PC: Steve Bruce - Gary Pallister

Steve Bruce
Date of birth 31-12-1960
Place of birth Newcastle
Height 6.00
Weight 13.00
Position Central Defender
Nationality English

Senior Club Appearances: 926
Senior Club League Appearances: 737 (81 goals)
Manchester United Appearances: 470
Manchester United League Appearances: 309 (0 as sub)
Years at United - 87-96
Other Clubs: Gillingham, Norwich, Birmingham, Sheffield United
Senior Int Caps won: 0

Gary Pallister
Date of birth 30-06-1965
Place of birth Ramsgate
Height 6.04
Weight 14.08
Position Defender
Nationality English

Senior Club Appearances: 736
Senior Club League Appearances: 535 (18 goals)
Manchester United Appearances: 451
Manchester United League Appearances: 317 (3 as sub)
Years At United - 89-98
Other Clubs: Middlesbrough (x2), Darlington (loan)
Senior Int Caps won: 22


*I decide against including a career roll of honour as both players spent the bulk of their career partnering each other.

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sources - http://www.soccerbase.com/players_de...?playerid=1078
http://www.soccerbase.com/players_de...?playerid=6080
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_B...ing_statistics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Pallister

Any idea on how many goals each scored? Would like to know that before voting...

Cheers for putting this up by the way! :)

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Originally Posted by holidaysong

Any idea on how many goals each scored? Would like to know that before voting...

Cheers for putting this up by the way! :)

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No worries :)

I'm 95% sure that the stats are correct, soccerbase.com confuses me :o

Was going to go with Bruce anyway but the goals figure speaks for itself. He scored some priceless goals for Manchester United in his time... The two against Sheffield Wednesday in injury time when they won the Premier League title (for the first time?) being the most obvious.. I still can't believe he never got capped!

The own-goals figure would be a good one to read too, if available - Pallister leading the way on that one, I suspect.

How Bruce got overlooked the whole time by England probably says a lot about why England so often fail to make the most of their resources.

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Originally Posted by Stevo Da Gull

I decide against including a career roll of honour as both players spent the bulk of their career partnering each other.

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It's kind of hard to compare two players that were defensive partners, surely?

I mean, they might have done different jobs.

Anyway, I think I'll break the trend. Pallister is better. I always thought he was tidier than Bruce.

what about neither? Both were way overrated

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Originally Posted by superfrank

It's kind of hard to compare two players that were defensive partners, surely?

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Don't quite get that one superfrank?? They were both central defenders who's primary job was to defend and stop the other team scoring! I could see your point if you were talking about a sweeper/centre half partnership like Baresi and Costacurta.

Pallister as I think he was more solid than Bruce. Thinking back I have an image of Bruce making a few mistakes, I don't have that with Pallister

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Originally Posted by drinkfeckarse

Don't quite get that one superfrank?? They were both central defenders who's primary job was to defend and stop the other team scoring!

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Yeah, but some partnerships work better because one half will do what the other half won't.

For example, Terry and Carvalho at Chelsea. Terry's all for the full-blooded challenges and powerful headers but Carvalho plays with his brain a bit more. He makes smarter tackles and will try and pick someone out with a pass as opposed to Terry, more often than not, hoofing the ball forward.

It was a great partnership but i would have to pick Pallister.

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Originally Posted by superfrank

Yeah, but some partnerships work better because one half will do what the other half won't.

For example, Terry and Carvalho at Chelsea. Terry's all for the full-blooded challenges and powerful headers but Carvalho plays with his brain a bit more. He makes smarter tackles and will try and pick someone out with a pass as opposed to Terry, more often than not, hoofing the ball forward.

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True but they don't have different jobs as you put it. They both are there to stop attacks. I can't see one of them being singled out to concentrate on one particular aspect of defending that the other fella isn't to do if you get what I mean.

Pallister was a better footballer for sure. I think that Bruce benefited more from playing alongside Pallister than vice versa.