any big job by association. And now he’s here. I’m not going to say we’re a big club, we’re certainly not top 6 anymore, maybe not even top 8. But we’ve had nothing but failure as a club for my whole life at least. I hope for more, but I don’t think we’re entitled to it, not anymore. We’re a medium sized club with potential. That’s all. Rafa could have done great things but we all know what happened there. Mike took a 6 million a year gamble on him either keeping us up or getting us back first time of asking and then consolidate. Mission accomplished. Rafa wasn’t needed from that point on. I don’t think even Pardew got the stick Bruce has been given from the start. He clearly doesn’t deserve that. Also the squad Pardew had when we were 5th is light years ahead of the one we have now. So any comparisons to what we’re doing this season is totally unwarranted. Like someone pointed out before, we can’t have it both ways. We lose a match, “oh Bruce is a useless wanker, all his fault..” We win a match “oh he’s just using Rafa’s tactics” Pure negativity Oh gtf. Keegan, Robson and Rafa all came with some kind of reputation and pedigree and all treated the club and the fans with respect from the get go. Bruce came in with a piss poor record everywhere he'd been, threw his toys out the pram, told us we all should respect him and instead of showing anyone he understood the fans and the club he told us he was a Geordie and a fan going against everything he said when he was at Sunderland. He's an extension of Ashley, another lickspittle shill, here to do the bidding of his master and accept whatever shit sandwich is thrown at him. You come in under those circumstances then you lose all credibility from the start. Rafa talked of potential, of building something for the future, being able to work within a strict model and still bring success, Bruce came in and jizzed over a £40m flop forced into his hands. You earn respect and he's failed at every step and the more he demands it, the more he ostracizes himself. It's obvious to anyone who has eyes that this "football" is amongst some of the worst we've ever played, yes he's using Rafa's tactics but beyond defence first he's lost the plot, we're disjointed and scrappy going forward, we have no control in games, no fluidity in attack and no plan B. For all Rafa's negative tactics you could see a plan and we countered with speed, accuracy and precision, not this disjointed abortion we're forced to watch now. We're winning games because of the tenacity of the players, the never say die attitude and the belief that they're in it until the final whistle, not because of some tactical masterclass.

No credit at all. You've said it yourself that it's similar to the 5th place season. The following season proved that we finished 5th in spite of Pardew, not because of him. Give over. Yeah Pardew was shit overall, but he deserved some credit for the season we finished 5th, as does Bruce for having a decent start to his time here. I'm sure the wheels will come off eventually (as they did with Pardew), but you can't say whenever we win, it is in spite of the manager. Lets not forget Pardew stumbled across a winning formula and rode the wave of confidence, we finished 5th with a negative goal difference! As soon as he out his stamp on the team the following season it all went to shit, he moved Cisse out to the left and ruined him and scape goated and ostracized our best player. What Bruce is doing is unsustainable, just like that 5th season was, it will come crashing down, just like the house of Pards.

If you don't see the difference to the last half of last season then you're either blind/stupid or just a massive wum. I know where my money is at

How the actual fuck did we win that game?

I haven't been able to find this game from any of my usual sources, sounds like I'm best just not bothering. But Rafa who though yeah? Haw haw haw!

Shoot for the moon and if you happen to miss you will still be amongst the stars. Yet our lot aim for the neighbours back garden, with our "supporters" happy clapping when we hit the fence.

You don’t have to leave here just because you’ve given up on the current Zombie version of the club. You’re a good poster man and can still vent your rage here. Bit concerned people like you keep leaving and we’ll be left with similar to the Facebook groups out there with loads of ‘Rafa Who??’ posts. I get it, I don't post half as much as I used to, it just seems so futile at the moment, every time the anger starts to build something happens in the short term and half the supporters just like to look at the shiny thing in front of them and not see the bigger picture. Rafa leaving should have been the last straw but a half decent start to the season has all the happy clappers fully engaged again. It's easier to give up than to fight back.

Its all over social media mate, I'm steering clear, don't need the blood pressure at my age. Apparently all those that were boycotting and those that wanted Ashley and Bruce out are all looking a bit silly now. So short sighted, feel like maybe I should be bookmarking these comments for this time next season when Steveageddon finally comes home to roost.

Seems a little fatuous discussing the nuances of position, shape and tactics where Bruce is concerned, his only positional sense is what number in the kebab queue is his. I'd like to see us be more confident and comfortable on the ball, impose our tempo on a game but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm actually disappointed that ASM first goal for us wasn't him skinning 5 defenders, twisting in the box and firing a thunderbastard into the top corner but I'm chuffed for him that he's got his first. Shelveys goal was top level shithousery and if it happened to us I'd be livid but it's a schoolboy error not to play to the whistle, Sheffield can only blame themselves for that. A good 3 points but unconvincing, alarmingly Dubravka was MOTM for me, he was a beast tonight, nothing was getting past him. The score line flatters to deceive, we were negative and clueless going forward but we scored our chances and that's what wins you games. Unconvincing and unsustainable but happy with tonight's result. Now won't some fucker buy us and rid us of this perpetual nightmare?

Nailed on we sell someone of value, maybe a Longstaff to balance the summer spend but fail to get anyone over the line, business is tough in January don't you know? Unless you're selling that is.

No problem, Bruce can sell Joelinton, that will free up a cool £40m to buy the players he wants in. even if by some freak of nature we managed to pull off that kind of deal you know Ashley would trouser the cash and we'd be stuck with a lame AC up front.

According to Culkin Bruce has been told he has to sell to buy this January.

Very Pardewesque, unsustainable results when you're relying on your defenders for goals, higher up in the league than your goals for and GD dictates. Reminds me very much of the 5th season when so many teams just didn't perform and we fluked our way to Europe.

"What's gone on in the past was a long, long time ago, but we've only won two of our last twenty matches against Manchester City, so maybe the players in this practically different team are too used to losing" Isn't this "practically different team" the same one he was saying he couldn't coach the Rafa out of just a few weeks ago?

Why would there be a meltdown on here? I think most people would be happy if we beat City. Likelihood is a spanking and back to winning form for City, I don't think I can bring myself to watch the carnage. It certainly won't be a Rafa masterclass, it'll be a Brucey fluke at best, but I'll take what we can get.

More and more irrelevant as time goes on, hilarious!

Want to read that, but I don’t if that makes sense You should read it. I read a similar version in the Times this morning, if you avoid it you are handing the narrative to Ashley and his arse licking fan base that fill 40k seats every week. I will, but it will piss me off no end, I’m always happy for Rafa getting a decent job he can wok his magic at. Just wish he was still here, but was 100% correct to leave! Racist tbh

The big difference is hope, even when we lost the league to Man U, even when we lost the FA Cup final to Arsenal and to Man U, there was always hope. We had ambition, we played (for the most part) good football, we lost but there was always next year! A league cup now would be celebrated as it should but what comes after it? More of the same, same crap manager, same crap owner, the buzz would wear off pretty quick. Back in the day the disappointment wore off and the buzz came back, I would give anything to feel that again.