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The Championship and Lower Leagues Thread 2011/2


patiirc

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This is what they're reporting:

 

Hull City have offered Steve Bruce a job as the club's new manager, BBC Radio Humberside reports.

 

The Tigers have been managerless since sacking Nick Barmby last month.

 

Bruce, the former Birmingham City, Wigan and Sunderland boss, has been out of the game since being sacked by the Black Cats in November 2011.

 

Barmby was removed from his position at the KC Stadium after less than six months in charge following comments he made to the media.

 

The club's owners, the Allams, have said that there are still two candidates under consideration, with one believed to be Bruce.

 

After a successful playing career, Bruce stepped into management with Sheffield United in 1998 but moved on to Huddersfield just one year later.

 

Brief spells with the Latics and Crystal Palace followed before he took over at St Andrews, leading Blues to the Premier League in his first season.

 

He returned to the DW Stadium in November 2007 to replace Chris Hutchings and helped them to safety and a 14th-placed finish before guiding them to 11th in his only full season.

 

Niall Quinn appointed him as Sunderland manager for the start of the 2009/10 campaign and, having finished 13th and 10th in his first two seasons, he was relieved of his duties after a poor start to the 2011/12 season saw them record just two wins in their first 13 matches.

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They'll probably be a good fit for each other. Bruce should be suitably humbled by the fact numerous managerless premiership clubs have seen through his disgraceful and disastrous post-sacking PR offensive that aimed to blame everyone but himself for his unemployed status, and should be hungry to rebuild his reputation. Equally, Hull is probably the right size of club where the fans will show the patience needed for him to get it right.

 

As much as he burned his bridges with us, I still think of him as a competent if limited manager with a reasonable eye for a player. He should be more than good enough for the championship.

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That's not quite true, is it? He had a spell of flip-flopping around a number of clubs at the start of his career achieving very little before he settled at Birmingham and made his mark over a number of years. He unquestionably did a good job at Wigan, and started well at our place, but the only reason his reign at Sunderland can still be remembered as a qualified success is because he was sacked before he could take us down.

 

I think my initial assessment is fair. He's relatively good at stabilising a struggling club (though he did build and dismantle three separate teams in his time here), but his cup record is awful and IIRC he's only finished in the top half of the premiership once in his career. As I said, for a club in the position Hull are now, he's a perfect fit.

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Problem is, people think it's an exact science. It's not. Bruce, like pretty much any manager, has trouble once they're knocked off course. Things like losing key strikers or having young players sold from under you will derail what you're trying to do. As I pointed out on the other thread, the club being well-run (and functionally-run), will set the tone for the manager.

 

Bruce did well at Sheffield United, got them to just outside the playoff places despite being in one of their many crises. He did well at Huddersfield, though they were always a centre back shy of a promotion chaser and he was sacked after a slow start the following season. The chairman hired him, fell out with him and was then itching to get rid of him. He wasn't at Wigan or Palace long enough to judge, though he left Palace when they were at the top of the league. He got Birmingham promoted twice and did a good job at Wigan. He had one good season with Sunderland. However, you can't tell me they are the bastion of a well-run football club. O'Neill's had some initial success but once he starts buying players, then we'll see how good or bad he is. Besides, whose team is it?

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