Re: Match Thread: The Greatest v Preston North End

[FoxyAV]

Oh dear.

[FoxyAV]

Right, so how's Tuanzebe doing, and how's Thor on the wing? Anyone getting the ball to Hogan on the ground or is it just coming in the air?

[De Kuip]

0-1 and a festival of long balls from Villa according to the mail

[Army villain]

See if we can come back from a goal down,fingers crossed

[Guest]

Same shite inept clueless dogshit steve bruce football. Take Grealish out of this team and BrBruce has achieved fuck all in 12 months

[De Kuip]

Another Johnstone cock up apparently - poor punch out straight to their guy who nets it.
Same worry as against Fulham- where are the goals in this team?

[Army villain]

Thor has a yellow card, and it's all hoof ball, only good news slum are two down.

[AstonThriller]

See if we can come back from a goal down,fingers crossed

Don't bet on it, we've only come back to win from a goal down twice since Bruce took over. And I think we've only drawn one or two from a goal down too. So the omens aren't good at all.

[VTID85]

Totally abject, total fucking sham.

[FoxyAV]

Amazing isn't it. For whatever reason we're sticking with Bruce. Am I preaching to the converted or talking bollocks (or just to myself!) when I ask if the people who run this club can just make him have the help he needs? He must be doing something right for us to keep him but as far as I can tell he doesn't know how to select the strongest side from the players available to him, doesn't know how to even play the correct players for each position - in essence he doesn't seem able to get them to succeed in any way we can attribute to him - it just feels like luck and chance. If he just disappeared would we play any better or worse? Who knows. And that's surely not the mark of a good manager.

I was talking to a Fulham fan on the tube on Sunday before the match and he said their form was almost entirely down to their manager, how he had the team playing, selections and tactics. And it looked like they ramped it up after half time while it seemed like our players went off, stuck on their headphones, sucked on half an orange and meandered back for the second half.

So assuming Bruce contributes something, at what point do the people running the club think to themselves 'maybe if we paid someone bloody skilled in tactics and analysis £200k or so to be the brains for the operation we might stand a chance'?

My father-in-law thinks I'm nuts complaining about Onomah being played as AM and the negative way the team is set up, we (were) in second and that must mean Bruce is doing the right thing. Pundits reckon the sun shines out of his arse. He's had teams promoted from the Championship four times so he must know what he's doing, blah-de-blah.

Maybe hoofball worked for Bruce before. Maybe playing as many defensive players as possible worked for him before. Who knows. But when he declines to play our spare number 10 and leaves him to shine in the U23s while playing a DM who is clearly completely disinterested in such an important position and he's screwing up the striker's preferred supply route, surely someone has to take responsibility and hand over some of these tactical decisions to someone who knows what they're doing?

[De Kuip]

You're only echoing everything I've been thinking mate. I actually started to doubt my doubt (if you get my meaning) a couple of weeks ago and said maybe Bruce was better than id given him credit for. Looks like normal service has been resumed.
We'd better come the fuck out all guns blazing second half or we're fecked.

[De Kuip]

Right, well Davis and Grabban on at HT so at least there's a proactive response from Bruce.

[Guest]

They simply are not coached in modern football. They are completely unable to recieve the ball, pass, move and have the individual ability to create. Mind fucking boggles.

How anyone thinks Bruce is the way forward I'll never ever fucking know.

This is bloody awful.

[Guest]

If we could win a trophy by passing backwards we'd have the cabinet full, that's for sure

[FoxyAV]

You're only echoing everything I've been thinking mate. I actually started to doubt my doubt (if you get my meaning) a couple of weeks ago and said maybe Bruce was better than id given him credit for. Looks like normal service has been resumed.
We'd better come the fuck out all guns blazing second half or we're fecked.

We've lucked our way into a team that could win and now a couple of players are out the whole thing is screwed and we're back to blundering around hoping on some luck on the end of a hoofball.

So how are we set up if Snodgrass and Hourihane are off, in a 4-4-2 but with who on right wing? Onomah? Thor? Was Snodgrass injured?

[Guest]

One player that actually capable of doing everything we lack is MOTM and playing for Preston, and is a former academy lad. Yet once again our own academy lads are not given a chance cause we need to play Onomah and what not. Couldn't make it up. This club belongs in the stone age.

[FoxyAV]

No, wait, Hogan is still on so are we a 4-3-3? What the hell is going on?

[FoxyAV]

I can hear that cheer from Hampshire!

[VTID85]

Fuck on that you lily white sugarbags!

[Guest]

So he has refused to play two strikers all season. Now we are clueless and he thinks three strikers are the answer. I really think managers are fucking thick.

[De Kuip]

Let's push on and get the winner then please get our injured lads back for the next game!

[De Kuip]

They've had 21 shots

[FoxyAV]

Five fucking nil (so far). It's got to be worth finding those highlights tomorrow!

[De Kuip]

Five fucking nil (so far). It's got to be worth finding those highlights tomorrow!

Absolutely fecking hilarious. Always cheers me up to see those sad sugarbags get hammered.

[Guest]

Maybe the most boring football match I've ever watched

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