Yorkie Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Phwoar. That formatting. @Armchair Pundit Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 I think we've only spent money on one central midfielder since August 2016 (Merino) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ando7 Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Bruce didn't even bother to come to training on Thursday, needs to go players have lost faith and have a lot more respect for Jones,clocks ticking on his reign,keep the faith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Fingers crossed, @Ando7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St1pe Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 6 minutes ago, Ando7 said: Bruce didn't even bother to come to training on Thursday, needs to go players have lost faith and have a lot more respect for Jones,clocks ticking on his reign,keep the faith Sounds like something Craig Hope would get stuck into. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sempuki Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 15 minutes ago, St1pe said: Sounds like something Craig Hope would get stuck into. I really like Ando7. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikri Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 38 minutes ago, Ando7 said: Bruce didn't even bother to come to training on Thursday, needs to go players have lost faith and have a lot more respect for Jones,clocks ticking on his reign,keep the faith Isn't Bruce renowned for fucking off on holiday during international breaks? There's a good chance he's sat at home gorging himself on bacon seeing as he can't fly off to his villa in (I think) Portugal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Casey Webb this cunt. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 4 hours ago, Chris_R said: I think Howe is a very decent manager, but he'd ruin his reputation coming here because we'd not back him at all. Sort of manager who’d be fine if he had a full pre-season. Coming here in this mess isn’t the right time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 2 hours ago, ikri said: Isn't Bruce renowned for fucking off on holiday during international breaks? There's a good chance he's sat at home gorging himself on bacon seeing as he can't fly off to his villa in (I think) Portugal. Yeah it's presumably all just been run by the fitness team this week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Maximin Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, Armchair Pundit said: So I was looking at the teams, from the newly promoted 2017/18 season under Rafa and the current 2020/21 season under Bruce. Essentially we have the same core of players who achieved a league finish of 10th with 46 points in the 2017/18 season. There are a handful of other players outside that core, arguably better ones now (see below), and a bigger squad. That said, I also noted some similarities in terms of results. 2017/18 2020/21 Dubravka Dubravka Darlow Darlow Clark Clark Dummett Dummett Lacelles Lacelles Lejeune Manquillo Manquillo Yedlin Yedlin Murphy Murphy Shelvey Shelvey Ritchie Ritchie Hayden Hayden Atsu Atsu Gayle Gayle Notable others: Notable others: Elliott Krafth Gamez Shar Mbemba Fernandez Haidara Lewis Diame Willock Kennedy Fraser Merino Hendrick Perez S Longstaff Slimani M Longstaff Joselu ASM Almiron Wilson Joelinton Carroll Results-wise I was surprised to see that there were actually some similarities between the two seasons, both team's longest streak without a win was 9 games (though our current predicament could extend that). Both team's biggest defeats all season were 4-1, strangely also against Man Utd (although this season we had a 5-2 loss to Leeds as well). In the 2017/18 season we had a period of 2 wins in 17, of course the longest this season (so far) is 2 wins in 18. The differences however are obvious, in the 2017/18 season we'd had wins against some big teams: Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester and a draw against Liverpool. Our most noted win against a team above us in the league this season was against Everton... that's it. In 2017/18 we finished the season with 12 wins and 8 draws, that was a team that had just come up from the Championship and not had much money spent on it, just some loans. This season we've had 7 wins and 7 draws (so far), so where's the clear difference and the cause in what has transpired? Covid? Injuries? A lack of investment since coming up from the Championship for sure, but I see our current team as having the same, if not better capability, we know that some of them, the core, if coached correctly and actual tactics used, can get results. There's no excuse in my eyes. (To be fair, I know we all know the above, I just found it interesting comparing the two seasons when I had five minutes to spare) That’s a very good and interesting analysis of things, but Bruce is being compared to Rafa and in fairness to him (painful as it is) never should he be expected to achieve similar feats, whether we like him or not (despite all the loons claiming he was better last year). For me simply the fact we are fighting relegation with our squad isn’t really a disgrace. I’ve said it before but we really don’t have a great squad when you look at some of the players who should be getting regular game time. It’s a pretty similar level to Fulham, Brighton, Burnley, Crystal Palace and Southampton imo and I’m yet to be convinced otherwise. They all have decent players as well and are better than the squad we had in 2017/18. Outside the top 8 or so I’d say there isn’t even that much variation and recently years have seen teams like Burnley and Sheffield United finish high up and then fight/get relegation the next year. However, the way Bruce approaches just about everything is a shambles and our form over the last 20 games is not acceptable. There’s a reason Brighton are where they are also but the way they play makes them so much more tolerable. Utterly bizarre how some pundits expect us to be happy with what we see, but then again a lot of them are incredibly dense. So yeah, Bruce is still absolutely shite of course. Edited March 27, 2021 by St. Maximin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlymouthGeordie Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, St1pe said: Sounds like something Craig Hope would get stuck into. Agreed. Hopefully @Ando7 is on the money again as he is with his team news but can't help but think Craig Hope would've been all over the fact Bruce didn't even turn up for training. Edited March 27, 2021 by PlymouthGeordie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pons Alias Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 I heard that Steve Bruce is mates with the Mail's editor and tried to get Craig sacked. * This may be a lie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenBartonCentrePartin Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, Ando7 said: Bruce didn't even bother to come to training on Thursday, needs to go players have lost faith and have a lot more respect for Jones,clocks ticking on his reign,keep the faith Of course he's spending the time perusing the antique churns of western Europe and tugging himself senseless doing so. I wouldn't expect any less of the globular, buttery monstrosity. Edited March 28, 2021 by WarrenBartonCentrePartin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 8 hours ago, Chris_R said: I think Howe is a very decent manager, but he'd ruin his reputation coming here because we'd not back him at all. Looks like he is Celtic bound. Actually think he would be fine here. He has already written about being happy to work under this type of shithousery ownership and structure. We shall never know! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paully Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I miss those days last year when most of the media (and several of our fans ffs!) did weekly comparisons showing how ‘Brucey’ was better than Rafa! imagine even thinking that never mind coming out with it?! Incredible! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 11 hours ago, Ando7 said: Bruce didn't even bother to come to training on Thursday, needs to go players have lost faith and have a lot more respect for Jones,clocks ticking on his reign,keep the faith This has me trembling with rage tbh. Gone from Rafa whose every waking minute was on the job to this part time ego Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paully Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 53 minutes ago, James said: This has me trembling with rage tbh. Gone from Rafa whose every waking minute was on the job to this part time ego But, but, but slackers like Shelvey are loving it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 If that’s true, there’s something very weird going on. Hope the full story on Jones’ appointment comes out soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 4 hours ago, James said: This has me trembling with rage tbh. Gone from Rafa whose every waking minute was on the job to this part time ego Trembling with rage? Seriously? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Trembling with rage Ahhhh James. Nearly 12 years have passed and all that's changed is the adjective you use to describe your OTT reactions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Ah someone who got the in-joke! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happinesstan Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 12 years you've clung to that? Must have been a rocky road. I bet you were shivering with an-tici pation when you typed that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocker Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) Despite the united front being shown by Ashley and Bruce, it's apparently far from. Not sure why it hasn't translated into a resignation or a sacking, but there's definitely something amiss. I don't know if @Ando7can back this up or not, but our captain is absolutely head of the table. Any concerns from the players are fed directly to him and not Bruce. Lascelles wants Bruce gone and has went upstairs with this request. Edited March 28, 2021 by Rocker Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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