[Archived] Steve Bruce

[Flopsy]

huh huh huh huh huh

[pleasure]

I missed the r on the last word of the first sentence at first.

good god!

[pleasure]

sutton is going back to 'big club.'

http://www.fansfc.com/frontpage/frontpagen...p?newsid=155632

again illustrating birmingham city's status.

[philipl]

Quite astonishing considering the cloud under which he left with disciplinary problems and Sullivan moaning about having paid him £40K per week.

[Philly Rover ®]

Here's the SkySports article on Sutton

I have to say, though, that the strangest part of that article is the very bottom: "Meanwhile, Blues have reportedly lodged a £1 million move for Fulham's Brian McBride to replace Emile Heskey who departed for Wigan earlier this summer."

Wasn't McBride Fulham's Player of the Season last year? Why would they want to give him up when they really have no other reliable strikers? And why do Brum think McBride would want to move down a division given the success he's had in the Premiership? The Big Club folly never ends I suppose.

[Drakefyre]

Maybe they think DeRossi addled his brains.

[thenodrog]

Wasn't McBride Fulham's Player of the Season last year? Why would they want to give him up when they really have no other reliable strikers? And why do Brum think McBride would want to move down a division given the success he's had in the Premiership? The Big Club folly never ends I suppose.

Prob a marketing exercise. I can't see him going there that's for sure but maybe with selling so many players it's likely that their season tckt sales have slumped and they are 'bigging up' their profile in any way they can to appease their fans.

[Philly Rover ®]

Sort of akin to their website announcement last summer that they'd had a bid accepted for Bellamy?

You're probably right, theno... though that doesn't make it any less pathetic.

[1864roverite]

there is a report about stating Bruce will get 10m to spend as a result of ht elatest sales at st andrews. I wonder who wil go there for championship football ?

Its a very strong league this year and i dont think brum will feature top 6

[ad0102]

What I do not understand about the birmingham owners is that they wouldn't back Bruce in January and therefore only could get DJ Campbell and Sutton who both did nothing, yet they seem to be backing him now by giving him money to spend.

He must be the luckiest manager in the country not to get sacked after his track record in the transfer market and on the pitch over the last season and a half.

Bruce has been getting his excuses in eary, going on today about what a tough division it is, I cant think of a team in that division that will be anywhere good enough for the premiership (maybe WBA). Can even see Burnley finishing top half.

Even though I think Brum will just scrap into the play offs this year, but I dont see them going up.

[AussieinUk]

It kind of helps when 6-7 senior players are released and then they sell another two players for around +£12m (£5.5m + £6.7m).

I dont see them coming up either.

[Blue blood]

Much as I loath the guy he seems to be doing well in the transfer market. Anyone who can get 5 million for heskey after the woeful season he's had and from the position of a relegated club has to be a decent dealer in the transfer market and can negotiate my next contract for me. Equally Pennant's fee is fairly impressive too.

Actually Bruce isn't that bad in the transfer market he just seems to jinx players. It's a player management problem, the players' talent isn't much of an issue - they've got it they just start playing badly when he's managing them. I've never seen so many player's form shoots down when he gets them.

[Philly Rover ®]

Exactly, blue blood. Bruce is the poster child for fielding a team whose whole is much less than the sum of its parts.

We should be glad that Bruce is still there. With him as manager Brum will struggle much more than they should, especially given the talent that's on that roster (from a Championship perspective).

Edited July 28, 2006 by Philly Rover ®

[philipl]

SHOCK REVELATION

There is a club bigger than BIG CLUB:

"The Birmingham chairman David Gold has defended the sale of the winger Jermaine Pennant to Liverpool and pledged the £7m transfer fee will be used to bring in players. "People have to be realistic," Gold said. "Did they want us to chain him to the fence? It was the chance for Jermaine to join one of the greatest clubs in the world. You can't say no."

Taken from The Guardian.

What makes this really funny is that Arsenal get 25% of the transfer through a sell-on clause from when they sold Pennant to Brum. So a bit tricky for Gold to give all £7m to the transfer kitty.

Interestingly, West Ham get 15% of the Carrick transfer fee through a sell-on clause as well. That's a nice bonus for the WHammers.

[FourLaneBlue]

Its a very strong league this year and i dont think brum will feature top 6

Couldn't agree less, it's the weakest it has been since I can remember and it wasn't a strong league last year. Not one side in that division would do anything but come back down again, except for Birmingham, even Leeds wouldn't be able to spend much if they got back up. Birmingham should come back up comfortably, if not...bye bye Brucie.

And rightly so too!

[Ozz]

he really is unlikeable bruce, he puts the geordie accent on edven moore when his team are playniung bewcastleba nall/.

he says wer instead of our.

he lookslike a girl, the big girl

[philipl]

Interesting divergence of opinions about the relative strengths of the second division next season.

In terms of relative size of clubs, there are a lot of city clubs in there which should pull decent sized crowds. On that score, clubs like Rovers in the Prem will get embarassed again.

I expect that Palace, Southampton and Norwich will put last season's embarassments behind them and mount a decent challenge, West brom look the best equipped of the relegated clubs whilst Sunderland are the archetypical yoyo outfit as well. The re-financed Derby might mount a challenge. Beyond that, Brum will have it all their own way irrespective of the shortcomings of the Manager.

[herbergeehh]

Jaidi on his way to "big club"??

[philipl]

"I think he'd do better to keep his mouth shut," Heskey on Sullivan according to the News of the Screws.

[G Somerset Rover]

Why does Dunn not get into Big Clubs starting 11? Bruce moans and moans about how he never has him fit, and then he keeps putting him on the bench.

[philipl]

Dunn has been very poor in their games so far and has fallen out with Bruce as well.

Seems that the lad's heart is elsewhere.

[Philly Rover ®]

But it doesn't matter if his heart is here if he's not playing well enough in the Championship. Sparky will never look at him unless he can produce some kind of form and stay healthy for Brum... so while I'll continue to root against the Big Club, I'll be hoping Dunn himself turns things around.

[Drakefyre]

Has Danns displaced Dunn at Brum?

There's a shocker ...

[cloggyjimmybrfc]

cant believe thats there 30 pages for the handsome steve bruce

[herbergeehh]

My all time favourite thread, to be honest - how sad is that?

edit: Obviously beaten by Lofty's rants, but I came in a few hours too late for that one..

Edited August 13, 2006 by herbergeehh