After playing under the 58-year-old over the 2015/16 season, Isaac Hayden has revealed why he believes Steve Bruce could be a ‘good appointment’ for Newcastle…’at this moment in time’.
The second line is probably quite telling from a typically honest Isaac Hayden – someone who will be left frustrated by the fact A) Rafa Benitez was allowed to leave and B) he STILL hasn’t been granted a move away yet over a year on from his initial transfer request.
That said, he does praise Bruce in parts, with him being the man who brought the 24-year-old to Hull City for a season-long loan in the summer of 2015.
As he states below, Hayden believes that he can bring “togetherness” to a squad who “knows where the club’s at at the minute”, saying he knows exactly what he’s like both as a coach and as a man:
“I know the type of manager that he is and the type of man that he is.
“In the circumstances at the club at the minute, I know he can bring togetherness. I know what he does on the training field and what style of play he wants to bring in.
“For us, at this moment in time, it’s a good appointment.
“I think everyone’s realistic and knows where the club’s at at the minute.”
Parts of this feel like a subtle reaction to the fact Bruce is no Rafa Benitez and a clear downgrade, however togetherness within the squad is going to be absolutely essential after the crushing summer we’ve been forced to endure up until this point.
Hayden then continued, hitting the nail on the head in response to Danny Mills’ claims that we expect to be in the ‘top six’:
“We haven’t got superstars in the team that are going to make the difference by themselves like other teams have.”
“People talk about top six. I know what the fans want. They just want a team that progress, wants to improve and want to go forward. We get that.
“As players, the only thing we can do is try our best to improve ourselves and the manager coming in is going to do his best to improve us.
“Everyone at the club who’s a player has to buy into that.”
Sadly, the main aim this season will be to simply stay up – and I think 90% of fans would bite your hand off for 17th at this stage!
Hopefully Hayden – a player Bruce wanted to sign permanently during his time at Hull – does actually stick around, although I suspect he’s only still here as the club have failed to sign a replacement needed to sanction his exit.
Bruce will take charge of his first game for the club on Saturday, with us set to face West Ham in the Premier League Asia Trophy at 10am (Sky Sports).
