BRUCE TO TAKE CHARGE FOR 1,000TH GAME BUT HIS REIGN STILL LOOKS TO BE DOOMED
STEVE BRUCE looks set to take charge of Newcastle’s first game under their new Saudi owners against Tottenham, but it could well be his last match in charge.
It had been widely reported Bruce would be sacked before Sunday’s clash with Spurs – which would be his 1,000th as a manager – with Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers and ex-Chelsea chief Antonio Conte among those linked with his job.
But the club issued an operations notice yesterday to say Bruce would attend a media briefing today, which could potentially be an ugly affair.
Bruce is an unpopular figure among Newcastle supporters, and this season’s start has only added to their malaise, with the club second bottom of the Premier League.
Brighton manager Graham Potter, another man to be linked with the Newcastle job, yesterday said he felt sorry for football fans having to deal with ‘false headlines’.
‘All it is is opinion,’ he said. ‘We live in a 24-hour news world. They have to fill it with something. A lot of it is not true. It’s just what it is.
‘I feel a little bit for supporters because they have to read speculation or false headlines that aren’t correct. But I think most people understand that’s just the world we’re in.
‘It was probably less than a year ago there was a lot of the opposite noise around whether you’re doing a good job, whether it’s time to move on, that type of stuff. With football it can change quickly and I don’t pay too much
attention to noise from outside.’ The immediate priority for Newcastle will be climbing the table, although fans have been dreaming of glory days since the takeover, with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) – which controls how the country’s sovereign wealth is invested – taking an 80 per cent stake in the club.
The new ownership is hugely controversial, with the likes of Amnesty International warning Saudi Arabia will use the club to distract attention away from their poor human rights record. But the vast majority of fans seem to have welcomed the takeover.