December 5th was the last time I wrote about Steve Bruce and it actually seems a lifetime ago. We'd just beaten Shrewsbury away and at the time I wrote:
The ironic thing is that since then we have Played 22 Won 9 Drawn 10 Lost 3. If you'd have told me back then that we would only lose 3 of the following games (one to Wrexham with the worst penalty decision I've ever seen and one to Leyton Orient where we had a ridiculous amount of chances to bury the game), I'd have said you were mad. At that point we'd lost 7 of our 18 games and the season seemed to be running away from us. Had this been the start to our season we could have looked at about 80 points based on those results - maybe not enough to get us automatically promoted, but more than enough to have seen us in the Play Offs. Add to that the momentum we have, the run we are on, the way the team is performing and the improvement we're seeing from players under Bruce and I think we could have easily been looking at automatic had the season started 4 months later. However, the fact is that the start of the season irreparably damaged our promotion hopes. I realise we can still get to those Play Offs, and whilst my heart would entirely agree, my head says we're 2/3 games and wins short of being real contenders.
However, the other main thing I wrote about in that article was Steve Bruce, where I was trying to assess what sort of manager he was:
Aside from one or two exceptions, our injury and suspension record has improved immeasurably in the second half of the season and that has given us a more accurate picture of the sort of manager Steve Bruce is. For a start the arrivals of Bloxham, Ennis and Silvera has given some real impetus to the team whilst the brave decision to let Joseph leave, not renew Ballard's loan and let Norburn and Rhodes go on loan has paid dividends. Too often we have kept players who have become deadwood and I admired Bruce's decisions in January. The main difference for me though, and I hinted at it in that first article, is the improvement in a number of players. Tyrer, Carey and Fletcher have been different players since the turn of the year and that is what excites me most about Bruce. He sticks with a formation that works, he clearly gets the best out of the players and he has ditched Critchley's 'Player Randomiser' which used to select the most bizarre first eleven every game.
I haven't felt an affinity to a Blackpool manager like I have with Bruce since the days of Billy Ayre. A gentleman, not a glory seeker, a football man and someone who doesn't take the fans for granted. I was slightly disappointed after the Bolton game that, only then, he referred to 'hearing the roar of the Blackpool crowd' that he'd heard so much about. Since Homecoming Day and the Championship season under Critchley, it has felt like the positive vibes have been missing from Bloomfield Road and I hope this last few weeks and the heightened optimism and enjoyment of our club will hold us in good stead for the future. Getting the 12th man back for next season could be our best signing.
I think we have the best manager in this league (it's been easy for Chris Davies, Phil Parkinson and Mike Dodds with the deep pockets of the owners of their clubs) and the future excites me. We've all had a taste of what's to come and the club now need to wake up to this and not take that fan base or this manager for granted. There is a real opportunity here to really push forward and this summer and the start of next season really excites me. This is not to say that I have written this season off and have already got my day to Rotherham booked. Who knows how long this run will last but it's an unexpected bonus in what has been a transformative season with a manager who has exceeded all my expectations.
We are just 5 games away from the mid-point of the season and the 14 point gap to the Top two seems pretty insurmountable but the 7 points between us and the Top 6 remains the main if unlikely, target.
The ironic thing is that since then we have Played 22 Won 9 Drawn 10 Lost 3. If you'd have told me back then that we would only lose 3 of the following games (one to Wrexham with the worst penalty decision I've ever seen and one to Leyton Orient where we had a ridiculous amount of chances to bury the game), I'd have said you were mad. At that point we'd lost 7 of our 18 games and the season seemed to be running away from us. Had this been the start to our season we could have looked at about 80 points based on those results - maybe not enough to get us automatically promoted, but more than enough to have seen us in the Play Offs. Add to that the momentum we have, the run we are on, the way the team is performing and the improvement we're seeing from players under Bruce and I think we could have easily been looking at automatic had the season started 4 months later. However, the fact is that the start of the season irreparably damaged our promotion hopes. I realise we can still get to those Play Offs, and whilst my heart would entirely agree, my head says we're 2/3 games and wins short of being real contenders.
However, the other main thing I wrote about in that article was Steve Bruce, where I was trying to assess what sort of manager he was:
It really is hard to work out as he seems to be putting out fires in every game. The squad has it's limitations, the injuries and suspensions means the manager has not been able to get any consistency and the punishing fixture schedule means he's probably not had the time to work with the players the way he'd want to. We seem to have a bit more freedom on the ball, are less rigid than under Critchley and it does feel three or four players have improved under the new manager.
Aside from one or two exceptions, our injury and suspension record has improved immeasurably in the second half of the season and that has given us a more accurate picture of the sort of manager Steve Bruce is. For a start the arrivals of Bloxham, Ennis and Silvera has given some real impetus to the team whilst the brave decision to let Joseph leave, not renew Ballard's loan and let Norburn and Rhodes go on loan has paid dividends. Too often we have kept players who have become deadwood and I admired Bruce's decisions in January. The main difference for me though, and I hinted at it in that first article, is the improvement in a number of players. Tyrer, Carey and Fletcher have been different players since the turn of the year and that is what excites me most about Bruce. He sticks with a formation that works, he clearly gets the best out of the players and he has ditched Critchley's 'Player Randomiser' which used to select the most bizarre first eleven every game.
I haven't felt an affinity to a Blackpool manager like I have with Bruce since the days of Billy Ayre. A gentleman, not a glory seeker, a football man and someone who doesn't take the fans for granted. I was slightly disappointed after the Bolton game that, only then, he referred to 'hearing the roar of the Blackpool crowd' that he'd heard so much about. Since Homecoming Day and the Championship season under Critchley, it has felt like the positive vibes have been missing from Bloomfield Road and I hope this last few weeks and the heightened optimism and enjoyment of our club will hold us in good stead for the future. Getting the 12th man back for next season could be our best signing.
I think we have the best manager in this league (it's been easy for Chris Davies, Phil Parkinson and Mike Dodds with the deep pockets of the owners of their clubs) and the future excites me. We've all had a taste of what's to come and the club now need to wake up to this and not take that fan base or this manager for granted. There is a real opportunity here to really push forward and this summer and the start of next season really excites me. This is not to say that I have written this season off and have already got my day to Rotherham booked. Who knows how long this run will last but it's an unexpected bonus in what has been a transformative season with a manager who has exceeded all my expectations.
