Alex Bruce – the son of Newcastle’s head coach – has jumped to the defence of his dad on Twitter today, calling out local reporter Craig Hope for ‘lazy journalism’ following yesterday’s defeat.
The former Hull defender believes criticism of Steve Bruce is unfair as there was “nothing in the game all all” other than the “one mistake” that led to Arsenal’s goal, claiming it’s ‘nonsense’ from the Mail’s north-east reporter to suggest otherwise.
Here’s the Twitter exchange that has followed between the two after this tweet below:
Craig Hope: “The buck stops with Steve Bruce after clumsy introduction of Jetro Willems (who did not know where he was playing) disrupts NUFC rhythm before ragged final half hour”
Alex Bruce: “Never seen so much nonsense and lazy journalism, nothing in the game at all most people with a brain could see that except one mistake, this is a prime example of exactly what Graeme Souness was on about yesterday”
Craig Hope: “You’re right Alex, there was nothing in the game. So fine margins make the difference, yes? A player coming on & not knowing where he is playing is a fine margin. Two minutes later & he is caught cold for the goal. For that, the buck stops with the manager.”
Alex Bruce: “Willems came on in centre midfield exactly where he played for Frankfurt last season for Shelvey who was carrying a knock but I suppose you’d prefer an injured player left on the pitch??”
Craig Hope: “Okay if that was the intention, but Willems was not supposed to come on in central midfield – that is the point. The manager was furious, it was a mistake. It looked awful for two minutes as they tried to tell him otherwise. It affected the team. Fine margins.”
Alex Bruce: “I’ve seen plenty wrote about Dad the last month some vile stuff and I’ve said and replied to nothing. But seeing you trying to create a s*** storm already is out of order especially after the performance yesterday the lads did very well and deserved something out the game end of.”
Craig Hope: “We’ve been very fair with your dad so far. He’s made a good impression. But we have to comment on a game in isolation – and bringing on a player who doesn’t know where he’s playing does not look good. It affected the team & contributed to losing a game they deserved something from. “As for “creating a s*** storm”. Please, don’t blame the journalist. All fans are talking about is the confusion of the Willems sub, not naming a midfielder on bench & how ragged the final half hour was. To blame a reporter is ludicrous – Steve McClaren tried that & didn’t get far”
Alex Bruce: “A player making a short pass which was cut out lead to the the result, nothing to do with tactics or personnel….. and Willems knew exactly what his role was going on it’s just you trying to cause negativity. Very fair?? It was his 1st game and your already starting”
Craig Hope: “Alex, this doesn’t make sense. Your dad admitted two things afterwards 1) Willems did not know where he was playing when he came on 2) Willems was out of position for the goal, “Too high up pitch” your dad said. I’m sorry, that has everything to do with tactics & personnel.”
I won’t be jumping straight on Steve Bruce’s back – it’s Ashley that’s the enemy, not him and it’s also our first game of the season – but I think Craig is right here.
Bruce doesn’t deserve to be slated for this one, but he must accept (and has) that the Willems substitution was a mess and the team’s set up in the second half was too.
Where do you stand on this?
Olly – I disagree with all. There was nothing wrong with the pass or where personnel or position.
Willems is a left footed player and was on the left side of the pitch waiting for the pass – nothing at all wrong with that scenario.
He was caught flat footed, stood waiting for the ball to come to him. He was facing play and should have been able to see Niles advancing.
He may have had more time in other leagues he’s played in, but that’s the pace of the PL.
I’m not digging out Willems coz he was fresh on the pitch and getting up to speed with the game. It was also his first experience of the PL. I still think he’s a decent player – just unlucky in that moment.
You could point the blame at Schar, who had pushed up on the right and left PEA unmarked. But I don’t think that would be particularly fair either.
It’s certainly not fair to blame Bruce imo.
Maybe it’s just too difficult to accept that it was good anticipation from Niles and an excellent finish from PEA.
It a shame there has to be a blame culture all the time. But respect to Alex for defending his dad ??
Sharpy17(Quote)
Bruce just 🙄 told him to go on and run around. Tactics…..Steve doesn’t like mints 🙄
Rubbish manager, proven failure.
Toontaff(Quote)
Fair comments. It is a team game after all. I’ve heard people blame Bruce, Willems, Schar, Lascelles individually but it’s the collective that has mucked up. Hopefully, this is just early season teething problems.
DB(Quote)