Paul Merson claims NUFC fans have just missed a trick - Another comment he'll live to regret?
According to Paul Merson, Newcastle fans are 'missing a trick' with Steve Bruce - believing the club's new head coach is actually a "very good manager'.
For the record, my frustrations remain with Mike Ashley - not Steve Bruce - but I find it difficult to hear the Sky Sports pundit tell us we don't quite realise what we have in Bruce when he's replaced Rafa Benitez.
Here's what Merson's had to say about Bruce when speaking about his appointment over the weekend:
“I think he is a good manager, and I think they are missing the trick here, Newcastle fans, thinking they haven't got a good manager.
"They have got a very good manager, a very good manager.”
I will give him a chance and also feel there's been an overreaction to Sunday's display, but he has an awful lot to prove if he's to be called a 'very good manager' - never mind a competent Rafa Benitez replacement.
That said, the media aren't portraying fans frustrations in the right way for me. Merson's comments suggests fans are boycotting because of Bruce, yet it's Mike Ashley that we are protesting against.
The lack of communication, his inability to keep Rafa, another failed takeover, leaving it late to replace key players in the transfer market and the general lack of ambition and PR stunts to pull the wool over fans eyes.
Bruce is a symptom of the deep-rooted issues at Newcastle United - Mike Ashley is the disease - but one thing our new head coach is not is a "very good manager".
A good man-manager? Yes. A good bloke who I hope does well? Yes. But his record in the Premier League and recent CV in the game leaves a lot to be desired:
