Sheff Utd 4 – 1 Villa; Just a matter of time for Bruce’s sacking

Footy’s a fickle game.

It was only a week or so ago that we played Brentford and quite a few of us said that it was the best that we’d played in a very long time.
But from what I’ve been reading on the net, today’s performance was worse that the 0-3 drubbing we suffered at Cardiff last season, which was a massive low point in itself.

I didn’t see the game and it’s probably just as well, as I’ve no doubt I’d be saying Bruce has to go.
The good news is the fact that I didn’t see it somewhat tempers my attitude for this post.
Not that it matters much, as I’ve come round to thinking that Bruce’s departure is now looking inevitable, regardless of what I think.

It’s all a bit of a shame really and it seems strange that we’re talking about Bruce’s departure when a couple of brilliant signings in Bolasie and Abraham haven’t even played for us yet.

Yet Bruce has lost the support of the away fans.
When that happens, it’s only a matter time.

I’ve often said that all that matters is the result and it means the performances don’t matter so much as long as you get the three points.
But that thinking is only good when you’re winning.
In the last five games, we’ve drawn three and lost two and apart from the Brentford game, have performed very poorly.
And that’s simply not good enough.

It’s not just the performances for me though.
Some of Bruce’s decisions are not making sense to me.
We’re playing Jedinak in defence, something the vast majority of fans don’t agree with, yet we’ve let Elphick, who played well and was unlucky to be dropped, the last time he played, go out on loan.
How will we stand if Chester gets injured?

Then there’s Bruce’s slating of the team in the Burton game.
While I thought he was very honest (and probably 100% correct) in that interview, I also had to ask if that was the best way to do it. I wonder how many of those players will be willing to go the extra mile for Bruce now?

I commented last time, that I thought Bruce’s treatment of Adomah was disgraceful.

And now there’s the fact that he’s playing players who aren’t fit.
In the manager’s defence, he’s saying that all the players wanted to play and declared themselves fit.

But it all seems to me that losing games in the style we did today, with our squad; making seemingly dodgy choices and alienating your players all means your days are numbered.
And there’s still the matter where we don’t seem to have any sort of plan and the players are playing simply because they’re good.

Even if we get a result in the next couple of games, I can only see the away fans itching for Bruce to lose again.
And the protests will be bigger and louder.

I think now might be a good time for a “mutual agreement” settlement, but I don’t think Bruce will look to resign.

As I said, it’s a shame it’s come to this, but the only way Bruce can redeem himself is to suddenly go out with a much more attacking outlook.
And we all know that just isn’t going to happen, regardless of all the attacking players we’ve signed.
Which is something else that doesn’t make sense to me.