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Opinion

Why Jonjo Shelvey views on Steve Bruce are spot on – This is what Bruce’s former player said…

3 years ago
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Until recently, my son, a one time season ticket holder at St James Park, was employed by an iconic football club, not in the Premier League, but British.

He had close contacts with football clubs and was fortunate enough to be privy to the views of players and club officials.

Among the views, was one from an international player who plays at the top of the Premier League and is one of the best players in the world in his position.

He was talking about the time he had Steve Bruce as his manager.

The first season he played for Steve he thought he was great.

He seemed to be a good man manager, affable, took an an interest in getting to know his players and was always available if they had any concerns, a really decent guy.

But then the player came to realise that the training was not particularly intense and he was not hot on tactics. Unlike his present manager, there was no drilling into a system of playing, there was a lot of time off. This suited some players who were basically lazy and those who were ambitious started to largely ignore him.

My point is, he sounds the ideal manager in Jonjo Shelvey’s eyes.

Clearly Rafa did not fancy Jonjo Shelvey, not for his lack of skill, but for his lack of application.

Given Matt Ritchie’s comments about Jonjoo Shelvey wanting to spend time golfing etc, then it is no wonder Jonjo thinks Bruce is wonderful.

All this reinforces what Danny Rose had to say about training at Newcastle. It is clearly not as intense or well directed as it should be and the players don’t seem to be sure of tactics or what their individual roles are.

This might suit Jonjo Shelvey but it must be frustrating and confusing for those with ambition and will ultimately drive them out the door.

Andrew Bruce (no relation!)

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