PlymouthGeordie

I can't for the life of me understand why the consortium think the best thing for the club is for Bruce to come in tomorrow and take training. The number of days off is just bizarre and borderline negligent, he just wants his pay off so they just need to give it him. As bad as Bruce is, if he's in charge on Saturday the consortium have inexplicably written off 6 points from 2 winnable games and we can't afford that given our precarious league position.

I don't believe that to be the case personally. An educated guess would be to say he's going but not give a time frame: they all said gone by Spurs so in my opinion that has been sourced from someone in the consortium. Happy to agree to disagree though. I just think removing Bruce is the easiest decision they'll ever have to make as owners and for whatever reason they seem to be struggling to make it.

I'm not wound up, it just doesn't reflect well on the new ownership. The facts are they briefed every man and his dog he'd be gone and that hasn't happened. It's more that it all just seems haphazard on their behalf. If they don't want to rush a decision then that is fine and i get that, but if that is the case they shouldn't have told the world he was going. All they've done is undermine Bruce and lessen his authority even further. Given he's terrible at his job as it is, the last thing they needed to do was make it even more difficult for him.

I don't understand why you don't think he's cosy with Staveley. He's as good as confirmed (previously) on the Athletic podcast that he got all of his "no red flags" info from Staveley. He was the only journalist to get a sit down interview with her when PIF initially pulled out. She is most definitely his source on all things consortium/nufc related when it comes to high level information and decisions.

Or the fact they haven't just shows their indecisiveness. Caulkin clearly has an "in" with Staveley, I don't think that can be denied; he said several times over Bruce would be gone by Spurs. I doubt he'd have said that unless briefed by Staveley.

Seriously? Everyone ran the same story, Hope, Edwards, Caulkin, Ryder, Martin Hardy, Simon Bird. And they all ran it directly after spending several hours with the new owners.

I agree to a point but then they'd better get a move on. Ideally the most pragmatic approach is to get a DOF and let them select the manager but the manager situation is so time sensitive that if the DOF appointment isn't imminent (by tomorrow latest), then the owners should focus on a manager now. Their first decision is, do they want to try and poach another club's manager. If the answer is no, you have a list of about 5/6 to try and negotiate with: Conte, Fonseca, Howe, Favre, AVB and Martinez (admittedly with Belgium) spring to mind. Of that list, Conte is apparently not interested and Martinez is unlikely to want a dual job role with the world Cup approaching: that gives 4 names to interview/approach. If they want a Potter/Gerrard, go and submit the approach. We aren't winning a game with Bruce in charge so they need to bite the bullet on the DOF appointment and if they can't do that (which is understandable as the DOF will set the whole football ethos of the club) they need to jump ahead to the manager decision first. I know it's not the orthodox way of doing things but it is becoming a mess. For the first 4 days of their ownership they briefed every media outlet going that he'd be gone before Spurs, they then issued a (welcome) statement 1 hour before his pre match presser confirming he'd remain in place for Sunday. As happy and excited as I am that Ashley has gone and Staveley & Co are here, it has been an absolute dogs dinner so far. If they wanted to take their time on the manager front that's fine, but by briefing he'd be gone they removed what little authority he had left with the players and then failed to relieve him of his duties.

It is beyond poor from the new owners that he's still not been removed. He'll be in taking training again tomorrow and we've lost another day to press the reset button. You can't really defend their indecisiveness at this point.

I said during the build up to the game last week and I'll say it again now, keeping Bruce in charge was an inexcusable decision by the new ownership and everyday he remains in charge is just more baffling. I know the deal was ratified out of the blue but removing him as manager is the easiest decision they'll ever have to make and they've already needlessly delayed it. Relegation is a real worry with our December fixtures and we can't afford to just write of anymore games with him as manager.

What is his style of play for those of us that haven't seen much of his teams? Is he high press and attacking or more pragmatic like Rafa?

I just think back to Everton away last year and Southampton at home (until Hendrick got sent off). They were Jones' first two games and we pressed aggressively, passed with purpose and attacked in numbers. Everton away was our best performance under Bruce by some distance imo. Admittedly that set up went to pot when Wilson got injured but I definitely think it's the way to go. Miggy looked like a different player in that set up. It allowed Lewis to play LB and bomb forward. I agree I want them to have a plan in place and to take their time in sourcing the permanent replacement. I just feel Jones instead of Bruce is risk free as its near on impossible to do worse than Bruce has been doing.

I'm not sure Jones and Bruce share the same football principles. I think if Jones was in charge we'd see a much more aggressive and progressive game plan. We'll just have to see if tomorrow brings any developments but the fact he's not gone yet is a disappointment.

If they think that, is it not a worry in itself given he's won just 7 of the last 39 games?

Because they didn't need to become owners to know Bruce has underperformed for nearly the entirety of his reign and they know the atmosphere has been toxic because of him. Under Ashley we all said Bruce would've been sacked at any other PL club; that still applies under the new owners. It is a concern they haven't removed him yet even though it is very early days under their stewardship. I'm delighted they're our owners and in time I'm sure they'll get us to where we all want to be. It doesn't mean we can't express concern at times though.

A one liner at the bottom of Hope's article says Bruce will be gone before the weekend and Jones will be in charge.

If he doesn't go tomorrow we just need to accept he's here for the Spurs game. I know it's very early doors and maybe they haven't got the chain of command and communication lines sorted yet (with PIF having the final say on all decisions) but the ownership group are coming across as indecisive. Over the last 40 games he's overseen the record has been abysmal. Jones as caretaker couldn't be any worse than Bruce. It's so obvious there is only one decision to make. I'm not saying they need to rush a permanent replacement in because that is a huge decision but replacing Bruce isn't. In fact, it's the most obvious and easy decision they'll ever have to make as owners and the fact they're yet to make it doesn't reflect well.

Lampard would be a horrendous appointment. I just want Potter, is that too much to ask?

True!

I really don't want us signing players in or approaching their 30s who are well past their prime. Coutinho hasn't done anything for 4 years and doesn't play in a position which is a priority. We need at least 1 CB, a mobile DM and a RB to keep us up comfortably. Lamptey, Bissouma, Kalvin Phillips, Ward Prowse, Tarkowski, Kamara from Marseille. We could do a lot worse than 3 or 4 from that list in January.

Doubt it means anything and apologies if its already been posted but paddy power have suspended bets on Conte becoming our next manager.

The next manager will tell us all we need to know. If it's Howe, Potter or someone of that ilk it's clearly a slow build. If it's a Conte, Mancini then we're clearly just going to go all out in January.

I'd have Potter over Bielsa. Potter would be my first choice for a project to buy in to.

Talksport are saying we've just lodged a bid for David Brooks.

Completely agree. Shelvey gets pelters for not being athletic enough etc but he's much more mobile than Sean.

The thing is, his source clearly isn't great given Kennedy said over a week ago the PL had failed to get the CAT case thrown out when the deadline for the PL to submit their counter evidence hadn't even elapsed.