‘Baffled’ Bruce hits out at VAR

STEVE Bruce said he was ‘baffled’ by the penalty that resulted in Newcastle United going down to a painful defeat at Sheffield United, writes LEE RYDER.

The Magpies lost to the rockbottom Blades and managed just a couple of tame efforts at goal against relegation fodder.

Bruce is under serious pressure from fans but it remains to be seen whether the club’s top brass will act on his future.

After the game, in which Ryan Fraser was sent off in the first half, Bruce (below) said: “I’ve got no issues with the red card – we can’t argue with that and you can’t argue with how poor we are in the first half.

“But the penalty baffles me. The referee got it spot on in real time. It hit [Fernandez’s] hand but it’s not intentional. It could have been a foul on him as well.

”VAR is supposed to be for clear and obvious decisions.

“How someone 300 miles away on a TV screen can overturn it is beyond me.

“You know when the referee goes to the screen it will be a penalty – it’s pathetic. It’s beyond me.

“And then there’s a horror challenge by Billy Sharp, that should be a straight red card. It’s blatant.

“They didn’t check it. It’s laughable the whole VAR situation and I don’t think anyone enjoys it. I’m struggling to cope with it. Week-in, week-out, it’s ruining the game.”

Goalkeeper Karl Darlow said United were “nowhere” near good enough in last night’s awful defeat.

Darlow said: “Performance wise we were nowhere near. We didn’t get going, they played the better football before the red card. We need to sort that out. “There can be no excuses. “We need to come here and do the business. Talk is cheap, we need to show more on the pitch that the fans can be proud of. It’s back to the drawing board.

“We needed to put more pressure on, they were fighting for their lives. We haven’t delivered what we said in the changing room, on the training pitch.”