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Opinion

Why I want Steve Bruce to stay at Newcastle United…for now

3 years ago
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Let me immediately qualify the title of my piece by saying that, first and foremost, I want Newcastle United to retain Premier League status.

A lot hinges on not being relegated this season.

The situation is pretty perilous, and it’s getting close, but with what we have on the board, and with what even Bruce can cobble together in the final 14 games, I believe we’ll have just enough.

And, “just enough” is what I want Steve Bruce to be remembered as having achieved, because he deserves no plaudits whatsoever, no praise in the slightest, and no leeway for the team disaster he owns.

For me, Steve Bruce is the worst ever manager we’ve had in my ‘active attending’ supporting years, and that goes back to Bill McGarry.

He beats ‘Geordie John’ because Carver was only ever a squad coach and should never have been anywhere near a hotseat.

He also beats Kinnear and McClaren (despite them having poorer win records) because of the number of games he’s had in charge and, frankly, the utter tripe and nonsense he’s spoken for 19 months – longer than both of those tenures put together.

Sacking Bruce now would, simply, let him off the hook without being properly exposed for the mess and failure he’s caused since he arrived.

We know all the excuses both he and his pundit mates would have if he was fired. There’d be no accountability and responsibility left at his door at all. No point in repeating and listing these excuses here (you can do that in any comments!) – but, we know exactly what would be trotted out in Bruce’s defence.

What I want is for Steve Bruce to have a very clear two season comparison with his predecessor. All the figures, the stats, the downward trends, the absolute lack of any progress whatsoever, would be both highly visible and totally undeniable. Ensure the comparison is over two full EPL seasons, so there’s absolutely no wriggle room for plausible excuses.

How would I like this season to end?

Well, other than a ‘new manager bounce’, there’s nothing to play for apart from accumulating a few points, so little reason in getting someone new in until the end of the season.

Given that I’ve already said we should have enough to stay up, I’d like to make it very simple – just hit Ashley’s perennial target of 17th.

Whether Steve Bruce does that by points, or makes it exciting by doing it with goal difference, I’m not too bothered. To see Bruce steer us to mere survival, meet his much-vaunted remit, yet totally fail on probably 100% of the tripe he’s told us for two seasons, would be extremely satisfying…….. and for him, completely indefensible.

And then…Steve Bruce can go.

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