Peace in our Tyne
BRUCE: RECREATING SPIRIT HAS CALMED FANS
STEVE BRUCE has revealed the managerial blueprint that has united Newcastle – and he remains determined to “prove people wrong.”
Bruce negotiated a stormy start to his reign at St James’ Park, but has won over players and fans since replacing Rafa Benitez in the summer.
When he got the job he was labelled a managerial dinosaur, just too old-school, and everything his predecessor Rafa wasn’t.
But since a crushing 5-0 defeat by Leicester in September Bruce’s men have won four out of eight games and lost only twice.
The contrast to the Benitez era is stark – and so are the results.
Enjoyment
While the Spaniard was much loved, this time last year Newcastle were six points worse off, transfer rows were being stoked, and he claimed it’d be a “miracle” if the team stayed up.
Bruce, whose side welcome Southampton this afternoon, has taken a different route.
No provocative transfer talk, modest deflection of praise, and a cool head when he’s been “under the pump.”
Bruce said: “The most important thing is trying to recreate a spirit.
“The whole working environment at the club is important for that, from the caretakers to the cleaners, the chefs, everyone.
“I want them to come into work and enjoy it.
“And that goes for the players too. Since I’ve walked through the door, yes, we’ve had two or three poor performances but all-in-all I couldn’t have asked for much more from them.
“Trust comes with results – and when you get a couple of results against big teams, the players are prepared to run a million miles.”
Bruce joked: “This job has been a cakewalk!
“If you don’t get any results, no matter who you are, you come under the pump.
“In the Premier League you’re in the eye of everybody all the time. There is no escape.
“And you have to accept that there are always going to be some tough periods when you just need a point.
“There is more to come from this group of players. We are just trying to find our feet a little bit.
“These are the first steps, but ultimately, I would like to get a certain way of playing, which is my way.
“We have not got that just yet but we will carry on until we reach that point.”
Improvement
Newcastle need to improve up front, and their £40million man Joelinton , who is recalled for Andy Carroll today, needs to start scoring. They must improve their possession stats too.
Newcastle had the ball just 27 per cent of the time when beating Sheffield United on Thursday.
Bruce said: “We’ve still got to be a little bit more fluid at the top end of the pitch, but we’ll keep working on that.
“December is a huge month and we have four of our games at home.
“If we can keep the home form stacking up going into 2020, then we can start looking upwards rather than over our shoulder.”
Bruce knows how quickly positive moods can change, and having found a resilient system to lift some of the Toon gloom, he wants results never mind the plaudits.
He added: “Praise doesn’t interest me. I’m not looking for any brownie points.
“I’ve been given a wonderful opportunity, I’ve said that from day one. I hope I can prove a few people wrong.”
NEWCASTLE v SOUTHAMPTON