Bruce leaves the club by 'mutual consent'

[lassassinblanc]

These quotes from him are heartbreaking, as I always said I think he did as good a job as he could under an Ownership who pretty much told him how high he could jump despite him wanting to jump higher.

He got a lot of unwarranted criticism at times which as I've said when Rafa was in charge was directed towards Ashley rather then the manager.

Despite what his criticisers said he did care a lot about the club and only wanted what was best. A lot of his bad periods came at points where we either had terrible injury, covid issues or just a really tough run of fixtures but once we got our better players back we improved.

I'll just point out too I'm happy to see him go and look forward to what a new ideas will bring to the team.

But I'll always say to him as above he done his best under difficult circumstances

Some fair points, and whatever people think of his ability football wise I don't condone in any way the people who level personal abuse at him (or any other person doing a job). It was the same with Pardew, sure - if you didn't like his management then criticise him for that, but personal abuse is totally unwarranted.

I'd say the last 2 seasons he has done okay generally, all things considered. I do think a lot of it was in spite of him though rather than down to him.

This season has been an unmitigated disaster though, and the blame for that is solely at his feet. Injuries haven't been too bad, but his baffling selections, tactics and playing players out of position has completely sunk us. Why hasn't Lewis had a chance? Why doesn't Fraser get a chance on the wing (rather than cameo's at CM), why is Gayle sitting on a new 3 year contract yet doesn't ever feature, why is Schar not featuring, why is our best DM regularly played at CB, why do no young players ever get a chance...the list goes on. His choice of language when talking about the fans was also poorly thought out.

Yep 100%, as I've said many times, some of his decision making was poor, but it seemed to always be a case of when we lost it was his fault when we won it was due to the greatness of Graeme Jones.


There was many times he was criticised due to the position of the club but we were in the same position under Rafa the previous years and while there were a few who criticised him, it was mostly don't worry Rafa has this we'll be OK and as said everything was fired at Ashley under Bruce he got the flak as did his son.

One last opinion here and for Mods to delete if it causes any issues

I do see also that Craig Hope is gloating his views around. I've said many times Hope is a prick who seemed to have it in for Bruce from the start and got the hump when Bruce was able to throw his spiteful comments back at him.

[bodacious benny]

I think with Rafa people thought differently as it was pretty clear what he was doing, we were crap to watch (other than the end of his final season where we played some decent football with Rondon and Perez upfront together) but we were at least very organised.

Bruce got us to more or less the same points/position as Rafa but it was generally completely chaotic.

[Oval85]

I think with Rafa people thought differently as it was pretty clear what he was doing, we were crap to watch (other than the end of his final season where we played some decent football with Rondon and Perez upfront together) but we were at least very organised.

Bruce got us to more or less the same points/position as Rafa but it was generally completely chaotic.

And Bruce got money to use, suddenly Ashley splashed cash when he had tightened the bag for 3 years with Rafa.
That doesn't help either, because most of us wanted Rafa to succeed, and to be fair, he wasn't allowed.
I do agree Bruce has had a rough ride and not every critisicm has been on point, BUT, the tactical inept he has shown over the years by not even getting to know our best 11 in 3 years for me is baffling. No progress at all, we might have gone back a tad.
It was obvious that with a new owner, they want progress and it is obvious that we are piss poor under the current manager.
Just because he actually played most of the players in their best position against spuds doesn't mean he suddenly got the hang of it, it just means he was affraid to loose his job so he tried something else, like he has done all his time here. NO consistency at all, which is what Rafa was all about.
And that is what every club needs, ESPECIALLY clubs who are fighting relegation.

[jpg]

Lucky to have been offered the job in the first place. On the whole he did better than expected but the bar was already set so low from the offset. Any other club would have sacked him after that terrible run last season.

Am I correct in saying it's the first sacking in six years for us, and that we only sacked two managers in 14 years of Mike Ashley's ownership?

[bodacious benny]

Yeah, consistency is key, what was his best winning run with us? I'd be surprised if it was more than 3 matches.

Agreed, he kept coming out talking about a project, and how we're trying to improve etc. but nothing ever changed and even he couldn't articulate where he wanted us to be, other than "more on the front foot". And how any top level coach in 2021 can go on record as saying "tactics don't matter" just highlights why he doesn't belong at the top level.

[Don Sholeone]

I can say I only have a tiny amount of sympathy, if a manager is performing poorly I do get annoyed but that's about it, with Bruce he was performing poorly and then being a d******* about everything, he attacked the fans, constantly mocked the relationship with Rafa, always made himself the victim. I can't think of one moment that he took responsibility, the training ground incidents he was more interested in who was leaking it than actually fixing the situation which probably alienated players even more.

Now he's left he's still playing the woe is me act, also he can piss off with the against me from day 1 s****, he chose to bin off Wednesday after they took him in after a terrible spell at Villa, didn't they even give him extended compassionate leave, they rolled out the red carpet for him and he ditched them at the first sniff of coming here. He knew exactly what he was walking into. I can't say I feel anything reading his comments, just more manipulation and making himself the victim.

[bodacious benny]

Also true! Presumably we had no media/PR person at the club actually coaching him how to speak to the media...he did often come across as "I'm Steve Bruce, I've been in football for 40 years, they're a bunch of thick fans brainwashed by the media".

[Caer Newydd]

So farewell then Steve,
I can't really grieve,
No crocodile tears,
But also no cheers,

For the Toon you've a soft spot
You gave it your best shot,
Without wishing to sound too callous,
It was always a poison chalice,

It takes some dexterity,
To foster popularity,
It's not easy to sway,
The Toon's mainstay.

In your chequered coaching career,
You've found hard to endear,
Fans of local a rival,
Upon your arrival.

The trace of your managerial flow diagram,
Both clubs in Sheffield and two in Birmingham,
Then to cross the boundary line,
Between the Wear and the Tyne,

So whilst some may hurl curses,
I've written six verses,
For your rhyming footnote,
As you pick up your coat.

[Micky Quim]

I don't agree with his statement entirely. I don't think anyone wanted him to fail. But he wasn't wanted because he was obviously brought in to be an Ashley yes man and lets be honest, he was not considered a good manager that any PL team would want.

But he does have a cabbage head.

[Remember Colo]

I don't agree with his statement entirely. I don't think anyone wanted him to fail. But he wasn't wanted because he was obviously brought in to be an Ashley yes man and lets be honest, he was not considered a good manager that any PL team would want.

But he does have a cabbage head.

I think this "yes man" idea is a bit overblown. I don't think the club targets "yes men", so much as only desperate managers (who are willing to be one) will take the job. He was definitely only brought in because they couldn't get the other like 15 choices who turned them down.

Edit: To go farther, I don't think Ashley ever had a problem saying no to demands from anyone, just as he had no problem taking stick from fans for 14 years. But most prospective managers knew they'd have little control over recruitment, and see minimal investment in players, youth or infrastructure, so they wouldn't take the job. Instead you're left with the spineless managers on the downside of their career who know this is the best job they're likely to get, and maybe still have the hubris to think they can succeed in the job.

[Donkey Toon]

The fans didn't want him to fail, his competence meant that we knew he would sooner or later.

Yes he had a difficult job and many fans were against him from the start. He did a decent enough job first season, I was on record saying I thought he was doing better than Rafa at that stage. But he went rapidly down hill in my opinion from there. His constant whinging in the press just added an extra reason to want him gone.

Sympathy, none from me. I would love to get paid handsomely whilst doing an average to mediocre job and then get an £8m payoff when you leave. The media and fan criticism is part of the reason for the massive salary which his 40 years in the job should have already prepared him for. Bye Bruce ... door ... arse ... way out.

[gola]

So farewell then Steve,
I can't really grieve,
No crocodile tears,
But also no cheers,

For the Toon you've a soft spot
You gave it your best shot,
Without wishing to sound too callous,
It was always a poison chalice,

It takes some dexterity,
To foster popularity,
It's not easy to sway,
The Toon's mainstay.

In your chequered coaching career,
You've found hard to endear,
Fans of local a rival,
Upon your arrival.

The trace of your managerial flow diagram,
Both clubs in Sheffield and two in Birmingham,
Then to cross the boundary line,
Between the Wear and the Tyne,

So whilst some may hurl curses,
I've written six verses,
For your rhyming footnote,
As you pick up your coat.

lol so funny are ressident poet strikes again

[gola]

wat nnoys me most is like how pitiful he is n always playin victim. wen we got bort out he was like 'oh its my 1000th game isnt it typical that i wnt be able to play it' and then he gets the game n hes like 'noone shud hav 2 go thru that and wat i went thru'. hang on steve u asked for it and u asked probs cos u fort u were gonna get sacked and wwantd pity again and then u get it and u still make excuses thats wat annoys me most i think, its the excuses its so fuckin annoyin hes not the ;eader or man u want runnin things. and lastly he knew wat he was gettin into b4 he gt the job, he knew itd be hard n he still went for job cos he new hed get a massive payoff. thats y n thats all its ever been n u know wat? he will b back in another job this is job more pty from him. he; b bk cos ppl like tht love money n thats all ther life is. also as iv sed b4 i can list probs 3 games out nearly 100 that were enjoyable n yes we finishd in decent positions but like the opposite of that stewart lee sketch u can prove anythiun with facts lol bt serious u can those stats neglect 2 tell u the real story of his time here. thank f*** its over

[Ivan Drago]

I loved the way he would take all of the praise when we won, But blamed the players and fans when we lost,

[gola]

yeh. wat a surprise he said he wanted man utd job. weird that lol fort he was retirin