Boss realistic when quizzed on pressure

STEVE Bruce was brutally honest when asked if he was under genuine pressure to keep his job at Newcastle United.

The clocks haven’t even gone back yet but Bruce’s position is already being talked about by some media pundits.

But the Newcastle head coach was a total realist when responding to the awkward subject of being replaced so soon into his tenure on Tyneside.

The reality is that Bruce will probably get the time he needs to turn things around at Newcastle due to the painstaking process it took to land him from Sheffield Wednesday in the summer.

When asked about his future, Bruce said: “We all understand that if you take a manager’s job, you are under pressure.

“You don’t get time to implement like you used to and if we think we will we are deluded in that one too.

“You have to be instant. That’s the way it is, and we have to accept.”

Bruce was a player at this weekend’s opponents Manchester United when the Red Devils stuck with Sir Alex Ferguson after years of decay at Old Trafford.

But they were rewarded in 1990 when Fergie won the FA Cup and followed it up with success in Europe and their first title in 1993.

Bruce feels those days are gone now though.

He said: “You can’t think you will get two or three years to turn it round and do things the way you want to.

“You have to be instant. “That’s the way it is, so we have to accept it.

“You have to work with what you’ve got, try to find a few results and move forward.”