Blazing Bruce reads riot act as Magpies ‘surrender’

GUTLESS PLAYERS BLASTED FOR LACKING IN COURAGE

TO SAY Steve Bruce was livid by the time he got to his postmatch Press conference is an understatement.

Having blasted his players for a lack of desire behind the scenes, his compulsory media briefing was sandwiched into a tense private meeting with managing director Lee Charnley in the corridors of the King Power Stadium.

By that time the inquest was already well under way, but Bruce did not hold back as he met journalists after the game.

Andy Carroll emerged from the dressing room to say: “The gaffer is fuming in there.”

Things hadn’t been going well in there on a day when Isaac Hayden had already booted the changing room door in anger after his red card.

Bruce said: “That was simply nowhere near what is required here.

“With nine men, ten men, whatever, one thing you can show is resilience, determination, courage, whatever you want to call it.

“It was a poor second goal, wicked deflection for the third … but we didn’t do enough to show enough resilience and that is the disappointing thing as

I sit here. That is the only thing I genuinely demand, as well as playing in a certain way.”

Bruce’s harsh words were still the subject of discussion on radio phone-ins and social media yesterday.

The Toon boss had commented: “A lot has been said about tactics, this that and the other, but we have to apply ourselves better than what I have witnessed.

“It was a complete surrender, too quickly, too easily.

I have only been at the club two or three months. I haven’t witnessed what I have witnessed today

“We didn’t do enough second half to stop the Leicester momentum.

“We haven’t done the basics well enough. If you don’t do that on the big stage against a good team then it will be difficult.”

So what exactly did Bruce say to his players after the 5-0