According to The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards, Steve Bruce is set for a series of potentially decisive meetings with Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley over the coming weeks.
Now he’s kept us in the Premier League, many seem adamant his job will be safe as houses and he’ll be in the dugout for the first game of the 2021/22 season, however Edwards – a self-confessed friend of Bruce’s – has explained why the unpopular head coach could yet leave this summer.
In his latest piece for The Telegraph, the North East reporter claims that it is far from certain that Bruce will stick around – which perhaps explains why he’s refused to commit his future to the club when quizzed in a recent interview on talkSPORT.
Edwards claims that he has been ‘badly hurt’ by the abuse he’s received both online and in the press, even stating that some close to the NUFC boss have urged him to leave for the good of his own health.
Here’s a snippet from the article itself, which also suggests Bruce may feel he’s fighting a losing battle to prove Newcastle fans wrong and guide us to a top 10 finish if he’d not given money to spend by Mike Ashley this summer:
It is not certain he wants to carry on. Far from it. Bruce could well leave. Much will depend on what sort of transfer budget he is offered to improve a squad that lacks the quality in key areas to compete in the top 10.
Bruce has been beaten up; badly hurt by the treatment he has received. Supporters will say that is entirely his own fault and will have no sympathy.
With that sort of attitude, what reason does Bruce have to continue? There are people around him who are urging for him to leave because, they feel, he does not deserve what he has been subjected to.
He will get another job elsewhere, whether it is in the Championship or the Premier League. His stock, if anything, has risen nationally.
That sentence will annoy Newcastle supporters, but it is true. When you take a step back from the emotion – the years of frustration and under-performance under Ashley, the what-might-have-been if Saudi Arabia had been able to buy the club, the fact Bruce replaced the hugely-popular and immensely-talented Rafa Benitez – he has done a good job in difficult circumstances
But is he the man who is going to improve the team and will he have the chance to do so in terms of recruitment?
Bruce has never consistently led a team into the top 10 in the Premier League so why should anyone believe he can do it with Newcastle? Is this his ceiling?
That will never be good enough for the fans, who insist the club is one that should be in the top half of the table, even though they rarely have been under Ashley.
Bruce has directed all the flak away from Ashley and maybe it is time for another manager to come in and see if they can do better under the same regime.
Newcastle should be doing everything they can to sign Willock on a permanent deal which will mean matching Arsenal’s £20m asking price. Bruce wants him, he improves the team and fits the supposed recruitment model perfectly – a 21 year-old with potential and huge resale value.
They also need another centre-back, a full-back and another striker to take the goalscoring burden off Wilson.
But this is Ashley’s Newcastle and, deprived of gate receipts for more than a year, there is not going to be any money to spend, certainly not the amount needed to do all of the above. The club spends what it makes only.
Ashley is still supposedly desperate to sell and has the perfect excuse not to fund putting a better squad together.
Unless Bruce is told he will be allowed to spend money on better players, why would he want to put himself in line for more abuse?
The last two years have shown that he will get the blame for another disappointing season, not Ashley. The opposite was true under Benitez, who had all the same battles with the owner and left when he realised he was not going to win them.
If Bruce is told to make do with what he has and the fans insist the current team is being held back by him, it is best for everyone if he walks away.
What happens next is anyone’s guess, but if Bruce receives a poor reception when Sheffield United come to town next Wednesday, both he and Mike Ashley be thinking twice this summer.
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Olly – fans can be critical of bad performances, I certainly have been on this site. But we both know that there are sections of Newcastle fans that have taken it way beyond that!! Too far in some cases & if it affecting Bruce’s health then that is just simply wrong & shouldn’t be condoned by any of us – full spot.
We can each have our opinions on the strength of our squad – I think it is poor with the exception of 3 or 4 real quality players.
I think that of the bottom 6-8 sides in the PL & the top 4-6 sides in the championship – there is little between any of those 10-14 times.
Regardless of that though. Bruce has done a good job to keep us up. When we were only a point ahead of Fulham, he called it to be fair. He said there was 8 in the battle when many said it was just us & Fulham & he said we’d pull away again when he got key players back & he was right – he said a lot of nonsense with it, but he was right about those things.
Performances have been very hit & miss – more miss than hit. But his points accumulated again has been enough to keep us up with games to spare both seasons.
Not great, but at a club where the owner is actively selling the club, it’s certainly not deserving of the level of abuse he has had.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Didums – close the door on the way out
Sadly Bruce over the past 2 years has shown that he’s simply NOT a MANAGER – We need a Manager = it’s been dreadful to watch the mismanagement
One little point from the above – Bruce’s health may be down to the years of Alcohol abuse = he’s gone through the same with EVERY Club he’s been at SO JUST TO BLAME NUFC is a bit rich = he’s made a fortune on being paid off
KK(Quote)
It is a strange thing that Bruce is trying all he can to sign a player he kept on the bench . And played Donkey ahead of him.
He did it his way. Or , he didnt. Then he did. Then he switched back to 5 at the back. I am confused by Bruce’s mumblings. And stay off TalkSport making excuses.
#Bruce the Excuse.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
“I am pleased and delighted to say that after my zoom call with Mike that he has asked me to continue the good work next season”.
“I am supposedly not on any social media so I dont know how Luke can say I am aware that I have been abused on there”.
“Alex, you say, my son Alex? he cant even tie his own shoe laces, why would I listen to him?”
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Not really that close but it gets yr story into print I guess!
IF you were close to Bruce you’d know that his view isn’t the above = ONE: he’s not WALKING when there’s millions to be had when sacked.
He Can’t understand why he hasn’t been sacked already / paid off – as what more does he have to do to show that he hasn’t a clue what he’s doing!
Let’s get 14 more coaches to help the clown (!!??)
And all it needs is another full back, a centre back and a striker!!!!
What the !!!! It needs a lot of dross getting cleared out = Hendrick, Fraser, and a complete overhaul of the midfield. Time to say goodbye to a few lifers at NUFC
KK(Quote)