Brighton 3-0 Newcastle: If Steve Bruce isn’t sacked, he should walk

‘Accumulation of p̷o̷i̷n̷t̷s̷ defeats’

2 wins in 20. An absolutely horrible display – worse than the one against Sheffield United – saw us lose 3-0 to Brighton at the Amex Stadium in a must win game when we didn’t play a single striker.

Brighton came into this with ONE Premier League win at The Amex in their last 20 attempts, yet we made them look like Barcelona (again!) in a relegation six-pointer and failed to land a single shot on target – and that doesn’t even cover the total lack of desire reminiscent of a side no longer playing for the manager.

If this isn’t the end of Bruce then I don’t know if we’ll ever see the back of him. He needs to be sacked immediately.

I don’t care if we replace Bruce with an actual cabbage at this point, because he’s so useless that an inanimate object could do a better job than him at this point.

Fulham’s loss on Friday evening really was quite an unexpected gift to Newcastle United on the eve of one our biggest games of the season against Brighton at the Amex Stadium.

The previous game against the Seagulls, in the second game of season, really didn’t play out well for us and was a huge red flag for how our season was going to progress.

Before the game, the narrative and expectations were split between whether a draw was acceptable or not but it was very clear from all Newcastle outlets that a loss was intolerable.

Brighton made one change from the team that beat Southampton last Sunday with Dan Burn dropping to the bench and being replaced by Jakub Moder.

We, however, were able to make two significant changes with Javier Manquillo and Miguel Almiron returning to the team. Both players provided significant upgrades to recent lineups and, with Almiron’s return in particular, there was a little more optimism around Newcastle’s chances down south.

Stats in the build-up to this game pointed to the probability of a 0-0 draw as this match was the eighth time, we had met in the Premier League with Newcastle yet to grab a win and only registering one solitary goal in all of those matches. However, Brighton did not have the best home form before this game either, with them only managing to register one win at the Amex all season.

It was a messy affair at the start of the match but real fear popped up in the early minutes as Brighton tore the Newcastle defence apart but luckily ended in Dubravka saving comfortably, however, this was just a pointer to Brighton’s dominance at the start of the game.

Brighton were probably always going to dominate possession in this match but the complete lack of an apparent plan from Newcastle, 25 minutes in, was seriously baffling. 83 passes to Brighton’s 243 is a worrying statistic indeed.

Flashbacks to the Sheffield United game here as Newcastle have 25% possession against a team who has only won 1 of their 15 games at home.

Isaac Hayden went down badly towards the end of the half and was replaced by Mr Invisible himself, Jeff Hendrick. It looked like a really bad one and hopefully Hayden will recover soon for his sake and for the club’s sake.

After latching onto a long ball, cutting in and being given too much space to line up a shot, Trossard scored at the end of the first half and it can’t be said that it wasn’t coming. A good finish but stand-off defending – not that it was anything less than our appalling first half display deserved!

An absolutely dire first half in which Newcastle were lucky to say that they were only 1-0 down. The approach to the game had shades of the Sheffield United game and was building up to finish in the exact same way.

The second half started and, aside from Fraser hitting the post after some good build-up play, nothing had changed.

The game felt done at 1-0 in truth, but Welbeck then made sure of it by doubling Brighton’s lead in the 51st minute and any hope for Newcastle to get anything from the game fizzled away quickly.

Neal Maupay then added another in the 68th minute to end his dry spell in front of goal, naturally against Bruce’s Mags. 3-0 and we have never looked like threatening except for one shot by Fraser.

Sean Longstaff made a rare appearance in the 75th minute assuring that we haven’t had a single striker on the pitch for the whole game.

The commentator quipped that we’re playing like we’re against Barcelona not Brighton. Sadly true, highlighting how good we make average teams who’ve won one of their last 20 Premier League home games look – just as we did at Sheffield United back in January.

An absolutely awful result and pitiful performance. Sack Bruce.

173 thoughts on “Brighton 3-0 Newcastle: If Steve Bruce isn’t sacked, he should walk

  1. Bruce said “we where short of attacking options tonight” the man’s a absolute joke, two forwards sat on the bench, and we didn’t have a **** on target all night, just walk Bruce, or Sack HIM

      (Quote)

  2. too late for the toon noo bring on the mackems next season is bruce getting back handers to send us doon looks like it he should be ashamed.

      (Quote)

  3. Where’s the club though???

    Promises to communicate better with the fans.

    They have neither come out to support Bruce or voice their concerns either.

    Bruce is pretty much asking them to comment when he says you’ll have to ask others … where they f@ck are they???

      (Quote)

  4. I think that we have learnt that Graeme Jones doesnt have much of a clue either. I am sure Bruce is undermining him but his credentials to manage NUFC were never there. I mentioned on the last thread that there were 4 of them in the technical area at one point – Bruce, the other 2 Steves and a Graeme. How can you get a clear message out if they are all talking over each other.

    They have created just as big of a mess as there was before by bringing Jones in. Instead of bringing new ideas I am sure he has created fractures and factions in the camp. That is not his fault. They should have known that The Cabbage is petty and mean and would do all he could to undermine the new guy. In this case he might even have been justified because he had no say in it even though he lied that he did.

    It just proves how inept the whole lot of them are. Starting at the very top.

    If we think things will change if the Steves are sacked and replaced with Jones I think we are in for a rude awakening.

    We need a new Manager and not a failed Luton coach.

      (Quote)

  5. I mean, it was a failed concept from the get go. Have you ever seen any other club do this? Bring in a new Assistant Manager to push out the Manager’s faithful coaches (lapdogs) of many years and try to usurp the Manager’s tactics and even question his authority.

    How was this ever going to work? It was like a “cunning plan” designed by Baldrick. Maybe Charnley gave Sir Tony Robinson a call?

      (Quote)

  6. Should up the training to two and a half days a week. Has Bruce forgotten to tell the players that social distancing does not apply during games?

      (Quote)

  7. It is interesting how the 3 Steves (stooges) plus one new clown prince Jones can make the following look like:

    Dunk
    Welbeck
    Propper
    Maupay

    Morph into:

    Xavi
    Iniesta
    Messi
    Puyol

      (Quote)

  8. Groucho:
    Should up the training to two and a half days a week. Has Bruce forgotten to tell the players that social distancingdoesnot apply during games?

    Groucho mate, they have 2 weeks off for international break. Maybe Bruce will do training via zoom?

    Do you remember when McClaren was sacked in this situation (International Break) that he took the squad to Spain I think and Ashley kept him on for another game?

    I am still just amazingly shocked at how bad we were. But even more, how this has all been mismanaged with the 4 coaches all talking over themselves when Hayden was injured. Who the fck came up with the idea of undermining Bruce with his petty ego and expecting that to work?

    Bruce still thinks we have done OK recently. What planet is he on? He keeps talking about accumulation of points but then we have not accumulated hardly any points since Xmas. I cant even be bothered to look up the number. I do know it is 2 wins in 18 PL games though. That says it all.

    Just get out of our club you fat, bent nosed, bad detective novel writer, excuse for a manager.

      (Quote)

  9. Some clubs might play with a false 9 or a false 10.
    Newcastle play with a false footballer and with a false football manager.

      (Quote)

  10. Sky sports claiming Ashley is going to stick with Steve Bruce.
    Wonder why Ashley is so desperate to drop out of the premiership.

      (Quote)

  11. Cabbage heed just wants the sack. He knows he will never get another manager job and this is it. If he walks he takes nothing, if they sack him he gets millions in compensation. Not that he needs it but he’s set for life with several million compo. He may be lots of things, but I don’t think he’s stupid. He will not walk and leave that compensation behind.

    Ashley is the Stupid one allowing this cabbage to destroy his and our club. The millions he will lose on relegation will far outweigh the compensation he’ll have to give Cabbage heed. The main issue is timing. I feel he’s left it too late now. It will take weeks for a new manager to turn around the players attitudes and we don’t have that. And Jones is not that manager who could do it either. Best options would be Eddie Howe or maybe Chris Wilder. Rafa will not come back, and he could sort us last time we were in this position either…

    Honestly, all we can look forward to now is getting stuffed by the mackems twice next season…

      (Quote)

  12. Perhaps if we get relegated we don’t need the premier league to dictate who can buy us and he may have a deal worked out with the Saudis for when we go down?

      (Quote)

  13. To be perfectly honest I really don’t care if we go down or not now. Jabba really doesn’t deserve anything else and quite frankly neither do we. We keep turning up getting served the same tripe.

      (Quote)

  14. Lee Ryder @lee_ryder · 34m
    Chronicle Live understands #nufc have decided not to part company with Steve Bruce at this stage despite last night’s awful performance. Bruce insisted he would not walk away last night.

      (Quote)

  15. Gilly Toon:
    Perhaps if we get relegated we don’t need the premier league to dictate who can buy us and he may have a deal worked out with the Saudis for when we go down?

    Not likely Gilly, the EFL owner and directors test has recently been realigned to that of the PL O&D test and even if it wasn’t any championship team entering the PL still have to satisfy the PL O&D test, it’s done in close season apparently.

      (Quote)

  16. Simon Bird@SimonBird_

    There’s no way Steve Bruce can stay in charge of #nufc. Should be sacked tonight. Players have downed tools. Abysmal performance. Clear the decks. It’s over.

      (Quote)

  17. George Caulkin@GeorgeCaulkin

    It looked, sounded and felt like the end. And, really, it should be. Newcastle’s defeat at Brighton was as bad as it gets (and that’s saying something this season).

      (Quote)

  18. A day of shame for everyone associated with NUFC. The worst I’ve ever seen on and off the pitch. The players are confused and just don’t seem to know how to play the roles Bruce has given them. Hayden has never played on the left before. Miggy as a striker. A defence that just watches attackers get their shots away.
    Truly dispiriting and only heading one way.

      (Quote)

  19. Jabba’s logic in sticking with Bruce is because the previous two times he sacked managers we went down. When actually it was because he left it too late.

    The man is a complete imbecile

      (Quote)

  20. Why can’t Bruce do what Gulit did and do the honourable thing and walk. I would have more respect for him if he did that. I currently think he is greedy and I have no respect for him whatsoever. Played against him as a kid at school and he was arrogant then.

      (Quote)

  21. Miles Starforth@milesstarforth

    Been told Mike Ashley admires Steve Bruce’s ‘passion’ for the job. Ashley wants to stay loyal to Bruce, believes he has experience needed to get the club out of trouble. Big, big gamble after last night. #nufc

    Ashley is trolling us, isn’t he.

      (Quote)

  22. Newcastle United: This is what the end looks like…

    By Chris Waugh and George Caulkin 1h ago

    In front of the dug-out, Steve Bruce and his coaches were clad in black from top to toe, like mourners at their own funeral. It looked like the end and then it sounded like it, too, a blast from Anthony Taylor’s whistle releasing Newcastle United from futility. Bruce turned to his left, took a few steps, tapped fists with Graham Potter and then pivoted again, straight down the tunnel. There was nothing to hang around for. Nothing good.

    Yet again, Newcastle had come undone. In their biggest game of the season — tiny in its pathetic, sour magnitude — one “we simply have to go and win,” Bruce had said, they shrivelled. From the first moment, they played as if they were hanging on, without shape or impetus or substance, as if Brighton & Hove Albion were demi-gods. They fought soft and lost hard. The end; it looked, sounded and felt like it.

    The league table tells you that Newcastle are 17th, two points above Fulham with a game in hand. The eyes, ears and nose tell you something else; that Newcastle are down, or will be soon enough — unless something changes, drastically. They have won two of their last 20 fixtures in all competitions, 18 of which have come in the Premier League, a run of form which would do for many managers, capped by a defeat which spoke of utter resignation. To repeat, this is what the end looks like.

    On Tyneside, on Twitter, by all the available metrics in this lo-fi world of empty stadiums, the judgement was swift and clinical, everything the team were not. Representatives of Wor Flags, the fans’ group, who in better times filled the Gallowgate End with soaring banners, stood on Barrack Road with an illustration of Bruce’s face and the word “Coward” (the name Matt Ritchie allegedly called his head coach during their training ground bust-up earlier this month). And another, “You are not one of us — leave now.”

    If there was any doubting it previously, The Chronicle, Newcastle’s paper, has officially turned. “Enough is enough,” they said at the start of their match report. “Newcastle United are meddling with their Premier League lives unless they make a change in the dugout.” On nufc.com, the independent fans’ site, they wrote, “we deserve to be relegated for the utter stupidity in appointing Bruce and allowing his complacency to pollute this club from the top down.”

    True Faith, the fanzine, called Bruce “the fraudy Geordie”, and demanded that he “get out of our club”. Toon For Change, the pressure group, released a statement saying, “We implore the club to remove Steve Bruce as coach immediately and appoint an ambitious manager ahead of the international break, who has the capability of keeping Newcastle United in the Premier League.”

    These are not rogue voices railing against rogue performances.

    In September, Newcastle were bamboozled by Brighton, losing 3-0 in their second league game of the season. That was the first occasion they were plunged into angst, but it was not the last. By mid-January, Sheffield United had still not won a league match; along came Newcastle, who by then had been knocked out of the EFL Cup by Championship side Brentford. Until Saturday night’s game, Brighton had won only once at home in the league all season. Along swaggered Newcastle again, just for the giggles.

    As his team ground out loveless draws against Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa, Bruce spoke about the “run” his side were on and the “accumulation of points”, but this club accumulates nothing but pain. Games have become exercises in damage control, unambitious attempts to keep Fulham at bay and little more, and although there is the mitigation of injuries to key personnel, they have not played with the desperation of brawlers; just desperation.

    They are damned by their own meekness. “The mood’s the lowest it’s been,” Ryan Fraser, the winger, said. “We just weren’t good enough.” And, “We need to save our season now. We want to try and work on how we’re going to stay in the league.” Which is fair enough, but where have they been? When Jamaal Lascelles, the captain, called his team into a huddle before kick-off, what were the words of encouragement he roared? “Looking forward to Line of Duty, lads?”

    When Graeme Jones joined Newcastle’s coaching staff in late January, there was a new approach and a system reboot. Suddenly, they were higher up the pitch, Miguel Almiron played as a false No 9 and Callum Wilson was shunted wide, a formation which brought a modicum of success. Injuries to Almiron, Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin were untimely, but Bruce stuck to his spiked guns and shuffled players into every which position but, seemingly, their own. This was the way his team would set up.

    Against Brighton, Almiron – looking only half-fit – was back, but in a game “we simply have to go and win”, Bruce did not select a recognised striker. Joelinton, the falsest of all No 9s, started on the right and Fraser on the left. All night, they were false attackers. There was false marking and false defending. Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle, both recognised centre-forwards, and both on the bench, were overlooked, in spite of Newcastle’s chronic need for goals. It was an echo of Steve McClaren, who in his final match as Newcastle head coach, inexplicably brought the hapless Emmanuel Riviere in from the cold. That felt like the end, too.

    Endings at Mike Ashley’s Newcastle are never quick, never painless. McClaren was kept in place, squirming at the training ground, while Lee Charnley, the managing director, sought a replacement. Rafa Benitez’s final season was The Long Goodbye. Alan Pardew stayed well beyond the severing of relationships, eventually taking his own decision to leave. But the end always comes. It is built in, pre-programmed and, too often, too late.

    Puffing out his cheeks, Bruce glanced impatiently, one way and then the other, waiting to be unmuted. Appearing downbeat, tired, and a little shellshocked, he did not display the demeanour of a man who had accepted this was going to be his final post-match press conference as Newcastle head coach.

    But, having watched his side get thoroughly dominated by the team who started the match directly above them in the table, and deliver a performance which Alan Shearer described as “abysmal”, just how did Bruce feel?

    “Ah, look,” he said, exhaling heavily, his face obscured slightly, with the camera cutting off his chin, until he pulled the laptop forward to a better angle. “Disappointed, frustrated; angry, too, I suppose… We have to admit that Brighton were far better than us in every department.”

    Goals being the obvious one.

    But, if anything, the scoreline flattered Newcastle and did not accurately reflect Brighton’s superiority. The home side had more shots (11 to three), more shots on target (six to one), more possession (65.9 per cent to 34.1 per cent), more touches (859 to 517), more touches in the opposition box (23 to three), attempted more passes (722 to 368) and played more passes into the penalty area (39 to 10). And that is just a very truncated list.

    “I was absolutely shocked with basically Brighton — no disrespect to Brighton — but being that far in front of us in every department; with the ball, without the ball,” he explained, while sounding genuinely dumbfounded by the notion, despite the same team destroying Newcastle by an identical scoreline and in an eerily similar manner at St James’ Park in September. “We simply didn’t do enough, and that’s the biggest frustration that certainly I feel.”

    Unfortunately, for the countless supporters who have spent months pleading with their club to act, there was nothing unforeseen about this display, and particularly not the toothless nature of it. For Brighton (both home and away), see Sheffield United (0-1), Fulham (0-0) and West Brom (0-0), to name just a select few.

    “We have to accept, and I have to accept, the criticism what’s going to come our way and the fallout from it,” Bruce said, repeating the tone of contrition he used during his pre-match press conference, when he made the surprise admission that he “hasn’t been good enough” in recent months. “Of course, the buck stops with me, it always does, and I have no problems (with that).”

    The sentiment sounded frighteningly familiar.

    He uttered almost exactly the same words following the embarrassing cup exit at Brentford in December and the pathetic surrender at Bramall Lane in January. In the days after the former, he accused fans and the local media of “mass hysteria” and “histrionics”. Following the latter, having described his own team as “frigging hopeless” and “absolute *****”, he then turned on what he perceived to be both unfair and negative coverage.

    Yet, seemingly willing to at least accept the responsibility in the immediate aftermath of this latest capitulation, Bruce was asked directly about his future. He knew it was coming and he had his stock answer prepared.

    “Well, as I’ve always said, that’s for other people to answer,” he said over Zoom, looking down the lens at a reporter he could not see. “The one thing that I won’t ever do is give up on anything (just) because we’ve had a bad defeat.”

    It is a phrase he has oft-repeated. But, for the first time, there was the follow-up that many fans have been demanding: Is Bruce remaining in position really what is best for Newcastle United?

    “Well, I believe that,” he said, motioning his arms and shrugging, as if to emphasise his point. “I’ve been around the block a long, long time now, and you don’t do 980 games… and that experience, I’m trying to draw on it.

    “I’ve never thought of meself (myself) when you’re managing. I would never walk away from it because it’s too tough. It’s not in me (my) nature. The easy thing would be for me to say, ‘Yes, I’m feeling desperately low’. I will accept the responsibility because, rightly, it rests at my door. Simply, we weren’t good enough on the night. And that’s the frustration that I feel.

    “But you’re going to have to ask others (about my future). You keep asking the same question, you’ll (have to see) what they’re feeling… ?I’ll probably feel the lowest maybe tomorrow (Sunday) or the day after, and I’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

    What exactly those consequences will be, nobody can say. At Ashley’s Newcastle, urgency and rational thinking are largely alien concepts.

    Bruce’s multi-million-pound pay-off is proving prohibitive, and so too is the ongoing takeover saga, held up at arbitration yet somehow still guiding decision-making. The owner himself, meanwhile, is in Dubai, receiving remote counsel from Charnley and Justin Barnes — an influential presence, despite not holding an official club role — on what, if anything, he should do next.

    The head coach departing should be the inescapable conclusion, yet, extraordinarily, it is still far from inevitable.

    The Amex Stadium provided a cold and lifeless backdrop. Football in lockdown is a collection of alien noises; the humming of generators at the back of stands, vents opening, individual voices rising from the pitch. When Isaac Hayden, Newcastle’s midfielder, suffered a knee injury, the sound of contact, of his anguish, carried in the air. Hayden will now have scans, but “it doesn’t look good at the minute,” Bruce said. It is another form of loss.

    Inside the West Stand concourse, there were posters advertising two events in March, a Mother’s Day Lunch — “Nothing says ‘love you mum’ more than spoiling her with a delicious meal,” — and Blue and White Day. Both were for last year. If this is the season that time forgot, then Newcastle are the team of the age and Bruce the manager of the moment. It has felt like the end for so long.

      (Quote)

  23. Gilly Toon:
    Perhaps if we get relegated we don’t need the premier league to dictate who can buy us and he may have a deal worked out with the Saudis for when we go down?

    Gilly – I get your logic mate, but I had a right chuckle there at the idea that this is all masterminded as some kind of sinister ploy ? – Bruce isn’t really this sh!te after all.

      (Quote)

  24. I know everyone is calling for Bruce to be sacked, and that HAS to happen – but that’s still not enough for me. Charnley has to go too – the man is an absolute clown who constantly gets it wrong – not just with his managerial appointments but it must have been him signing off on the Joelinton deal as well.

      (Quote)

  25. While I’m on, the players don’t get away with last night either mind.
    Not one of them earned their wages last night!! – not an ounce of fight or passion from one of them.

    We & they can blame Bruce as much as we like – but personal pride has to play a part too. It’s not just the fact we got beat 3-0, it’s the way we got beat. Forget they aren’t playing for Bruce – they aren’t playing for us or the badge on their chest – and if that’s too romantic for you?! – they aren’t playing for each other!!.
    I imagine most if not all will have a wage reduction clause in their contracts if we get relegated – so play for your own pocket!! play for your families, your next luxury car or holiday … but please, for the love of god PLAY!!!

      (Quote)

  26. Bruce won’t walk because he’s the only person in the North East who doesn’t know he’s out of his depth. Trouble is I think Ashley won’t pay what it will cost to sack him. But the fans don’t help. As soon as they can they will go back to the ground, spend money on food and drink and go to his tatty shops and buy his tatty clothes. The Rangers fans starved him out, the Newcastle fans keep filling his pockets.

      (Quote)

  27. Rangers fans did cause Ashley to get out of his small investment in Glasgow. Forcing him to sell a money making asset that is entirely his is a different matter!

      (Quote)

  28. What happened with that mole hunt that Bruce was supposedly on? Never heard anything since he said it.

    Read The Chronic and the players also supposedly had harsh words after the game and Carroll is supposedly fuming. They also said that they had been working in training to press Brighton. Could have fooled me!!! It looked more like they stood off them and were content that they shoot from distance. Normally that would be OK but not for NUFC when Brighton found their shooting boots for one of the few times this season.

    Anyway, between Ritchie calling Bruce a coward, the mole hunt, the rows in the dressing room and the absolutely unworkable situation of the army of coaches, I think Bruce really has lost the players.

      (Quote)

  29. I mean, this looks like a club in disarray. Even Merse and Jenas must see that. Have they turned yet? All of the journalists have, as shown in The Atlantic piece Kimtoon posted. Bruce needs to get his act together quickly. If he is freezing Jones out, just do it or else let him do his job and fire the Steves or put them on cone duty.

    On paper our next few games look tough but so many of the teams have been inconsistent this season. You never know which Spurs is going to turn up. West Ham are beating Arsenal and even Liverpool went on the run of 6 consecutive home losses and got hammered 7-2 at Villa.

    I am trying to be optimistic. After the last thrashing by Brighton we did get a few points even if it was down to luck most of the time.

    I think we have to accept that Bruce is not getting sacked. We can have a bit of a moan for a few days but it would be counterproductive to get too angry. Better to be pragmatic and see if we really can bounce back after the international break. Most of the Spurs players will be away while ours can prepare in training.

    BRUCE OUT, but it ain’t happening. What is the Fat Lad thinking? It cant really be about the compensation. He will lose a lot more with relegation. I think Charnley must have told him nobody decent is interested in the job. Think about it. When they were trying to push Bruce’s buttons we got a failed Luton Manager who was then a coach in The Championship. It is hardly like it was bringing in Robson or even Dalglish. Souness even had a better reputation when he arrived from Blackburn.

    No, I think there is no interest in the job. So we press on with the different factions, the in-fighting and the Brucie BS and hope we regain some luck.

      (Quote)

  30. I highlighted with 13 games to go that 5 of those games were against teams around us – and that Fulham & Brighton only had 2 from their remaining fixtures – and one of those 2 was against us.

    The fixtures absolutely favoured us.

    But since then, we have played 2 of those 5 games – against WBA and Brighton. Instead of going out and trying to win those games, he desperately tried not to lose – and instead of playing easing the pressure going into the run in, he’s made sure we are right in the thick of this.

    Our next game is against Burnley – the 3rd of those 5 games. I really don’t see us taking anything from that either, which leaves our last 2 games against Sheff Utd & Fulham – providing Fulham fail to pick their points up before then.

    I fear more now than I did when McClaren got the bullet – because despite making the change too late, I at least felt the club realised we were in trouble & made the right change – albeit too late.
    I don’t see the club doing anything now – and in fact if we go down I think Bruce will still be there.

      (Quote)

  31. The players should go and tell Charnley that Bruce needs to go because he’s incompetent

      (Quote)

  32. April Fool’s Day falls within the International Break. It would be quite funny of Olly or one of the other writers to mock up a BRUCE SACKED story. It would get picked up on the news aggregator’s sites like NewsNow and I am sure some would fall for it.

    Is that too cruel?

      (Quote)

  33. Sharpy: I am not sure if I have been down as much after a defeat as I am after yesterday. Especially after reading stuff that we had been working on pressing Brighton. The reality was that it was a repeat of our first game against them. Bruce and the Steves learned absolutely nothing. Brighton played around us and through us at will.

    And what did Jones bring? F-all. I am pretty sure the petty, egotistical cabbage has frozen him out. It should be Jones going to Charnley to tell teacher that Head Boy Brucie is picking on him.

    I watched the whole game but turned the sound off after the 3rd goal fearing it would get worse. The thing is that I think Brucie assumed the same because his subs were to keep the score down and there was no change in tactics. There was no chance we were coming back but it was a total surrender, a capitulation. At least he could have taken Donkey and Shelvey off.

      (Quote)

  34. Stuart79:
    The players should go and tell Charnley that Bruce needs to go because he’s incompetent

    Stu – they would need to be competent themselves for their point to stick mate.

    I don’t disagree that his team selections are bad, there is no tactical plan & Bruce spends 90 mins pacing his technical area looking both clueless and petrified in equal measure.

    But the players aren’t doing the basics – workrate, ability to complete a pass, movement, aggression. Last night was seeing out 90mins.

      (Quote)

  35. Eric Sykes:
    Sharpy: I am not sure if I have been down as much after a defeat as I am after yesterday. Especially after reading stuff that we had been working on pressing Brighton. The reality was that it was a repeat of our first game against them. Bruce and the Steves learned absolutely nothing. Brighton played around us and through us at will.

    And what did Jones bring? F-all. I am pretty sure the petty, egotistical cabbage has frozen him out. It should be Jones going to Charnley to tell teacher that Head Boy Brucie is picking on him.

    I watched the whole game but turned the sound off after the 3rd goal fearing it would get worse. The thing is that I think Brucie assumed the same because his subs were to keep the score down and there was no change in tactics. There was no chance we were coming back but it was a total surrender, a capitulation. At least he could have taken Donkey and Shelvey off.

    Eric – likewise mate. I watched the Fulham v Leeds game the day before & yes Fulham got beat as well, but they put in a performance. I’m not going to say they were unlucky coz Leeds probably deserved to win in the end – but Fulham played well.

    We played Brighton and from the get go we offered nothing!!. The stats after 25mins was 78% possession to Brighton 22% to us. They had 4 shots with 2 on target – we had no shots at all … and it never really got any better.

    It was a performance that had the likes of Jeff Sterling finding they had to accept that they are wrong – that it is as bad as the fans paint it out to be. That offers little comfort, coz it’s Ashley & Charnley that need to open their eyes and see it for anything to change.

    But yeah mate, how can you feel anything but down when your team can’t motivate themselves for a game that important – not just the manager, but the players too.

    Yesterday was on par with Brentford imo. The game carried a similar level of importance to it.

    I don’t know how he can acknowledge just how bad we were last night in his post match interview, accept responsibility for it & still be in a job this morning.

    This season has proven without a doubt that our club is its fans. Without them we are nothing.

      (Quote)

  36. Was it you Sharpy that referenced Rob Lee and him saying Jones played “split strikers” at Luton and almost took them down? John Gibson has just written a column saying the same today. WTF is a split striker anyway? But Gibbo is saying that it is the Jones plan the way we are playing at the moment. I highly doubt that as we were playing “2 false 10s” before he arrived.

    What it does show is that this guy is no tactical genius either. I think he has about as much clue as the Steves.

    But Bruce picks the team and persists with Donkey. Yesterday after about 15 mins we should have seen we were being outplayed and a bit of BFS ball was probably the only way to go. Get Carroll or Gayle on and play for set pieces.

    We were being totally outplayed but stuck with no strikers.

    When Miggy played at Atlanta he had a real number 9 to play off. He is not a lone striker you fcn idiots. How can these coaches have stuck around for this long and be this ****? Bruce is 60 and Jones is 50ish or older.

    Split Strikers FFS.

    IF YOU PLAY A DONKEY ALL YOU WILL GET IS MANURE.

      (Quote)

  37. Brighton are not Man City either. They score less than a goal a game except against us!!! Is Jones trying to implement a Pep system up top? I have news for him, Pep has better players. But more than that, Pep plays a possession game where they all interchange. We had 34% possession yesterday.

    And Shelvey. What more can be said? You know when he doesnt have it (most games) and he should be hauled off at half time in those games. I dont care about his ego or his pay packet.

    Sometimes I think Bruce wants to be sacked. He has the look now of Pardew when he went on that death spiral before Palace “poached” him.

    I am really glad all of the Journos are speaking out now. But they protected him too long. Somebody should have had the guts to say he was total shyte long ago. There’s about 8 cover NE football as their main beat so they must have watched the games and saw what we saw.

      (Quote)

  38. Eric, 15 mins, that’s generous, you could see in first 5mins mate, they had two shots in first 4 mins

      (Quote)

  39. kimtoon:
    Riot in Bristol tonight, bridewell cop shop under siege .

    Kim – a freedom of speech & to protest is a thing worth fighting for – but when they smash up shops or police stations, set fire to cars & assault police – it kind of plays right into the hands of those calling for the bill in the first place.

    That’s not me backing the bill, more condemning what went on last night.

      (Quote)

  40. Sharpy17: Kim – a freedom of speech & to protest is a thing worth fighting for – but when they smash up shops or police stations, set fire to cars & assault police – it kind of plays right into the hands of those calling for the bill in the first place.

    That’s not me backing the bill, more condemning what went on last night.

    Totally agree mate, mindless violence never solved nowt. Marvin Reece ( Bristol mayor ) reckons there was outside infiltrators that started the violence late evening, the main protesters in the afternoon were peaceful and the majority went home before the violence kicked off.
    Very different situation to what happened at clapham by all accounts.
    Think our police are getting a lot of mixed messages from Government at the moment and have a pretty thankless task on their hands.

      (Quote)

  41. The journos aren’t doing their job properly either. When Bruce says it’s out my hands (the sack) then bloody challenge him! How can you say that? Do you really want to stay in a job where the whole fan base can’t stand you?

    100% want Bruce sacked.

      (Quote)

  42. kimtoon: Totally agree mate, mindless violence never solved nowt.Marvin Reece ( Bristol mayor ) reckons there was outside infiltrators that started the violence late evening, the main protesters in the afternoon were peaceful and the majority went home before the violence kicked off.
    Very different situation to what happened at clapham by all accounts.
    Think our police are getting a lot of mixed messages from Government at the moment and have a pretty thankless task on their hands.

    Kim – couldn’t agree more. My understanding of this bill is to try to ensure those who have a point to make can make it without it turning into what it did last night.
    There will always be morons jumping onto other people’s bandwagons for their own agendas.

    Apparently the damage to the windows of the police station was caused by a skateboard – speaks volumes really.

      (Quote)

  43. Sharpy17: Kim – couldn’t agree more.My understanding of this bill is to try to ensure those who have a point to make can make it without it turning into what it did last night.
    There will always be morons jumping onto other people’s bandwagons for their own agendas.

    Apparently the damage to the windows of the police station was caused by a skateboard – speaks volumes really.

    Yeah i heard that too. There’s 20 injured officers too. one officer has a punctured lung after being stamped on ! sickening violence .
    And the place looks a bloody wreck now, was a nice building
    https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/gallery/bristol-riots-what-under-siege-5212094#source=push

      (Quote)

  44. georgio:
    The journos aren’t doing their job properly either. When Bruce says it’s out my hands (the sack) then bloody challenge him! How can you say that? Do you really want to stay in a job where the whole fan base can’t stand you?

    100% want Bruce sacked.

    Georgio – agree mate. The journalists keep asking Bruce – what do they expect him to say.

    Why aren’t they chasing Charnley or Ashley for their comments on it all – and when they hit a wall of silence, report that – put the pressure on the decision makers.

    It’s starting to feel like bullying on Bruce now.

    He’s obviously not going to walk away from the job – who would?. If he does he gets nothing & no other club are waiting to take him on. Who honestly would walk?!.

    But the journalists are too scared to do that because the club will banish them – so they lap up the scraps the club toss them & go after Bruce.

    The next press conference should be asking Bruce why Charnley & Ashley haven’t publicly supported him & how he feels about the fact he has been hung out.

    Bruce is stupid enough to hang his players out & expect them to still play for him. Ask him the right question and he’ll say the wrong thing about Ashley & Charnley.

      (Quote)

  45. Rafa Benitez interview in Mail on Sunday tmrw

    On #NUFC

    ‘Some pundits say: “Oh, they [fans] ask for too much.” No, they deserve something. I wish them all the best and I want them to stay up’

    But no chance of return under Ashley

    He gets us doesn’t he.

      (Quote)

  46. However you look at it not sacking Bruce makes no sense at all even given Ashley’s attitude. I can only think something is going on in the background of which we are not aware.

      (Quote)

  47. Ashley’s sporadic jestures toward Nufc are just so weird. He obviously knows nothing about football or clubs but decides he must do something every now and then.
    The latest brainwave saw him decide to force that troublesome Benitez out, refuse to sign Rondon, use the £40m allocated to improving the academy on something else and leave us with what we obviously wanted. A geordie head coach and an exciting young Brazilian. The fans will love this!

      (Quote)

  48. Groucho:
    However you look at it not sacking Bruce makes no sense at all even given Ashley’sattitude. I can only think something is going on in the background of which we are not aware.

    Not sure anything is going on mate, this is just how Ashley operates, gambles we’ll scrape the points then wonders what the eff went wrong when it all goes tits up.
    He won’t pay out compo to Bruce yet doesn’t see the real threat of the mega bucks a third relegation will cost him.
    Strange man.

      (Quote)

  49. kimtoon: Not sure anything is going on mate, this is just how Ashley operates, gambles we’ll scrape the points then wonders what the eff went wrong when it all goes **** up.
    He won’t pay out compo to Bruce yet doesn’t see the real threat of the mega bucks a third relegation will cost him.
    Strange man.

    Agree Kim – this is Ashley rolling the dice and hoping Fulham get less points than us.
    He looks at it that we are 2 points ahead with a game in hand – if we can stay ahead of Fulham he won’t need to pay Bruce 4m and whatever it might cost getting in his replacement – maybe a further 5-10m.

    Ashley is probably favouring the prospect of going down, getting the parachute payments, clearing some of the wage bill & getting shot of a few staff that have been paid furlough for the last year.

    I think Ashley believes as much as I do that this Saudi deal is dead in the water. So the parachute payments and a backhanded compo payment from the PL to keep the failed takeover out of court – that will line fat mans pockets nicely.

      (Quote)

  50. Sharpy17: Agree Kim – this is Ashley rolling the dice and hoping Fulham get less points than us.
    He looks at it that we are 2 points ahead with a game in hand – if we can stay ahead of Fulham he won’t need to pay Bruce 4m and whatever it might cost getting in his replacement – maybe a further 5-10m.

    Ashley is probably favouring the prospect of going down, getting the parachute payments, clearing some of the wage bill & getting shot of a few staff that have been paid furlough for the last year.

    I think Ashley believes as much as I do that this Saudi deal is dead in the water.So the parachute payments and a backhanded compo payment from the PL to keep the failed takeover out of court – that will line fat mans pockets nicely.

    Yep, I actually think the whole takeover saga is the cruelest lie of all. Don’t get me wrong, I do think there was genuine interest from PIF but they would never of looked at us twice had it not been for Stavely pulling them on board. Even the Rubens only want a small share in us in reality.
    Fans need to accept that PIF left the building long ago and gave their reasons. I don’t believe it was financial either by the way, more they didn’t need the shame the PL were putting their way.
    Nothings changed imo and it’s cruel of all the itk’s and journos to foster false hope like they do.
    If you look at the cold hard facts, we will likely go down and he’ll likely keep Bruce in place as he’ll see him as the best to get us back up. Trouble is we won’t go back up, we are nowhere near as competitive as last time we dropped and the championship is a whole lot stronger now and our best players will be gone.
    That’s the real truth, not some pie in the sky saudi takeover come to rescue us, I don’t believe he’s going to arbitration to push through the takeover, more likely some form of compo for him, since when did he ever do anything decent or right for us.

      (Quote)

  51. Not sacking Bruce is also dereliction of duty by Charnley and Co. After months of terrible football and now losses there was no plan B. Well, there sort of was but nobody had ever heard of him and he had no real experience. All the hiring of Jones has done is create tensions among Bruce and the Steves.

    But do you seriously think they have anybody in mind if they sack Bruce? They have had months to think about it and their first answer was Graeme Jones. What’s the second answer – bring back Pards? They never actually sacked him and even got compensation from Palace. Remember Ashley hired Kinnear TWICE.

      (Quote)

  52. Savage and Sutton complaining about the abuse Bruce gets on social media. I dont even think he has a twitter account and he hears it second hand from his son and maybe some players. But, unless they are specific threats to him and his family I think they are best ignored.

    He would get dogs abuse if there were fans allowed into grounds. Imagine the scenes at Sheffield or Brighton? I am not even sure the buses could have left the car park.

    On a related theme, I just dont get the racial abuse on Twitter. I am sure twitter will have their e-mails and if there are complaints they could relay these to the Police. Aren’t there racial abuse laws? I remember a couple of years ago there was some college kid in Manchester who got drunk and started racial tweeting at 3am. He got kicked out of University and I think he got a big fine as well.

    In the age of Apple, Facebook and Twitter you just know that Big Brother is watching you. Or at the very least, you know the authorities can track you down if you racially abuse a player on these platforms.

      (Quote)

  53. This blog is social media. I have thought a few times about me and others calling Ashley Fatty is Fat Shaming. I concluded it is pretty harmless and the chances of him even being aware of NUFC blogs are remote.

    But if I racially abused a player on here Olly or Andy the Magpie would have me blocked in an instant. This is what I dont get about twitter. There is a digital/physical record of what you say. Aren’t you risking fines and even incarceration?

    The riots/insurrection in the US Capitol have landed hundreds in jail. THe FBI tracked them down through the news videos as well as Capitol Cameras. Then there’s all the facial recognition technology and guess where a lot of this led them – twitter and facebook where these people were laying out their plans and discussing openly the violence they wanted to commit. How stupid can you get? I feel the same about the twitter racial abusers – how stupid can you get? You deserve a fine for stupidity alone.

      (Quote)

  54. Article from Football365 about winners and losers from the weekend. Graham Potter and Steve Bruce feature a lot. It explains Potters tactics against us which were spot on. Just summing up, he knew that we would sit deep and only attacj in 1s and 2s so he just pressed and played wing backs knowing eventually the chances would come and we offered nothing going forward.

    But, read the article. It is quite a good summation of where we are and what Bruce is.

    https://www.football365.com/news/premier-league-winners-losers-newcastle-steve-bruce

      (Quote)

  55. Who decided there were to be 3 International Friendlies for European teams during this international break? Do they think Covid has gone away? I am sure others will have said this but there is also the fatigue factor. Quite a few teams have looked out of sorts and suffered lots of injuries because of fixture congestion. The most notable is Liverpool.

    The funny thing is that it will probably help us as we dont have that many internationals. Dubravka is a goalie so there’s not much strain on him. Does anyone care if Hendrick gets injured? Clark is useful but Fernandez is cover. Then there is Fraser and we are still not sure where his place is in the team. Brucie had him out for 4 months, then on the bench, then centre forward, then on the wing.

    They called of the South American qualifiers so Miggy will get a couple of weeks to get fit or have 2 weeks off with no training if he follows Bruce’s schedule 🙂

    This should hurt Spurs though, but can the cabbage and his army of coaches take advantage?

      (Quote)

  56. What do these pundits and even most journos get paid for? They are supposed to know the game but are purely reactive. Now a lot are saying Bruce is a trainwreck and that the coaching situation is a mess. No **** Sherlocks! Why didnt you say it as it was developing and stick your necks out?

    I have no inside knowledge and live 4000 miles away but said from day 1 that the Graeme Jones situation was going to cause problems. As I looked more at his record I even thought he was unqualified and said so on here. You could also read between the lines and know Bruce had nothing to do with his hiring even though he said he did. LIAR. And yet none of the media questioned any of this.

    Now I am hearing from them all that it was inevitable and who knows what’s going on, etc, etc. It was obvious there would be trouble from the start you idiots. The only way for that to be averted was for us to go on a winning streak in the so-called “easy” games. Then Charnley and Carr (who I think this was) would be hailed as geniuses and saviours. Now everybody has turned but where were they when Jones was hired?

    It was as plain as the nose on Phil Thomson’s face how this would turn out if the results did not turn.

    I am still 50/50 on relegation even with this clown show because I dont think Fulham are that good. It is us or them now whatever Brucie says about there being 7 teams in it and probably Arsenal according to him. Maybe Lyon or Porto might be in the mix Stevie you plonka.

      (Quote)

  57. kimtoon:
    6 days off, he’s given them 6 days off !

    FFS. Where did you see that? I dont care if they train every day they should still be going through tactics. They should be made to watch that Brighton game on loop for 3 straight days with their eyes pinned open like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange.

      (Quote)

  58. Bruce has no fcn clue does he. If a kid gets an A on a test you might take them out to get ice cream. If they get an F (Brighton) you dont take them to get Pizza.

      (Quote)

  59. That’s not even the half of it. Teams like Man City with all internationals are not getting a break. They have 3 stuoid friendlies to play.

    Us, who have just had our worst game in many years (and that’s saying something) reward the players with time off. We have been given a gift of 2 weeks preparation for Spurs and Bruce is squandering it.

    I dont even mind if they get the middle weekend off or that they only do coaching on zoom for a couple of days, but if St Max goes back to France or Bruce to his farm in the NW that is a joke in the situation we are in.

      (Quote)

  60. So Bruce has given them 6 of 9 days off. If Ashley isn’t spitting at that then I honestly don’t know what will move him!!.

    Can you imagine that happening in SD?! – you haven’t hit your sales target this month but nevermind, go take yourself a nice week off ??.

    How long do they usually train each day anyway?! – it’s not like they put a typical working day in.

    How many of our players will actually be away on international duties? – we have a week with most of our squad still there – a week to work of improvements.

    If you’re worried about injuries then don’t run them, don’t play – but get them in and drill the **** out of them. Work on corners & freekicks. Work on defensive set up … and for the love of god work on finishing!!.

    SIX days off man???.

      (Quote)

  61. I’ve said before that I don’t think there is a great deal of difference between the bottom 6 clubs in the PL and the top 6 teams in the Championship.
    The odd player that makes the difference or the way a coach can get a group of players playing as a unit.

    The likes of Burnley & Saints have the odd player, but also have the coaches that drill their teams into a certain way of playing.

    Then you have Fulham who Scott Parker drills has team, they just lack that player to make the difference.

    We on the other hand have the odd player in ASM & Wilson who can make the difference in a team that has not footballing style at all.

    Rafa made the difference with this group of largely average players by drilling them to death – but it worked because they played with organisation, structure & purpose.

    Any coach worth their salt would kill for 9 days solid to work with their players after the run we’ve had and being in the middle of a relegation fight.

    He’s given them the time of for their physical & mental health – what a load of rubbish.

    Get them in, work on things – forget running or fitness work – work on tactical plays.

    Then, once they are done – let them p!SS about and do daft things together on the training ground.
    Keep the camaraderie going between them – keep that bond & togetherness.

    I look at Brighton & their players aren’t so much better than ours (certainly not 6-0 better than ours), but they are average players coached well, drill to play a certain way & probably worked hard on the training pitch – but they look like they enjoy their football far more than us.

    Leeds play murderball in their training – designed to run the legs off them til they can give no more – they don’t get 9 days off!!.

      (Quote)

  62. Kimtoon: it was bound to happen that Craig Hope would twist the knife with the petty and vengeful Steve Bruce. Craig Hope was in the NUFC system as a kid. I think he is a true Newcastle fan who also happens to be good at his job. Contrast that with Bruce.

      (Quote)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *