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Brendan Rodgers gives bizarre reason why Steve Bruce was ideal choice for Newcastle United

4 years ago
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Brendan Rodgers has been looking forward to this afternoon’s match at the King Power.

A win would send Leicester back up to third in the Premier League and ensure Newcastle end the weekend second bottom.What do you think of the job Steve Bruce has done at Newcastle?

A lot of focus has been on whether the outstanding James Maddison will be fit to start, Brendan Rodgers says he will give him every chance but if he doesn’t make it, then he has excellent alternatives.

As for the opposition, the Leicester boss claims Newcastle have got the ideal manager (head coach).

Explaining why Steve Bruce was the right choice, Brendan Rodgers says ‘He’s from the area, he knows the feelings of the people there, he understands what the team is all about. I don’t think there’ll be anyone working harder to make it right there.’

Why do we always get this kind of patronising nonsense?

At which other club do people say the same thing, that because somebody was born in the area they are somehow a better choice for the job?

So why then have Man City got Guardiola and why is Klopp at Liverpool, when surely they needed somebody from closer to home, similarly, why did Leicester bother with Ranieri and now have a manager from Northern Ireland?

The thing is, Steve Bruce might have went to a few matches when he was a kid but for 40 years he has had absolutely no connection with Newcastle United and his entire playing and management career has been spent away from Tyneside.

Plus he also claims to have turned the Newcastle job down twice before. Steve Bruce has no special relationship with the club, he is just another unqualified person to get the job. John Carver should never have got the job despite being Newcastle through and through and it is the same with Steve Bruce.

His ‘Geordieness’ is meaningless, we need him to understand tactics and the players he has available and as he is so keen to selectively compare what has happened so far with what has happened previously under Rafa Benitez, the last two visits here have seen Newcastle wins…

Brendan Rodgers asked about Steve Bruce:

“It was always going to be difficult coming in after Rafa and the three years that he had there.

“Steve is an excellent manager, he has been around a long time and has many experiences.

“For me, the more experienced you are, the better you become.

“I think the beauty of Steve going into Newcastle is that he’s from the area, he knows the feelings of the people there, he understands what the team is all about.

“I don’t think there’ll be anyone working harder to make it right there.

“For us, we expect a very tough game.

“They set up well, defend low, set up deep and we have to be at our best to get the result.”

‘After what happened between Matt Ritchie and Hamza Choudhury (Ritchie injured and still not fit after that Leicester cup game), does that affect how you send him out to approach the game and will he (Choudhury) get wound up by Newcastle’s players because of that Ritchie challenge?’

“Not at all.

“We never really spoke about it apart from after the game we had a chat.

“He needs to go out and play with aggression like all the players do.

“If you want to be a top team, you have got to be aggressive, you have got to be competitive.

“The message to him is like I would I say to all of the players and it certainly won’t affect whether we pick him or not.

“He has got a great temperament and he was just unfortunate in that game where he was just a fraction late.

“Young Matt Ritchie gets a sore one on the night but he’s a very honest player, Hamza (Choudhury).”

‘Chances of James Maddison playing and if not, will it affect your tactics against Newcastle?’

“It is the risk of whether he’s going to last the game or not. It’s questionable whether he will play or not but he is such a talented player we want to give him every chance.

“(If he’s missing) We just need to look at filling that creative side to our game.

“If you have a player of that importance then of course it’s always disappointing if he’s not available but you are trying to create a squad.

“We will always be about the team and our success will be based around the team.

“Of course we will have really talented individual players within it but if he’s not available, we will have somebody on the side to come in and have a great opportunity.”

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