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Sky Sports told that Mike Ashley is keeping Steve Bruce – Incredible reasons given to justify it

3 years ago
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Sky Sports have reported on Sunday morning about the situation at Newcastle United.

Having a close working relationship with the Mike Ashley controlled football club, little wonder they have been given the inside track.

Sky Sports informing Newcastle fans and neutrals alike, that they have been told Mike Ashley has no plans whatsoever to get rid of Steve Bruce.

Just in case you weren’t up to date with the goings on, it means that when Steve Bruce takes charge of Newcastle v Tottenham in their next game on Sunday 4 April, the previous 112 days will have produced the following set of statistics:

Newcastle United – Played 20 Won 2, Drawn 5, Lost 13, Goals For 14 Goals Against 35

Sky Sports say that they have been told that there are two main reasons why Mike Ashley has come to his decision:

‘The manager’s loyalty to the owner.’

‘His [Steve Bruce’s] passion for the club.’

Ability to actually do the job is obviously not seen as a key requirement…

This is of course no surprise to Newcastle fans.

Chris Hughton proved a big success but Mike Ashley only appointed him caretaker boss initially, as he was cheap and already at the club. The appointments of Kevin Keegan and Rafa Benitez both made because Mike Ashley and the club were under great pressure and the owner undermined both of them as soon as it was possible to do so.

Every other appointment has been made for all the wrong reasons, Championship level managers or lower who were usually out of work and individuals who no other Premier League club would have remotely considered at the time Mike Ashley hired them.

Steve Bruce only the latest, as he followed the likes of JFK, Alan Pardew and Steve McClaren into St James Park.

Sky Sports adding on Sunday morning:

‘Bruce has long been unpopular with a section of the Newcastle supporters and calls for the 60-year-old to be sacked reached a crescendo overnight following the dismal showing on the south coast. For the third time this season fans protested outside St James’ Park with banners following the defeat.’

Sky Sports doing their bit to try and protect Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce’s backs, claiming the Head Coach only ‘unpopular with a section of the Newcastle supporters’…this sounding along the lines of Steve Bruce often dismissing criticism this season as being the work of a small handful of supposedly unrepresentative ‘keyboard warriors’, with the Head Coach claiming the silent majority were / are happy with him in charge. At one press conference even claiming he was receiving loads of fanmail through the post, telling him what a great job he was / is doing and not to take notice of the handful of keyboard warriors.

The reality of course is that as we all know, there is an absolutely overwhelming majority of Newcastle fans who have wanted Steve Bruce to leave, indeed, most never wanted him in the first place.

Like pretty much all of you, I never speak to anybody who would choose to have Bruce staying on as Newcastle United head for the relegation trapdoor.

Sky Sports report that Mike Ashley is ‘downbeat at the manner of the performance at the Amex’…however, he ‘expects manager and players alike to step up to the challenge in the coming weeks.’

Apart from pig-headed blind hope that things will get better, it is difficult to imagine what Mike Ashley bases this on.

Though after almost 14 years of his ownership, Newcastle fans are long past the point of ever being surprised at Ashley’s capacity to make shocking decisions that harm the club time after time.

Stats from BBC Sport:

Brighton 3 Newcastle 0 – Saturday 20 March 8pm

Goals:

Newcastle:

Brighton:

Trossard 45+3, Welbeck 51, Maupay 68

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Possession was Brighton 66% (75%) Newcastle 34% (25%)

Total shots were Brighton 11 (7)  Newcastle 3 (1)

Shots on target were Brighton 6 (3) Newcastle 1 (0)

Corners were Brighton 3 (1) Newcastle 1 (1)

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Newcastle United:

Dubravka, Manquill0, Lascelles, Clark, Dummett, Willock (Murphy 62), Hayden (Hendrick 45+2), Shelvey, Almiron (Sean Longstaff 76), Fraser, Joelinton

Unused Subs:

Darlow, Ritchie, Lewis, Fernandez, Gayle, Carroll

Crowd: 00,000

(Brighton 3 Newcastle 0 – This was supposed to be a match report but in the circumstances…Read HERE)

(Newcastle fans group call for immediate Steve Bruce sacking after Brighton humiliation – Read HERE)

(Brighton 3 Newcastle 0 – Match ratings and comments on all the NUFC players – Read HERE)

(Brighton 3 Newcastle 0 – International breaks are prime time for sacking managers – Read HERE)

(Brighton 3 Newcastle 0 – Instant NUFC fan/writer reaction to Saturday’s dismal defeat – Read HERE)

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