Man City 5-0 Newcastle - Wednesday 8th July, 2020

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Harvsky said:

So we are not allowed to express any form of discomfort with being bossed at home by Brighton and Norwich City and having the worst possession stats in Europe without being accused of being toxic and entitled.

We are not allowed to provide a fuller assessment of Bruce unless it matches the Southern media's assessment of what is a good job. Can't even say he's done OK but that's short of good.

Rather than asking if the points are correct and fair, if it isn't positive then it's the result of toxic Bruce hatred.

No money has really been invested in the squad though. Staying up is really an achievement under Ashley. The point is though of Newcastle were 15th in the league now fans would still be happy with benitez. But whatever bruce does is wrong. The fact is getting points is the most important thing. Bruce has done ok. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Gunnersauraus said:

No money has really been invested in the squad though. Staying up is really an achievement under Ashley. The point is though of Newcastle were 15th in the league now fans would still be happy with benitez. But whatever bruce does is wrong. The fact is getting points is the most important thing. Bruce has done ok. 

Didn't they spend a shitload on Joelinton? Seems they had money to spend, but only once they let Rafa go tbh.

I wouldn't blame Newcastle fans for being upset about the types of performances they were watching under Bruce in the first half of the season. They were playing some total dogshit football and somehow scrapping points despite the quality of the football - I think @Harvsky said, numerous times too, that the level of football getting those kind of results was "unsustainable."

I think the quality of the football's improved though, so that's got to be encouraging to them.

But matches like this, where you're giving a Pep Guardiola side pretty much free reign of the ball... that's never really going to go well and you let a side that good keep the ball and keep making chances and there's a good chance you'll get absolutely thumped. Not every side is going to be able to weather the storm like Southampton did & hardly ever contesting the ball against a side takes away probably their best weapon against a side like that... counter attacking.

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Didn't they spend a shitload on Joelinton? Seems they had money to spend, but only once they let Rafa go tbh.

I wouldn't blame Newcastle fans for being upset about the types of performances they were watching under Bruce in the first half of the season. They were playing some total dogshit football and somehow scrapping points despite the quality of the football - I think @Harvsky said, numerous times too, that the level of football getting those kind of results was "unsustainable."

I think the quality of the football's improved though, so that's got to be encouraging to them.

But matches like this, where you're giving a Pep Guardiola side pretty much free reign of the ball... that's never really going to go well and you let a side that good keep the ball and keep making chances and there's a good chance you'll get absolutely thumped. Not every side is going to be able to weather the storm like Southampton did & hardly ever contesting the ball against a side takes away probably their best weapon against a side like that... counter attacking.

But he still has a squad that hasn't been that heavily invested in. Plus Newcastle have the worst owner in the league. I just think he gets to much stick. 

[Honey Honey]

Spent £70m in the summer.

That's fairly irrelevant though. What has squad investment got to do with the lowest possession stats in Europe and being bossed at home by Brighton and Norwich?

It can only matter if you think our squad is considerably worse than they have and everyone in the league. 

Last season wasn't a good season for Newcastle because the first half of it we couldn't score for shit. Yet it ended with great promise and the team looking on the verge of a top 8 challenge for next year. We won 28 points in that 2nd half of the season and could give anyone a game and be in with a chance.

This sort of thing is vital for making an assessment of a season. What you see on the pitch and not on paper is what fans use to judge direction of travel. Many years ago Bobby Robson was finishing mid table, on paper no better than Ruud Gullit before him. The difference is if you were there watching the games you saw a difference and you knew they were working in the right direction and the patience offered to Robson was right. A league table pundit wouldn't know any of that, wouldn't consider it, would reject it.

We are on 18 points for the 2nd half of the season at the munute under Bruce with 4 games to go. We had 25 points in the first half of the season. We were utter shite in that first half and much improved in the 2nd, a completely different side at times. Without the context of what has gone on on the pitch, a league table pundit would think Newcastle don't get 7 more points they have got worse as the season went on.

 

If we smash these last 4 games I might move Bruce from OK to good. If it looks promising for next year. It's not there yet but it is heading that way to his credit. I've already given that praise originally but I'm not going to wipe the first half of the season from my memory. I consider that time an alarm bell.