No formal approach for Steve Bruce? Prepare for Hughes or Pulis if this one falls through
While his arrival still seems very possible, both Sky Sports and the BBC have cast doubts over Newcastle's move for Steve Bruce this morning.
Sky Sports state he's back at Sheffield Wednesday to take training, with no compensation deal agreed as of yet with NUFC, while the BBC's Adam Oxley claims the club are yet to even make a formal approach!
This makes you wonder just what on earth we're doing - and how on earth papers were claiming yesterday that the deal was 'imminent' - although I suspect there'll be several Newcastle fans buoyed by this news and hoping the deal falls through.
That said, I dread to think who we'd look at next if our move for Bruce didn't work out. After all, we've been rejected by all respectable candidates and even Big Sam said no last week - a sad reality check if there ever was one.
This isn't a complete 'be careful what you wish for' piece, as you'd like to think there'd be SOMEBODY out there willing to take the job who'd be a slightly more capable appointment than Steve Bruce, however I wouldn't hold your breath if we do end up looking elsewhere.
Some will be hoping we look at the likes of Laurent Blanc, Claudio Ranieri, Sanchez Flores or Van Bronckhorst - European managers without clubs who suddenly seem like attractive options when compared to Bruce - however the reality is far more likely to be the Mark Hughes, Tony Pulis' and David Moyes' of this world.
A pretty grim outlook I know, but when we've gone progressively downhill from Allardyce to Bruce, it's fair to assume any 'back up options' will be far from inspiring and equally desperate.
