Shaun Custis has told talkSPORT that Steve Bruce was wrong to ban Craig Hope for simply telling the truth in his explosive ‘exclusive’ last week.
The Sun’s chief sports writer was on the radio discussing the fiery bust-up between Matt Ritchie and the NUFC boss – a story that dominated the headlines and set alarm bells ringing on Tyneside.
Hope’s exclusive for the Daily Mail caused fireworks in the Toon Army camp and revealing the story ultimately led to NUFC banning the journalist from the club.
Custis, who admitted he is also a ‘friend’ of Bruce’s, spoke live on air to say that this did not sit well with him.
Here is what he said to talkSPORT:
He makes a good point that a journalist should not be excluded simply for exposing the truth.
We clearly have a mole in the camp, and Bruce should focus his vitriol on finding out the culprit rather than exploding on a man who is simply doing his job to the best of his ability. In fact, maybe he should try putting his energy on more training sessions, good performances and points – not an off-field issue he claims has been ‘blown out of proportion’.
To be honest, the Ritchie bust-up story was a fantastic piece of journalism, chipping away at something investigative and using your source to tell supporters what they need to know.
All Bruce did was show that the pressure is getting to him. Hope has since said that he needs to “get his house in order” before criticising others, and it’s hard not to agree with him here.
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