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Steve Brute


LoveItIfWeBeatU

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Sheffield United, Brighton, Norwich and Villa have players that will make a right go at it, unlike our lot.  They don't need "tactics".

 

Christ.

 

:lol:

 

There's been no issues for 3 years of this same group of players making a right go at it. An upgrade on Bruce could be all it needs.

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At the end of the day, this squad can’t compete unless they are incredibly well-drilled and have a manager who takes away most of their decision-making. We’ll concede so many goals that anything else is pretty much irrelevant.

 

Think you're exaggerating tbh. Look at Sheff Utd, Brighton, Villa, Norwich and their squads. They've not got top-class managers either. Just needs someone with a bit of ability and confidence and we're back above those 4.

 

Agree. I don't think this squad is that great, but they are being made to look worse by an absolutely disastrous managerial appointment. Bruce had no credentials at this level, at least not in the modern era. Even his supporters in the media haven't been able to give any meaningful endorsements. It's all vague nonsense about him being a good sort, or having plenty of experience. None of them go on to admit it's experience of being shite.

 

Hard to judge, seeing as Bruce has a £40 million striker (undoubtedly cost closer to £20 million lets be honest) as well as Almiron for the whole season as opposed to about 10 games, whereas Rafa had Joselu this time last year.  :lol:

 

There is a case for believing that no matter who came in, the drop off from Rafa's meticulous micro-managing of the players through games was always going to leave the team looking a complete shambles.

 

I mean, Bruce hasn't been ridiculed by all of his previous clubs fans. What if he is just average? (not saying I believe this bit btw)  :lol:

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The contrast is definitely important, must be mental to experience as a player.

 

And the loss of Perez and Rondon.

 

Rondon wouldn't have made a jot of difference under Bruce. He'd have been back to the PFM style tactics where he struggled under Pulis & Pardew.

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From 365;

 

Losers

 

Early loser Steve Bruce

 

Let’s start with a statistic, if only to give you something before it all gets a bit ranty. Rafael Benitez managed Newcastle United for 146 matches, and in that time they conceded more than three goals in a match on two occasions. The first of those was a 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford in November 2017, when Newcastle took the lead but eventually succumbed to United’s pressure in the second half. The second was in December 2018, when Liverpool scored two goals in the final 12 minutes at Anfield to beat Newcastle 4-0.

 

That is important, because it partly explains Benitez’s reason for often playing defensive football in away matches that Newcastle were favourites to lose. He figured that the chance of winning away at Big Six clubs was far smaller than the chance of getting a thumping, and a thumping can cause lasting psychological damage on the squad.

 

Even at the start of last season, when Newcastle were wretched, Benitez will argue that he was working on defensive organisation that would benefit the team later in the season. Only with that organisation in place could Newcastle look to attack. Over the last 16 league games of last season, only four teams scored more goals than Newcastle. They were transformed because they had a platform from which to attack.

 

Then there was a process. Now there is nothing. It isn’t just that Newcastle conceded five for the first time since the month before Benitez arrived. It isn’t just that this was a team that has had all the useful elements that Benitez forged unpicked and dismantled. It isn’t just that Steve Bruce is consistently picking players out of position, and then saying after the match that tactics are “nonsense” and it’s all about playing with pride despite Newcastle showing none of that either. It isn’t just that Bruce has a £40m centre forward that Benitez warned the club would be worse than Salomon Rondon and already looks vindicated on that point.

 

It’s that this was so utterly predictable from the moment it started. Bruce is not the disease, merely a symptom thereof. Newcastle allowed Benitez, the most capable manager they have had in 20 years, to walk because they couldn’t muster enough competence to convince him to stay. Benitez didn’t want vast transfer budgets. He didn’t even want the club to be jolted forward, merely pointed in the right direction. And in his place they appointed a Championship-level manager because he was likely to say yes and come cheap. This disarray is the result of that strategy.

 

Newcastle’s players have got worse since last season. The defence is far more open without Benitez’s defensive coordination (they have already conceded almost 30% of last season’s goal total). Sean Longstaff, Miguel Almiron and Isaac Hayden have all suffered a drop in form that coincides with the new manager’s arrival. Newcastle offer little as a counter-attacking threat. They are making individual and collective mistakes that Premier League teams are too good not to punish.

 

Finally, spare me the ‘poor Steve Bruce’ angle that I’ve seen in some places. He backed himself to do this job, and he deserves to be judged on what happens on the pitch as Benitez was. And what took place on Sunday was a total abdication of responsibility. The “tactics nonsense” quotes speak of a manager out of his depth and out of step with the modern Premier League.

 

This wasn’t a Leicester victory through excellence, because they did not need to be excellent. It was a victory through surrender. Leicester exploited the obvious flaws and Newcastle were lucky that they stopped pushing on at 4-0. The worst a struggling team should be is hard to break down. And goodness me, Bruce should know that more than most managers.

 

This might get a little better. Newcastle will not be drubbed every week and they may claw a few more unexpected points over this tricky run of fixtures. But make no mistake, they are now battling for survival and no well-timed takeover rumours will appease the wrath of supporters if the worst befalls them. Newcastle have been sleep-walking for half a decade. Maybe Benitez was the only thing stopping them slipping into a coma.

 

 

Absolute nail on the head, what will it take for an actual national to print something as damning as this, the wider audience needs educating. This has to be the end game now, the club simply cannot go on like this and unless the pressure mounts we'll go the way of Blackpool before something changes.

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Quick someone photoshop Bruce's mug in the centre of a poppy with the words "we will remember him" underneath.

 

That tweet is fucking hilarious on mackem levels.

 

On the upside with Bruce, he generally always does well in his first season at clubs. So with that already out of the way and down the pan, we can all look forward to the next level.

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Next week : "50 Reasons why Steve Bruce is sexual dynamite, by Luke Edwards"

"Steve, behind you the club seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?"

 

"I've sold front foot attacking football to Wigan, Birmingham and Hull City and by gum it put them on the map"

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Next week : "50 Reasons why Steve Bruce is sexual dynamite, by Luke Edwards"

"Steve, behind you the club seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?"

 

"I've sold front foot attacking football to Wigan, Birmingham and Hull City and by gum it put them on the map"

 

:lol:

 

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At the end of the day, this squad can’t compete unless they are incredibly well-drilled and have a manager who takes away most of their decision-making. We’ll concede so many goals that anything else is pretty much irrelevant.

 

Think you're exaggerating tbh. Look at Sheff Utd, Brighton, Villa, Norwich and their squads. They've not got top-class managers either. Just needs someone with a bit of ability and confidence and we're back above those 4.

 

Agree. I don't think this squad is that great, but they are being made to look worse by an absolutely disastrous managerial appointment. Bruce had no credentials at this level, at least not in the modern era. Even his supporters in the media haven't been able to give any meaningful endorsements. It's all vague nonsense about him being a good sort, or having plenty of experience. None of them go on to admit it's experience of being shite.

 

Hard to judge, seeing as Bruce has a £40 million striker (undoubtedly cost closer to £20 million lets be honest) as well as Almiron for the whole season as opposed to about 10 games, whereas Rafa had Joselu this time last year.  :lol:

 

There is a case for believing that no matter who came in, the drop off from Rafa's meticulous micro-managing of the players through games was always going to leave the team looking a complete shambles.

 

I mean, Bruce hasn't been ridiculed by all of his previous clubs fans. What if he is just average? (not saying I believe this bit btw)  :lol:

 

Ridiculed by Villa,Hull,Norwich,Palace,Sheffield United Wigan and the Mackems so not all of them

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At the end of the day, this squad can’t compete unless they are incredibly well-drilled and have a manager who takes away most of their decision-making. We’ll concede so many goals that anything else is pretty much irrelevant.

 

Think you're exaggerating tbh. Look at Sheff Utd, Brighton, Villa, Norwich and their squads. They've not got top-class managers either. Just needs someone with a bit of ability and confidence and we're back above those 4.

 

Agree. I don't think this squad is that great, but they are being made to look worse by an absolutely disastrous managerial appointment. Bruce had no credentials at this level, at least not in the modern era. Even his supporters in the media haven't been able to give any meaningful endorsements. It's all vague nonsense about him being a good sort, or having plenty of experience. None of them go on to admit it's experience of being s****.

 

Hard to judge, seeing as Bruce has a £40 million striker (undoubtedly cost closer to £20 million lets be honest) as well as Almiron for the whole season as opposed to about 10 games, whereas Rafa had Joselu this time last year.  :lol:

 

There is a case for believing that no matter who came in, the drop off from Rafa's meticulous micro-managing of the players through games was always going to leave the team looking a complete shambles.

 

I mean, Bruce hasn't been ridiculed by all of his previous clubs fans. What if he is just average? (not saying I believe this bit btw)  :lol:

 

Ridiculed by Villa,Hull,Norwich,Palace,Sheffield United Wigan and the Mackems so not all of them

 

Norwich :lol:

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Fuck knows why Shearer and him became that close.

 

Was it not when Bruce was mackem manager, and probably living in Darras Hall... used to read about him always being 'in The Diamond', in Ponteland where Shearer allegedly goes too.

 

He'll have been fan-boying over Alan, coz yer knaa, Steve 'bleeds black and white' and all that.

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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.

 

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