Bruce deserves more credit but if Toon want a new boss they should go for Gers gaffer
STEVE BRUCE looks like he is going to make it 1000 games and out at Newcastle – but if the fans want a new messiah, they don’t grow on trees.
It’s inevitable 94.3 per cent of supporters who said they wanted Bruce out in a Supporters’ Trust poll are going to have their wish granted.
Bruce’s position is untenable when such a huge proportion of the fanbase is against him and Newcastle have not won in seven games.
Even though the football has been a bit more expansive, results have not been good enough. Winless streaks can’t go on for ever.
But at the risk of alienating the Toon army, Bruce deserves more credit than he’s been given. To reach 1000 games as club manager is a phenomenal achievement. Only 26 people have managed that milestone in English football, including Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Robson and Arsene Wenger.
You don’t take charge of that many football matches if you don’t know what you’re doing.
I still don’t understand why he is so disliked, with a 29.2 per cent win ratio, when Rafa Benitez – a fantastic manager, no dispute – had only a marginally better win ratio (33 per cent).
Admittedly, Bruce did spend more money than Rafa. But it is clear Bruce was operating within tight financial margins in the last days of Mike Ashley’s reign as owner, while money will be no object for the next boss.
But who are they going to bring in? It will take someone of Kevin Keegan’s charisma 30 years ago to galvanise the fans. Even the richest club in the world may not be able to tempt
Brendan Rodgers away from Leicester. And some of the other names linked with Newcastle, including Antonio Conte, are by no means certain to jump on the first plane.
If it was my call, I’d go for Steven Gerrard – a proven success at Rangers, a big name in every respect and someone whose sheer force of personality could live with the ambition of the new owners.
But bringing worldclass signings on the pitch to England’s northeast will be even harder.
When Keegan was in his pomp, Newcastle were going head-to-head with Manchester United for the title – and it was a two-horse race. The fans dream of signing Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe and Newcastle’s new owners could afford them.
But so could Man City, United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Why would they go to Newcastle ahead of four clubs who can offer Champions League football?
Can Newcastle become a force in the title race? Given time, yes. But they do not have the same pulling power as Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
The fans wanted Ashley out because they wanted hope. But hope doesn’t win trophies. Maybe in years to come some of the fans who hounded Bruce out will accept he did a decent job to keep Newcastle in the Premier League.