Yep agree with all of that. I was just pointing out we did try something (running through midfield) other than just Robbo and TAA's crosses and Hendo's bloody pointless attempts at the same.
Newcastle vs Liverpool Weds 8pm
- Thread starter Dreambeliever
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We were desperate for a second goal and starting to force the play....while we were winning.
Why?
Retain possession, play it around the back, draw the game out for a boring win. We'd done the hard work and broke them down once, so why open up space and allow them the chance to attack
as the game draws on, they have to come out, meaning more space for a mo 90th minute counter goal.
Why?
Retain possession, play it around the back, draw the game out for a boring win. We'd done the hard work and broke them down once, so why open up space and allow them the chance to attack
as the game draws on, they have to come out, meaning more space for a mo 90th minute counter goal.
I also believe Ox was the wrong choice .. and too late anyway. Shaq. would have been far more use against that tight double bank.
Agreed, Shaq was the obvious one for me. Tight control and inventiveness like against West ham would have been crucial. But I can also see why he brought ox on
Well, in a reign that's difficult to criticise at all, it's always been my one minor gripe, that we don't make subs early or often enough and it's often just reactionary or out of habit, ie, what's the point in throwing Origi on for 3 minutes, as is often the case? And I agree re the injuries comment. You can't moan about injuries and then take risks on essential players in an away CL game that is of no consequence. Or indulge in players who are clearly having an off day when you have others on the bench who can offer something fresh/different. I'd argue that Shaq and Ox are both unfit and maybe aren't ready to play a substantial chunk of the game, but at home against WBA is probably a more ideal opportunity than the upcoming fixtures, they have to get match fit somewhere.
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He’s dead as we all know.
I actually think we'll struggle as we have no defenders.
Fully expect the travel tavern to score
[article]
On how far away Thiago is from returning and whether he has any chance for Newcastle...
No, Thiago did parts of training so far, was in… today is Sunday, so on Friday he trained the full session but the session was a reduced session, so he could do that. He has to be part of team training, it's not about training one day with the team and then you can play football in the Premier League again. It looks quite promising in the moment but I cannot say more about it, to be honest. I don't know. I think the plan was that he trains tomorrow [Monday] completely normal but we will see that.
[/article]
On how far away Thiago is from returning and whether he has any chance for Newcastle...
No, Thiago did parts of training so far, was in… today is Sunday, so on Friday he trained the full session but the session was a reduced session, so he could do that. He has to be part of team training, it's not about training one day with the team and then you can play football in the Premier League again. It looks quite promising in the moment but I cannot say more about it, to be honest. I don't know. I think the plan was that he trains tomorrow [Monday] completely normal but we will see that.
[/article]
We never get any sense about thiago. Always nearly. Never there. Very annoying
I've completely written off ever seeing Thiago. It's pointless even discussing him.
Just go instagram he’s everywhere on there.
I like that but I would swap Gini and Henderson. Henderson makes a better CB mentally and positioning wise but I do see your point in Gini as Gini is an excellent presser but I'd prefer his energy in midfield. Also Henderson's passing is still good enough that he can still whip some through balls from defence
Thiago has came to Liverpool and is not messing about, he's started early doors to show Keita that the "Sturridge & Lallana" Trophy is his this year!
We haven't really got the midfield strength to take hendo out of there though
I do like the idea of hendo being a sweeper however
He can do that anyway. If we put him in defense it becomes a two fold issue - we lose his energy in midfield and we probably sacrifice a bit of natural defensive instinct at the back, even though Rhys is vastly inexperienced.
If there is a game that suits Ox it is Scrabble with the tea lady.
Is he smart enough?
We should never let a game against a Steve Bruce team go by without seizing the opportunity to recall and admire his magnificent literary career:
Steve Bruce - you know him right? Football manager and Manchester United hero.
A league-winning captain and no-nonsense centre half who was arguably the best to never play for his country.
But there's more to Bruce, a hidden depth of literary aspiration.
A little-known alternative career that involved plotting murder-most-foul instead of just plotting how to win three points at the weekend.
Meet Steve Bruce, crime writer.
In 1999, Bruce published three little-read but increasingly-sought after books of football-centric murder and mayhem - Striker!, Sweeper! and Defender!
While the novels have long been known, and described by Bruce himself as a "laughing stock", they remerged recently thanks to the work of Northern Ireland-born writer, and self-professed expert on Steve Bruce's literary career, Seamas O'Reilly.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTSEAMAS O'REILLY
image captionThe dead striker on the cover of the book appears to be a giant
Spurred on by an interest in "really terrible books", he was inspired to seek out the rare novels, despite some copies costing upwards of £100 online.
Thanks to some help through social media appeals, Seamas was able to get a hold of all three.
His resultant reviews proved so popular they were published by football site The Set Pieces, even attracting the attention of football podcasts broadcast by The Guardian and the Irish Times.
The resultant viral chatter on Steve Bruce's writing career became so loud the family were forced to respond.
'A good egg'
First son Alex, also a professional footballer, told BBC Five Live his father didn't write the books - before making a quick U-Turn on Twitter.
Then Bruce senior told Sky Sports the books were "genuine". When asked why he hasn't written any more, he said: "Have you read them? Go and read them and you'll understand why."
"I do have a real soft spot for Steve Bruce," said Seamas. "I'm happy to have played a role in bringing his literary worth to light."
Bruce is a "good egg", said the Derry-born writer - albeit one so hard-boiled, he put together three novels following the football-noir adventures of Leddersford Town manager Steve Barnes.
Striker! opens with Leddersford's star forward found stabbed to death in the changing room. Naturally, Barnes, already a suspect, is forced into trying to solve the case.
Kidnappings, betrayal and suspense
Seamas managed to buy a copy, stamped as originally belonging to a library on the Shetland Islands, for a relatively benign £12.
Worth every penny too, he said. He devoured its 127 pages and went straight back again for seconds.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTALLSPORT/GETTY IMAGES
image caption
"I loved it. There was just so much mad stuff," he said. "The book is filled with kidnappings, betrayal and suspense. Near the finish, a sniper shoots a football out from under the foot of Steve Barnes as he's standing in the technical area at the end of a game.
"This is three pages from the end.
"I published a review of 3,000 words, but it could have been 8,000."
According to Seamas, second in the series Sweeper! (a book about the kidnapping of the club's janitor, pun fans) is the "magnum opus" while Defender! is "disappointing" and "incident-free".
However, all three are highly recommended for giving the reader a fully-constructed literary world that our resident Steve Bruce expert has dubbed "the Bruniverse".
"There are so many strange decisions made in the writing of these books, such as the way the world is constructed," he said.
"So, for instance, there's fake names that stand in for real places, like Leddersford for Huddersfield and Mulcaster for Manchester.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTSEAMAS O'REILLY
image captionAccording to Seamas, Sweeper!, a book about the kidnapping of the club's janitor, is Bruce's "magnum opus"
"But, he also talks about Manchester United and mentions Alex Ferguson. It's like reading a Batman comic where he takes a train from Gotham to New York."
A series highlight is when Bruce manages to reference his well-known lack of international recognition.
When British Secret Service agents kidnap Steve Barnes (one of four kidnappings in the book) and ask him to go undercover, he refuses.
"He tells them, 'my country never wanted me'," said Seamas. "His reasoning for not helping counter-terrorism is not that he lacks training or expertise or that he's a middle-aged football manager, it's that he never got an international cap."
Slide tackling crime
The book also involves Barnes taking out a bad guy with - what else - a slide tackle.
After publishing his first review last year, a copy of Striker! was available on eBay for £60. By the end of 2015, it was worth £200.
Seamas said the third book would now cost at least £300, a price jump that appears to be directly related to the newly-revived attention on Bruce's literary offerings.
"I'm quite proud that apart from giving some bored office workers some lunchtime LOLs, I also managed to make the other books quite expensive for other people to buy," Seamas said.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTALL SPORT/GETTY
image captionBruce makes reference to the fact that he was never capped for his country
"It seems that the more people talk about them, the more expensive they get."
He added, tongue-firmly-in-cheek: "I do certainly like to think Steve Bruce has read the reviews.
"There's just this image in my head of Bruce at home, rushing in from training, tapping away incessantly on his Remington in an oak-pannelled study…"
Unfortunately, Bruce has ruled out further adventures from the kidnap-prone world of Steve Barnes - but at least we'll always have Leddersford.
Steve Bruce - you know him right? Football manager and Manchester United hero.
A league-winning captain and no-nonsense centre half who was arguably the best to never play for his country.
But there's more to Bruce, a hidden depth of literary aspiration.
A little-known alternative career that involved plotting murder-most-foul instead of just plotting how to win three points at the weekend.
Meet Steve Bruce, crime writer.
In 1999, Bruce published three little-read but increasingly-sought after books of football-centric murder and mayhem - Striker!, Sweeper! and Defender!
While the novels have long been known, and described by Bruce himself as a "laughing stock", they remerged recently thanks to the work of Northern Ireland-born writer, and self-professed expert on Steve Bruce's literary career, Seamas O'Reilly.
image captionThe dead striker on the cover of the book appears to be a giant
Spurred on by an interest in "really terrible books", he was inspired to seek out the rare novels, despite some copies costing upwards of £100 online.
Thanks to some help through social media appeals, Seamas was able to get a hold of all three.
His resultant reviews proved so popular they were published by football site The Set Pieces, even attracting the attention of football podcasts broadcast by The Guardian and the Irish Times.
The resultant viral chatter on Steve Bruce's writing career became so loud the family were forced to respond.
'A good egg'
First son Alex, also a professional footballer, told BBC Five Live his father didn't write the books - before making a quick U-Turn on Twitter.
Then Bruce senior told Sky Sports the books were "genuine". When asked why he hasn't written any more, he said: "Have you read them? Go and read them and you'll understand why."
"I do have a real soft spot for Steve Bruce," said Seamas. "I'm happy to have played a role in bringing his literary worth to light."
Bruce is a "good egg", said the Derry-born writer - albeit one so hard-boiled, he put together three novels following the football-noir adventures of Leddersford Town manager Steve Barnes.
Striker! opens with Leddersford's star forward found stabbed to death in the changing room. Naturally, Barnes, already a suspect, is forced into trying to solve the case.
Kidnappings, betrayal and suspense
Seamas managed to buy a copy, stamped as originally belonging to a library on the Shetland Islands, for a relatively benign £12.
Worth every penny too, he said. He devoured its 127 pages and went straight back again for seconds.
image caption
"I loved it. There was just so much mad stuff," he said. "The book is filled with kidnappings, betrayal and suspense. Near the finish, a sniper shoots a football out from under the foot of Steve Barnes as he's standing in the technical area at the end of a game.
"This is three pages from the end.
"I published a review of 3,000 words, but it could have been 8,000."
According to Seamas, second in the series Sweeper! (a book about the kidnapping of the club's janitor, pun fans) is the "magnum opus" while Defender! is "disappointing" and "incident-free".
However, all three are highly recommended for giving the reader a fully-constructed literary world that our resident Steve Bruce expert has dubbed "the Bruniverse".
"There are so many strange decisions made in the writing of these books, such as the way the world is constructed," he said.
"So, for instance, there's fake names that stand in for real places, like Leddersford for Huddersfield and Mulcaster for Manchester.
image captionAccording to Seamas, Sweeper!, a book about the kidnapping of the club's janitor, is Bruce's "magnum opus"
"But, he also talks about Manchester United and mentions Alex Ferguson. It's like reading a Batman comic where he takes a train from Gotham to New York."
A series highlight is when Bruce manages to reference his well-known lack of international recognition.
When British Secret Service agents kidnap Steve Barnes (one of four kidnappings in the book) and ask him to go undercover, he refuses.
"He tells them, 'my country never wanted me'," said Seamas. "His reasoning for not helping counter-terrorism is not that he lacks training or expertise or that he's a middle-aged football manager, it's that he never got an international cap."
Slide tackling crime
The book also involves Barnes taking out a bad guy with - what else - a slide tackle.
After publishing his first review last year, a copy of Striker! was available on eBay for £60. By the end of 2015, it was worth £200.
Seamas said the third book would now cost at least £300, a price jump that appears to be directly related to the newly-revived attention on Bruce's literary offerings.
"I'm quite proud that apart from giving some bored office workers some lunchtime LOLs, I also managed to make the other books quite expensive for other people to buy," Seamas said.
image captionBruce makes reference to the fact that he was never capped for his country
"It seems that the more people talk about them, the more expensive they get."
He added, tongue-firmly-in-cheek: "I do certainly like to think Steve Bruce has read the reviews.
"There's just this image in my head of Bruce at home, rushing in from training, tapping away incessantly on his Remington in an oak-pannelled study…"
Unfortunately, Bruce has ruled out further adventures from the kidnap-prone world of Steve Barnes - but at least we'll always have Leddersford.
Some excerpts:
“I started here when I was fifteen, straight from school. And now I’m sixty five. You don’t need a calculator to work that out.”
I did a quick sum.
“Fifty years. You’ve had a good spell, Sam.”
The Jag was in its usual place, outside the club reception. It’s an XJ8, 3.2, sports version, V Reg. As I drove fast to the infirmary, following the ambulance as it cut a swathe through the traffic I wasn’t thinking of power assisted steering and speed sensitive variable ratios…
…I was considering how life can be sweet, one minute and suddenly, without warning, we are dead. Nobody can foretell the place and hour of their death, which is perhaps as well. The important thing is to make the best of life while we can.
The XJ8 has just about everything a man could wish for in a motor car. Or, for that matter, a woman could ask for. While there are few women in the highest levels of soccer management, there are many women in business at top managerial levels. They’ll make their presence felt in soccer as the years go by. Mechanically, the car has many excellent features. 3.2 litre AAJ-V8 all alloy engine; anti-locking brake system; facia and side-airbags for both the driver and the front passenger; power assisted steering; stability control; five speed electronic automatic transmission. The audio system couldn’t be better. There are nine speakers and a six-disc CD autochanger. Do I sound like a car salesman?
Halifax, like all places in this area, is set among hills. There is moorland all around. Not as high and barren as Pennines, but windy nonetheless. Yet the valleys, with rivers and streams, are sheltered and pleasant. Until twenty or thirty years ago, this was an area that thrived on wool manufacture.
Strangely enough, I felt no fear. I’ve often wondered how I’d make out in a time of war. How do people face up to impending death? Why are some brave and others cowardly? Here I was, with a gun close to me, and I felt no fear. The situation was unreal. This was Leddersford on Saturday afternoon, not Chicago in the time of Al Capone.
“I started here when I was fifteen, straight from school. And now I’m sixty five. You don’t need a calculator to work that out.”
I did a quick sum.
“Fifty years. You’ve had a good spell, Sam.”
The Jag was in its usual place, outside the club reception. It’s an XJ8, 3.2, sports version, V Reg. As I drove fast to the infirmary, following the ambulance as it cut a swathe through the traffic I wasn’t thinking of power assisted steering and speed sensitive variable ratios…
…I was considering how life can be sweet, one minute and suddenly, without warning, we are dead. Nobody can foretell the place and hour of their death, which is perhaps as well. The important thing is to make the best of life while we can.
The XJ8 has just about everything a man could wish for in a motor car. Or, for that matter, a woman could ask for. While there are few women in the highest levels of soccer management, there are many women in business at top managerial levels. They’ll make their presence felt in soccer as the years go by. Mechanically, the car has many excellent features. 3.2 litre AAJ-V8 all alloy engine; anti-locking brake system; facia and side-airbags for both the driver and the front passenger; power assisted steering; stability control; five speed electronic automatic transmission. The audio system couldn’t be better. There are nine speakers and a six-disc CD autochanger. Do I sound like a car salesman?
Halifax, like all places in this area, is set among hills. There is moorland all around. Not as high and barren as Pennines, but windy nonetheless. Yet the valleys, with rivers and streams, are sheltered and pleasant. Until twenty or thirty years ago, this was an area that thrived on wool manufacture.
Strangely enough, I felt no fear. I’ve often wondered how I’d make out in a time of war. How do people face up to impending death? Why are some brave and others cowardly? Here I was, with a gun close to me, and I felt no fear. The situation was unreal. This was Leddersford on Saturday afternoon, not Chicago in the time of Al Capone.
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