Bruno Lage

[GoldenHorseshoe]

That doesn’t really back up your point.

He had Nunes for five games, Kaladzic for one half, Costa for literally 30 minutes and Ait-Nouri was already here.

The summer window was a shambles.

We had no striker for a few games, we had to play MGW who was desperate to leave and the bench was one of the worst I’ve ever seen at Leeds.

We weren’t ready for the new season and that fell on Shi/Sellars.

You make valid points about his coaching but totally unfair for you and others to say he was backed when whilst the money was spent eventually, he didn’t have time to put the side together as it came far too late.

Of course it backs up his point, he was refuting the point made that Lage wasn't supported by signings. The club did its bit by signing the players, it was Lage's job to blend the new and existing players into a TEAM , not play them out of position, confuse them with unintelligible babble or play them injured. He have bad luck with Kala. (possibly) but that's the what goes with the territory.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Of course it backs up his point, he was refuting the point made that Lage wasn't supported by signings. The club did its bit by signing the players, it was Lage's job to blend the new and existing players into a TEAM , not play them out of position, confuse them with unintelligible babble or play them injured. He have bad luck with Kala. (possibly) but that's the what goes with the territory.

No it doesn’t .

They signed the players too late, then we had challenging fixtures , then he was sacked.

There was no time to integrate them.

I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t have been sacked, clearly there was a few things wrong - but he wasn’t given a fair opportunity in terms of financial backing to show him the disrespect people have for him.

 

[lycophilos]

No it doesn’t .

They signed the players too late, then we had challenging fixtures , then he was sacked.

There was no time to integrate them.

I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t have been sacked, clearly there was a few things wrong - but he wasn’t given a fair opportunity in terms of financial backing to show him the disrespect people have for him.

Who is "they"? How "late" is late? How can we be sure that one reason for the "lateness" wasn't that Lage was slow in making up his mind as to who to try to get in?

And someone ought to do a survey of all the various transfers since Fosun took over to see if this continuous "meme" that Lage, in particular, wasn't "backed" has any validity. Mind you, there were constant assertions throughout Nuno's tenure that he wasn't being "backed", despite the fact that outside the "Big 6", Wolves were one of the biggest spenders.

And what is a "fair" opportunity? Contrast Lage's record with what Nuno and Lopetegui achieved in the first few games after they arrived - in Nuno's case with very little financial backing before he took over in 2017.

As for disrespect, I personally don't "disrespect" Lage. I obviously don't know him, and I wanted him to do well, because I fell in love with Wolves largely because of Nuno and his way of working, and wanted his legacy to be built on. Now that Wolves have Lopetegui that seems much more likely to happen.

What seems sadly all too clear is that by the end the players disrespected Lage, and that is the important thing, not what you or I or anyone else on this forum thinks about Bruno.

 

[arctic rime]

Lage was taking us down , at the end he’d lost the plot .

 

[WinchWolf]

No it doesn’t .

They signed the players too late, then we had challenging fixtures , then he was sacked.

There was no time to integrate them.

I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t have been sacked, clearly there was a few things wrong - but he wasn’t given a fair opportunity in terms of financial backing to show him the disrespect people have for him.

How long has it taken JL to integrate his signings?

 

[Bill S Preston Esq.]

Lage was taking us down , at the end he’d lost the plot .

I can't help but feel he was making decisions in order to get sacked.

Part of me thinks those decisions were being made at the tail end of last season and through the summer.

 

[Flump]

I can't help but feel he was making decisions in order to get sacked.

Part of me thinks those decisions were being made at the tail end of last season and through the summer.

Oh come on, why would he do that in his big chance at a PL job?

 

[Bill S Preston Esq.]

Oh come on, why would he do that in his big chance at a PL job?

He never seemed particularly enthused.

 

[hollo]

I don't agree with the narrative that nunes and guedes were attracted to wolves partly because they admired lage as a manager. When the VT came out i knew it was total bs.

 

[Flump]

He never seemed particularly enthused.

Some people just don't come that enthused generally, it's a hell of a stupid leap to infer they're trying to get the sack from a Premier League job, and the most high profile job in their short career, which would obviously damage their reputation hugely.

 

[StaffordWolf]

I don't agree with the narrative that nunes and guedes were attracted to wolves partly because they admired lage as a manager. When the VT came out i knew it was total bs.

They heard about the flexible working policy, 2 days a week you can work from home.

 

[waveney wolf]

No it doesn’t .

They signed the players too late, then we had challenging fixtures , then he was sacked.

There was no time to integrate them.

I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t have been sacked, clearly there was a few things wrong - but he wasn’t given a fair opportunity in terms of financial backing to show him the disrespect people have for him.

Yip...and he was trying to change from years of 5 at the back , to a totally dif system ...that takes time ! ...and without a fit striker for all of that time

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

How long has it taken JL to integrate his signings?

He had a 6 week window when we had costa, nunes, guedes. He’s then had the luxury of getting Cunha match fit behind the scenes whilst Jimenez and costa were now match fit

 

[Bill McCai]

Yeah - great manager. Cannot get his players fit, score after 60 mins or never come back from a goal behind. An idiot supported by idiots. Last 22 PL games = 0.77 points a game. No gravitas.

 

[WinchWolf]

He had a 6 week window when we had costa, nunes, guedes. He’s then had the luxury of getting Cunha match fit behind the scenes whilst Jimenez and costa were now match fit

Yes, but what about Lemina, Sarabia and Dawson, all in the first team asap?

 

[Mugwump]

That doesn’t really back up your point.

He had Nunes for five games, Kaladzic for one half, Costa for literally 30 minutes and Ait-Nouri was already here.

The summer window was a shambles.

We had no striker for a few games, we had to play MGW who was desperate to leave and the bench was one of the worst I’ve ever seen at Leeds.

We weren’t ready for the new season and that fell on Shi/Sellars.

You make valid points about his coaching but totally unfair for you and others to say he was backed when whilst the money was spent eventually, he didn’t have time to put the side together as it came far too late.

They could have helped him a little more, It's not unfair on him, he got backed. The way he set us up, the toxic atmosphere he created at the club and the lack of fitness are the reasons he didn't get to work longer with the players bought in. If we even looked like a remotely competitive side he would still be here now. If he felt he wasn't backed, again, he should have walked away with his reputation intact.

 

[Mugwump]

Guedes was punted instantly by Lop. Nunes has done very little in a Wolves shirt. Trincao we didn't even think was worth buying. Collins immediately dropped by Lop. Hwang terrible footballer. Kaladzic played a half. Costa hasn't scored for us and hadn't played for months. Ait-Nouri was 18 I think. Sa the only one of those who was ready for the first-team and actually proven worth the fee. Our recruitment under Bruno was crap.

Criticism of his in-game management, squad fitness, man management is fair enough, but wheeling out Costa as evidence he was backed shows how weak your argument is.

Sounds like a lage apologist to me and there seems a few of them. If recruitment was crap, or he wasn't getting what he felt he wanted he should have walked. You can't just rattle off they didn't work using hindsight, he was involved in their recruitment.

He got players in, the facts are there. He didn't get to work with them because he was a poor manager. Sure he could have got better players, but again, he should have walked if he wasn't happy.

 

[Bill S Preston Esq.]

Some people just don't come that enthused generally, it's a hell of a stupid leap to infer they're trying to get the sack from a Premier League job, and the most high profile job in their short career, which would obviously damage their reputation hugely.

It would go some way to explaining his stupid decision making though.

I'd argue Benfica is a higher profile job too.

 

[arctic rime]

Neves at centre back ? He should be sent to jail for that !

 

[Mugwump]

No it doesn’t .

They signed the players too late, then we had challenging fixtures , then he was sacked.

There was no time to integrate them.

I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t have been sacked, clearly there was a few things wrong - but he wasn’t given a fair opportunity in terms of financial backing to show him the disrespect people have for him.

People like you are saying he wasnt backed. In the summer alone, he got Guedes, Kaladzjic, Traore, Collins, Nunes, plus Hwang, Costa and RAN. Thats 2 attackers, 2 strikers, one of which was exactly the tall striker profile Bruno likes, 2 midfielders of a different type to what we had, a left back and a center half who can play on the front foot. Thats pretty much everything everyone was calling for. So its disproved the theory he wasnt backed. A lot of money spent, Players of the type he wanted as well.

Now it seems because we have proved he was backed, then a new excuse appears that it was then too late for him to integrate them and we had hard games, even though in our first 5 games we had Leeds, Bournemouth and Fulham. Despite the fact he was manager for over a year. Over a year to get systems in place for them to slot into. I can accept we might not have been firing from the start with the window as it was, but tactically the system should have been there so even if they weren't up to speed straight away the style of play should have been obvious and progressing week after week. There were just no signs.

I think its fair to say he wasnt well backed in his first season even though he did get players he wanted, Trincao and Hwang for example, but you cant level this lack of backing at him in the 2022/23 season one bit. He was just a very poor manager who couldnt get a gameplan and system together, couldnt bring the squad together because of his poor man management skills and let the fitness levels slip . Lage seems like a nice bloke, but he's not a head coach.

 

[Hawkguy]

People like you are saying he wasnt backed. In the summer alone, he got Guedes, Kaladzjic, Traore, Collins, Nunes, plus Hwang, Costa and RAN. Thats 2 attackers, 2 strikers, one of which was exactly the tall striker profile Bruno likes, 2 midfielders of a different type to what we had, a left back and a center half who can play on the front foot. Thats pretty much everything everyone was calling for. So its disproved the theory he wasnt backed. A lot of money spent, Players of the type he wanted as well.

Now it seems because we have proved he was backed, then a new excuse appears that it was then too late for him to integrate them and we had hard games, even though in our first 5 games we had Leeds, Bournemouth and Fulham. Despite the fact he was manager for over a year. Over a year to get systems in place for them to slot into. I can accept we might not have been firing from the start with the window as it was, but tactically the system should have been there so even if they weren't up to speed straight away the style of play should have been obvious and progressing week after week. There were just no signs.

I think its fair to say he wasnt well backed in his first season even though he did get players he wanted, Trincao and Hwang for example, but you cant level this lack of backing at him in the 2022/23 season one bit. He was just a very poor manager who couldnt get a gameplan and system together, couldnt bring the squad together because of his poor man management skills and let the fitness levels slip . Lage seems like a nice bloke, but he's not a head coach.

He was backed, but with no choice or say in the players. He made this very clear after he left. He also made it very clear that we sold players without his consent. We sold more than one player he wanted to keep. Clearly Lopetegui has a huge say in how he wants to shape his team, apparently Bruno did not.

Not a head coach? That seems over the top. The guy is a head coach who has had some success. Just nowhere near developed or good enough at this point for a top league.

 

[De Wolfs Mullet]

That doesn’t really back up your point.

He had Nunes for five games, Kaladzic for one half, Costa for literally 30 minutes and Ait-Nouri was already here.

The summer window was a shambles.

We had no striker for a few games, we had to play MGW who was desperate to leave and the bench was one of the worst I’ve ever seen at Leeds.

We weren’t ready for the new season and that fell on Shi/Sellars.

You make valid points about his coaching but totally unfair for you and others to say he was backed when whilst the money was spent eventually, he didn’t have time to put the side together as it came far too late.

No it doesn’t .

They signed the players too late, then we had challenging fixtures , then he was sacked.

There was no time to integrate them.

I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t have been sacked, clearly there was a few things wrong - but he wasn’t given a fair opportunity in terms of financial backing to show him the disrespect people have for him.

Out of interest does anyone else think these posters are the same guy with two different profiles? They always have the same views...

 

[WickedWolfie]

Out of interest does anyone else think these posters are the same guy with two different profiles? They always have the same views...

An interesting question... I wouldn't really have noticed because, not least to avoid further issues with the mods, l have both on 'ignore'....

 

[Fenrir_]

No it doesn’t .

They signed the players too late, then we had challenging fixtures , then he was sacked.

There was no time to integrate them.

I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t have been sacked, clearly there was a few things wrong - but he wasn’t given a fair opportunity in terms of financial backing to show him the disrespect people have for him.

He was here fifteen months, and in that time showed nothing to suggest he could be a success with us. He couldn't even mould some semblance of a style of play other than hoping not to lose by boring people to sleep

Apparently, he's a good and meticulous coach, and we saw on a few occasions he can formulate a game plan (it just depends on the opposition doing exactly what he thinks they'll do as to whether it has a chance of success), every other aspect of being a head coach, he's lacking

He's never a head coach at a top level club, he doesn't have what it takes, he's just a #2

 

[Jonzy54]

He was here fifteen months, and in that time showed nothing to suggest he could be a success with us. He couldn't even mould some semblance of a style of play other than hoping not to lose by boring people to sleep

Apparently, he's a good and meticulous coach, and we saw on a few occasions he can formulate a game plan (it just depends on the opposition doing exactly what he thinks they'll do as to whether it has a chance of success), every other aspect of being a head coach, he's lacking

He's never a head coach at a top level club, he doesn't have what it takes, he's just a #2

A number 2 who had us playing ****

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

He was here fifteen months, and in that time showed nothing to suggest he could be a success with us. He couldn't even mould some semblance of a style of play other than hoping not to lose by boring people to sleep

Apparently, he's a good and meticulous coach, and we saw on a few occasions he can formulate a game plan (it just depends on the opposition doing exactly what he thinks they'll do as to whether it has a chance of success), every other aspect of being a head coach, he's lacking

He's never a head coach at a top level club, he doesn't have what it takes, he's just a #2

I think we played some really good football with him but in his system it was massively evident that a lack of striker ****ed him over

 

[Fenrir_]

A number 2 who had us playing ****

Was hoping someone would say he's a #2 that we flushed away but that'll do!

 

[Bawtry Wolf]

No it doesn’t .

They signed the players too late, then we had challenging fixtures , then he was sacked.

There was no time to integrate them.

I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t have been sacked, clearly there was a few things wrong - but he wasn’t given a fair opportunity in terms of financial backing to show him the disrespect people have for him.

I hadn’t realised we had a self imposed transfer window that finished in early August. We signed players during the transfer window, not all of them before the Leeds game but we didn’t do all our business on August 31st.. I think, if I remember, Sasa was our last. A decent coach should understand this and deal with it. Apart from Cunha, JL has had the same resources as Lage and even with Cunha he’s taken time to bed him in. What JL has done with the same players that Lage had is made them fitter, given them focus and demonstrated what a good coach can do.

As for challenging fixtures, we had one of the easiest starts to the season. In Lage’s 8 games we only played Man City and Spurs of the traditional big 6. Newcastle had injury problems when we played them, Bournemouth were on the back of a 9-0 vs Liverpool but we couldn’t score. West Ham had hardly scored and hadn’t won all season but Lage thought it would be a good idea to ply Neves as centre half instead of Toti. Under JL I think we would have got 14-17 pts minimum from those games.

 

[Jonzy54]

Was hoping someone would say he's a #2 that we flushed away but that'll do!

This thread could lead to a chain reaction

 

[Fenrir_]

I think we played some really good football with him but in his system it was massively evident that a lack of striker ****ed him over

The best football we played under Lage we did have a centre forward in those games, his name was Raúl Jimenez. Unfortunately much of the worst football we played under Lage we also had a centre forward, whose name was also Raúl Jimenez. Lage fell out with Raúl (amongst others) and when Raúl had enough and decided he was actually injured before the Southampton game, Lage blamed the results on not having a striker. Although another game where we did play well was Villa at home, and we did have a striker, and his name was NOT Raúl Jimenez, it was Fabio Silva... who couldn't wait to get away from Lage

There's a common denominator that was the problem, and it wasn't Raúl, Silva, or a 'lack' of a striker

Edit: Let me ask you, would you say Cunha is a 'proper' striker? I wouldn't. I think he's a lovely silky footballer and a good forward (who could do with a goal) but he isn't a striker. Lopetegui is doing alright though, eh?

 

[Mugwump]

I think we played some really good football with him but in his system it was massively evident that a lack of striker ****ed him over

Lack of ability ****ed him over more.

Even without a striker ( and he could have used Silva more ) that doesnt make the rest of the team as bad as it was. That doesnt stop you have a clear style of play. That doesnt stop you keeping the players fitness up.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

I hadn’t realised we had a self imposed transfer window that finished in early August. We signed players during the transfer window, not all of them before the Leeds game but we didn’t do all our business on August 31st.. I think, if I remember, Sasa was our last. A decent coach should understand this and deal with it. Apart from Cunha, JL has had the same resources as Lage and even with Cunha he’s taken time to bed him in. What JL has done with the same players that Lage had is made them fitter, given them focus and demonstrated what a good coach can do.

As for challenging fixtures, we had one of the easiest starts to the season. In Lage’s 8 games we only played Man City and Spurs of the traditional big 6. Newcastle had injury problems when we played them, Bournemouth were on the back of a 9-0 vs Liverpool but we couldn’t score. West Ham had hardly scored and hadn’t won all season but Lage thought it would be a good idea to ply Neves as centre half instead of Toti. Under JL I think we would have got 14-17 pts minimum from those games.

Leeds 2-1 . Lost - Squad was a joke

Fulham 0-0. Hindsight an OK result with the squad we had

Spurs 1-0. Outplayed them . Only Kane was the diffeeence and our lack of striker

Newcastle 1-1 . Hindsight an OK result with no striker still

Bournemouth 0-0. Poor result .

Southampton 1-0. Win

Man city 3-0 defeat. Free hit. Same score line as JL

West ham 2-0. Very poor result . No striker still


Then we had Davis and we lost to Chelsea, Leicester, drew with BrentFord, lost to Brighton and arsenal.

Quite clear that Bruno Lage isn’t the one responsible for our position and it’s rather the transfer policy of not signing a striker for years. Then the decision to hire a national league coach rather Than getting lopetegui out of Seville themselves to save some pounds .

 

[Mugwump]

Leeds 2-1 . Lost - Squad was a joke

Fulham 0-0. Hindsight an OK result with the squad we had

Spurs 1-0. Outplayed them . Only Kane was the diffeeence and our lack of striker

Newcastle 1-1 . Hindsight an OK result with no striker still

Bournemouth 0-0. Poor result .

Southampton 1-0. Win

Man city 3-0 defeat. Free hit. Same score line as JL

West ham 2-0. Very poor result . No striker still


Then we had Davis and we lost to Chelsea, Leicester, drew with BrentFord, lost to Brighton and arsenal.

Quite clear that Bruno Lage isn’t the one responsible for our position and it’s rather the transfer policy of not signing a striker for years. Then the decision to hire a national league coach rather Than getting lopetegui out of Seville themselves to save some pounds .

We had no striker because of Lage's treatment of him and he asked for a move so he could play.

All i am reading are excuses. What about the abysmal end to the 2021/22 season? Saying Lage isnt responsible is absolutely laughable. You adapt to what you have and you use what you have to become more competitive. You might have a point if we missed chance after chance, but lets face it, we didnt. With Lage in charge, we would have needed somebody who could finish like Romario to have any chance. I cant recall Raul or whoever it was playing missing loads of clear cut chances.

 

[Bill McCai]

Leeds 2-1 . Lost - Squad was a joke

Fulham 0-0. Hindsight an OK result with the squad we had

Spurs 1-0. Outplayed them . Only Kane was the diffeeence and our lack of striker

Newcastle 1-1 . Hindsight an OK result with no striker still

Bournemouth 0-0. Poor result .

Southampton 1-0. Win

Man city 3-0 defeat. Free hit. Same score line as JL

West ham 2-0. Very poor result . No striker still


Then we had Davis and we lost to Chelsea, Leicester, drew with BrentFord, lost to Brighton and arsenal.

Quite clear that Bruno Lage isn’t the one responsible for our position and it’s rather the transfer policy of not signing a striker for years. Then the decision to hire a national league coach rather Than getting lopetegui out of Seville themselves to save some pounds .

He was averaging 0.77 PPG from his last 22 PL games! Why werent the players fit? Why could we only recover once in his tenure having gone a goal behind? Why wasnt he able to inspire the squad to more than 0.77PPg for 22 games. Simple - he was not up to it.

 

[wwbug]

Lopetegui is in a different category to Lage.
JL wouldn't have come if the squad had not been improved.
Surely it's clear Lage's employment was a punt by a club that had gone soft on its ambitions. Or perhaps treading water until JL became available

 

[Muscat]

Sounds like a lage apologist to me and there seems a few of them. If recruitment was crap, or he wasn't getting what he felt he wanted he should have walked. You can't just rattle off they didn't work using hindsight, he was involved in their recruitment.

He got players in, the facts are there. He didn't get to work with them because he was a poor manager. Sure he could have got better players, but again, he should have walked if he wasn't happy.

You would have a point if Lopetegui had turned Collins into prime Baresi and Guedes had just bagged his third brace in a row. As it is, Lop got shot of them almost immediately. It doesn't matter if he "got players in" if they weren't of the required standard. As I say, your examples are 'Bruno's backing' are two guys who he literally had for 75 minutes combined and two that Lopetegui has instantly replaced.

 

[Bawtry Wolf]

Leeds 2-1 . Lost - Squad was a joke

Fulham 0-0. Hindsight an OK result with the squad we had

Spurs 1-0. Outplayed them . Only Kane was the diffeeence and our lack of striker

Newcastle 1-1 . Hindsight an OK result with no striker still

Bournemouth 0-0. Poor result .

Southampton 1-0. Win

Man city 3-0 defeat. Free hit. Same score line as JL

West ham 2-0. Very poor result . No striker still


Then we had Davis and we lost to Chelsea, Leicester, drew with BrentFord, lost to Brighton and arsenal.

Quite clear that Bruno Lage isn’t the one responsible for our position and it’s rather the transfer policy of not signing a striker for years. Then the decision to hire a national league coach rather Than getting lopetegui out of Seville themselves to save some pounds .

Bruno Lage was totally responsible for the position the team was in. They weren’t fit, he undermined the team spirit and alienated a number of players. He set up the team poorly, players played when injured and created a style that was generally poor and even when it looked ok in style it had no end product. To fail to beat Norwich 3 times last season is a damning indictment, let alone the performances vs Brentford, Palace, Brighton which are amongst some of the worst I have seen in terms of team spirit and effort.

You mention we had no striker but his attitude the previous season to Silva, who when he came on looked our best striker, meant Silva was looking for a loan move.

The club is at fault for not sacking him in the summer but that is not a reason to defend Lage and his record.

 

[Mugwump]

You would have a point if Lopetegui had turned Collins into prime Baresi and Guedes had just bagged his third brace in a row. As it is, Lop got shot of them almost immediately. It doesn't matter if he "got players in" if they weren't of the required standard. As I say, your examples are 'Bruno's backing' are two guys who he literally had for 75 minutes combined and two that Lopetegui has instantly replaced.

But its irrelevant what Lopetegui did. Thats after the fact ( and depending on if you believe Lopetegui or not, it was Guedes and not Julen who instigated the move ) . Lopetegui was also backed. What he gets out of them is another argument.

You have been basing your argument on every recruitment decision we made using hindsight. My initial comment you replied to was about him being given players he wanted. Even if i discount Costa, He got a striker, 2 midfielders, 2 defenders and 2 attackers. He asked for players with certain profiles, and he got them. Whether they worked out or not is neither here nor there when you are talking about was he backed in the summer. Fosun backed him. He was involved in the recruitment process as well. If players get injured, or they dont work out, or he was involved in picking the wrong player, thats a different argument. Mine was simply about was he backed. He clearly was to the tune of almost 100 million.

 

[Flump]

You have been basing your argument on every recruitment decision we made using hindsight. My initial comment you replied to was about him being given players he wanted. Even if i discount Costa, He got a striker, 2 midfielders, 2 defenders and 2 attackers. He asked for players with certain profiles, and he got them. Whether they worked out or not is neither here nor there when you are talking about was he backed in the summer. Fosun backed him. He was involved in the recruitment process as well. If players get injured, or they dont work out, or he was involved in picking the wrong player, thats a different argument. Mine was simply about was he backed. He clearly was to the tune of almost 100 million.

I think it's important to caveat all of that with "he was backed.... eventually".

2021/2 he was presumably asking for more players repeatedly, as he certainly made a point of doing it publicly, and ended up with a bench including Jordao, Moulden, Giles, Sanderson, Cundle and Lembisika at one point I picked randomly (Sheff Utd in Jan).

Then yes he was backed this summer, but a lot of the singings came in late, and Kalajdzic obviously had his injury 45 minutes in so didn't get to contribute. Of course this doesn't excuse Bruno from all his troubles, as there were plenty of genuine issues, but it is genuinely a factor involved in our performance under him.

 

[Mugwump]

I think it's important to caveat all of that with "he was backed.... eventually".

2021/2 he was presumably asking for more players repeatedly, as he certainly made a point of doing it publicly, and ended up with a bench including Jordao, Moulden, Giles, Sanderson, Cundle and Lembisika at one point I picked randomly (Sheff Utd in Jan).

Then yes he was backed this summer, but a lot of the singings came in late, and Kalajdzic obviously had his injury 45 minutes in so didn't get to contribute. Of course this doesn't excuse Bruno from all his troubles, as there were plenty of genuine issues, but it is genuinely a factor involved in our performance under him.

Yep, i'd agree with that. I have said on this thread i don't feel he was backed enough in his first season. Its clear for whatever reason we tightened the purse strings. I just dont think people can use the excuse for 2022/23. When we are just talking about did he get backed or not, he did.

Its clear that the preparation and attention to detail just wasn't there regardless of the transfer window. As i said as well, getting the players in late is no excuse for a lack of any positive signs. We werent showing signs of progression, no identity in our football and we looked unfit and no chemistry in a squad that had superb team spirit under Nuno. If we were, i think they would have stuck by him.