No way back for Bruce.. heat is on for Jose & Mikel

OF all the managers who need a great run-in to save their jobs or keep the wolves at bay, Jose Mourinho and Mikel Arteta stand out from the crowd.

If it was purely down to results, I would add Steve Bruce to that ‘critical’ list. But I fear his position at Newcastle United has become untenable, regardless of whether he keeps them up or not.

Let’s make it clear from the outset: I am not advocating that any club should sack their manager. It is never a cause for celebration when somebody loses their job.

But from the outside, and for different reasons, it looks as if north London is the capital of managerial stress.

From being top of the league in November, Mourinho (top right) probably needs to deliver a top-four finish or Tottenham’s first trophy for 13 years in the Carabao Cup final – or maybe both – to claim Spurs have had a decent season.

If he achieves neither, it will be regarded as a disaster. And even if he achieves both, the debate about Mourinho’s style of football is not going to go away.

Football is usually a results business – but at Tottenham style is paramount, and according to one fans’ survey this week, Jose’s approval rating among the supporters is worryingly low.

Up the road at Arsenal, Arteta (above) has had a disappointing season in the Premier League... and yet there seems to be more optimism about his long-term prospects.

Driven by a nucleus of young, talented players – Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Martin

Odegaard and Kieran Tierney – there are definite signs of the Gunners rediscovering their swagger.

But they will need to win the Europa League to bring Champions League football back to the Emirates and, if that doesn’t happen, Arteta will need a good start next season to win over the doubters.

As for Bruce (top), who has undeniably had terrible luck with injuries, I fear the die is cast.

Even if Newcastle stay up, I can’t see how he will survive the animosity and toxic atmosphere swirling around the club.

I know he’s not a quitter and wouldn’t walk away, but if fans had been admitted to stadiums this season, you wonder how Bruce and Mourinho would have coped with the soundtrack.

Of the other clubs fighting for their lives, I don’t see Graham

Potter being in any danger at Brighton now, after two big wins on the bounce.

And Sam Allardyce, who was staring down the barrel when he took over at West Brom, looks like he’s going to get the first relegation on his CV.

But if he has the willpower, and spending power, to bring the Baggies back up next season, I can see him sticking around at The Hawthorns.

And Sean Dyche? First and foremost, I think Burnley will stay up again.

Then it won’t even be a question of whether Dyche survives at Turf Moor – more a question of how much longer the Clarets will be able to hang on to him.

There’s a big job out there somewhere for Dyche, and it might not be far away.