GideonShandy

BBC: " . . . little bit of quality . . . difficult run of games . . . difficult against these top teams . . . something we have to learn from . . . we will keep working on it." Sky: "We are having a difficult moment . . . have to keep working away . . . it's getting that balance right . . . The one thing we have to do to win a match is to score a goal . . . have to be more creative in the final third . . .you will have tough moments if you're in the Premier League and in the bottom half. We have to dust ourselves down . . ."

Need a bigger board Back to basics Didn't do enough Can't do that at this level Brutally honest Walked through the door Lacking that little bit of quality in the final third (might be too long to fit in a square, like)

Yes, I'd totally forgotten that.

He's our second-top PL goal scorer so far this season.

Last 16 PL games of 2018-19 W 8 D 3 L 5 = 27 points GF 26 GA 17 Only four clubs -- Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Wolves -- got more points from their last 16 games. Took us up from 18th to 13th. Then Rafa left.

Another verbatim Bruce quote tonight: "We didn't do enough and it's as simple as that." I genuinely think that's the extent of his tactical sophistication.

Bruce actually said this after losing to 2-point bottom club Sheffield United: "When you play the big boys back-to-back you have to accept these things can happen in the Premier League. But it is what it is. And yes, we have to be better."

LOLro and the bookies all predicting a Sheffield win.

Not sure I can ever remember seeing him smile. Even after he scored that screamer against Burnley almost two years ago his expression was more like "Take that, motherfuckers." Looks like he's just permanently cheesed off now.

Hope you're right, but I can easily see Brighton finishing ahead of us. They're a better team. I suspect we're going to be fighting it out with Fulham for 17th & 18th. The bookies have us 7/2 for relegation. FiveThirtyEight's model is predicting a 17% chance -- about the same odds as rolling a 6 on a dice. Think that's about the range.

"We gave the ball away cheaply on both occasions and Leicester punished us. . . It's something we have to improve on. . . . We just lacked that bit of quality in the final third. . . I can't fault the players' efforts. . . . I can't see there being much transfer activity in January if I'm being brutally honest and that will be the same for us probably." Good compendium of Steve Bruce's Greatest Clichés.

I hate Lee Ryder too, tbh.

Can't wait to see his obsequious grin when he shakes hands with Pep, thinking to himself how unbelievably lucky he is to be a member of the exclusive 20-member Premier League managers club.

And Jamie Redknapp and Jamie Carragher.

Except that he was good enough for this level when playing alongside Hayden during the last half of the 2018-19 season under Rafa. He's been Bruced, and as a result lost his confidence (and maybe some of his motivation too.)

Before the game he was spouting the usual media line about how well Bruce had done and how unfair all the criticism was. Totally changed his tune at half time. He seemed shocked at how clueless we looked. "No Plan A and no Plan B."

Man U looking for a new Director of Football. If they listen to the likes of Savage and Sutton I expect they'll be approaching Cabbage Heed about the job imminently. www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9069149/Manchester-United-narrow-search-director-football-Luis-Campos-joining-club-shortlist.html#comments

Luck 1st

Absolutely delusional. We were outplayed from beginning to end. 31% possession over the 90 minutes.

He was a proper radgie as a player. Always seemed to be sent off when he came up to Newcastle. "His first dismissal came after he threw his elbow into the face of Newcastle United player Franz Carr. There had been no friction between the two players with Dicks saying of the incident "Not to this day do I know why I did it. I had it in my mind that I was going to elbow him, and that was it — bang!""

Remember near the end of last season when Wilder said that his squad were Championship and League 1 players playing in the Premier League? Up until then, their W-D-L record was 14-12-10. Since then it's been 0-1-11.

Looks like a possible upper spine curvature there. Only a hunch, like.

"I'm frustrated because we can't get a result," added Bruce, whose side have won once in five games. "I make no excuses but we've played three of the top six in the last few weeks." At least he's not making excuses. Make no mistake about that.

He obviously wants to come back if there's a takeover. His heart's still here. I'd love it.

In 6 games we've managed a total of 14 shots on target, including 2 penalties and today's free kick. Attacking play just isn't part of our game plan.