After scrolling through Twitter following Sky’s damning claims that Newcastle will now make an ‘official approach’ for ‘no.1’ target Steve Bruce, I came across a brilliant but equally disturbing series of tweets.
Here’s a ‘comparison thread’ shared by @ByTheMinNUFC – a series of must-read posts for Mike Ashley before he replaces Rafa Benitez with Steve Bruce:
Teams managed
Rafa Benitez: Valladolid, Osasuna, Extremadura, Tenerife, Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Napoli, Real Madrid, Newcastle
Steve Bruce: Sheff Utd, Huddersfield, Wigan, Crystal Palace, Birmingham City, Sunderland, Hull City, Aston Villa, Sheff Wednesday.
Major Trophies Won
Rafa Benitez: La Liga (x2), UEFA Cup, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Italian Super Cup, FIFA World Club Cup, Europa League, EFL Championship.
Steve Bruce: None.
Managerial Awards
Rafa Benitez: La Liga Best Coach, UEFA Manager of the Year (x2), European Coach of the Year, LMA Special Merit Award, Premier League Manager of the Month (x7), Championship Manager of the Month.
Steve Bruce: Championship Manager of the Month
Managerial Stats
Rafa Benitez: Manager for 960 matches with a 51.7% win rate. Has accumulated 1705 points at a 1.78 points per match ratio.
Steve Bruce: Manager for 762 matches with a 38.4% win rate. Has accumulated 1061 points with a 1.39 points per match ratio.
Top Players Signed
Rafa Benitez: Gonzalo Higuain, Fernando Torres, Mateo Kovacic, Robbie Keane, Javier Mascherano, Dirk Kuyt, Xavi Alonso
Steve Bruce: Asamoah Gyan, Michael Turner, Abel Hernandez, Darren Bent, Scott Hogan, Emile Heskey, Connor Wickham.
Players Used Most Often
Rafa Benitez: Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Pepe Reina, Sami Hyypia, Xavi Alonso
Steve Bruce: Ahmed Elmohamady, James Chester, Damien Johnson, Mail Taylor, Kenny Cunningham.
The stats and facts speak for themselves.
I won’t slate Bruce if he does get the job, I’ll question how on earth Mike Ashley feels this is A) an adequate Rafa Benitez replacement or B) a manager who will keep this ordinary squad in the Premier League over the coming season.
It’s the ideal signing for Ashley. He had one of the best managers in the world walk into the club and he pushed him out because his ambitions were too high. Now he can install Bruce who won’t rock the boat and is the standard of manager he is willing to pay for and matches his ambition for the club. The size and standard of the manager will now match the size and standard of Ashley’s club.
mactoon(Quote)
Bollocks
Larry toon hants(Quote)
My theory if Bruce gets it is, Mike wants some kind of ‘stability’ in place for pre season, whatever that looks like. Bruce will be a yes man and Mike wants a break from Rafa who speaks his mind.
Now if a takeover happens, and Bruce isnt the Sheikh’s guy, they can get rid without much fuss (Bruce wouldnt be able to demand much severance payoff). And Mike is setting expectations nice and low so it wouldnt rock the boat too much if that happens.
I think itll be very telling what LENGTH of CONTRACT Bruce gets. Im expecting a 1 yr deal, 2 at the most, and that would suggest that Mike is hopeful to get this takeover out the way.
SheikhingMerkel(Quote)
Ashley wants a cheap replacement. He is not interested in winning anything except survival in PL. This makes Bruce the perfect candidate.
Clive Lancaster(Quote)
Do not be too presumptious about Steve Bruce.He achieved wonders at Hull City and like Benetez was driven out by poor and unambitious owners.He also signed Robertson and Maguire for Hull.Cost about £5 million value now about £100 million at least.The players played for Bruce and promotion was followed by relegation because of lack of owners ambition.Give the man a chance , he is not Benetez, but he is a Geordie and a Toon fan.
john curtis(Quote)