Callum Wilson has heaped praise on first-team coach Graeme Jones in an exclusive interview with Alan Shearer for The Athletic, and it doesn’t read well if you’re Steve Bruce!
Jones joined at the end of January while we were in a troubling run of form, helping give us a more forward-thinking approach and some much needed identity.
The changes in our style were evident instantly, with our 2-0 away win against Everton showcasing the fruits of his labour as we looked effective in a new 4-3-1-2 formation.
Now, our new number nine has spoke to Alan Shearer about the impact Jones made on the team when he arrived, claiming he’s more ‘tactically aware’ and ‘up to date’ than Bruce:
“I think Graeme Jones coming in as a coach definitely complemented the manager because he’s a little bit more tactically aware and up to date, whereas the manager has his different strengths and attributes.
“When you see the results towards the back end of the season and the way we were in games, we had more of a style and philosophy.
“That will happen from the start of the season with a good coach around to help out the previous coaches.”
Bruce’s tactics – or lack of should I say – are clearly underlined here as not being up to scratch in the modern era.
He may be a good man manager in Wilson’s eyes, but it’s pretty telling that one of our best players didn’t feel we had much identity to our play prior to Jones’ arrival, with Bruce’s approach deemed out of date.
While Wilson clearly has not tried to throw his gaffer under the bus, it does not do Bruce any justice for a man who is trying to shake the “dinosaur” tag that he has among supporters.
His old-school, man-management style is simply Bruce’s way of coaching. In a way, perhaps this approach compliments Jones’ more modern outlook perfectly, but it is clear which one is getting the compliments here in this article – whether Wilson meant to have a dig at Bruce or not!
