Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

Opinion

Steve Bruce threatens to stay on longer at Newcastle United

3 years ago
Share

The hope and expectation of Newcastle fans is surely that Steve Bruce quietly walks away once the season ends.

Once Mike Ashley refused to take the opportunity to sack him during the March international break, it was clear we would have to put up with him until the end of this 2020/21 season.

However, the thought of Steve Bruce staying on for the 2021/22 campaign is surely unthinkable.

After the shockingly bad job he has done at St James Park and his divisive behaviour with the fans, it is inconceivable that he will still be on the touchline once sizeable numbers of Newcastle supporters are allowed back inside St James Park.

Steve Bruce has repeatedly refused to do the decent thing and resign, as that would mean not getting his huge pay-off. However, surely he and Mike Ashley can do a deal in the summer that would see him walk away with less than the much reported £4m figure that it’s said he would be due if sacked.

However, Friday brought some less than great news…

Steve Bruce was asked about plans after the season ends:

“What never changes is we are always going to look [for new players in the next transfer window].

“There are all the conversations to be had, about where we are with budgets and things like that.

“There’s no doubt that the football world has been rocked by Covid.

“Whenever I speak to any manager they say finances are going to be a problem.

“I can’t see there being big huge movements next summer throughout football because of the problems Covid has caused.”

So Steve Bruce seemingly making clear that he intends to still be at Newcastle when the 2021/22 season kicks off, no matter what division we are in.

Just the kind of news you want to hear…not!

Steve Bruce already talking about what Newcastle will do in the summer 2021 transfer market AND already doing his Mike Ashley prescribed role of making clear that as fans we shouldn’t expect anything positive from this upcoming transfer window. Yes the January 2021 transfer window was quiet but the summer 2020 was comparable to your average previous summer window. Maybe this summer won’t be as high when it comes to spending BUT I bet the other clubs are still looking to do everything they can to improve their teams / squads AND will spend the necessary money where they need to.

The big difference is that every other club is always looking long-term as well as at the short-term, whereas with Mike Ashley it is about crawling from season to season, that is why he totally rejected Rafa Benitez’ ideas on a long-term plan to try and fulfil NUFC’s potential.

The idea that Steve Bruce should be allowed to continue beyond this total mess of a season is laughable, indeed it goes well beyond that, because if you take in the second half of last season, these past 16 months have seen only 12 wins from 51 Premier League matches.

Currently standing fourth bottom of the Premier League and only kept out of the relegation zone because Sheffield United, West Brom and Fulham have been so woeful. Steve Bruce currently stands on only 32 points from 31 PL matches, compare that record to all of the other previous NUFC seasons in the Premier League.

I have listed the manager to take charge of most games in any particular season. so for example in 1996/97 it is Kevin Keegan, he managed for 21 matches, Kenny Dalglish 16 and Terry McDermott one (All seasons were 38 games apart from 1993/94 and 1994/95 when everybody had 42 PL matches):

78 points – 1995/96 (Keegan)

77 points – 1993/94 (Keegan)

72 points – 1994/95 (Keegan)

71 points – 2001/02 (Sir Bobby)

69 points – 2002/03 (Sir Bobby)

68 points – 1996/97 (Keegan)

65 points – 2011/12 (Pardew)

58 points – 2005/06 (Souness)

56 points – 2003/04 (Sir Bobby)

52 points – 1999/2000 (Sir Bobby)

51 points – 2000/01 (Sir Bobby)

49 points – 2013/14 (Pardew)

46 points – 1998/99 (Gullit), 2010/11 (Pardew)

45 points – 2018/19 (Benitez)

44 points – 1997/98 (Dalglish), 2004/05 (Souness), 2017/18 (Benitez), 2019/20 (Bruce)

43 points – 2006/07 (Roeder), 2007/08 (Allardyce)

41 points – 2012/13 (Pardew)

39 points – 2014/15 (Pardew and Carver, exactly 19 games each)

37 points – 2015/16 (McClaren)

34 points – 2008/09 (Kinnear)

32 points – 2020/21 (Steve Bruce – seven games remaining)

As things stand, Steve Bruce still needs seven more points if he is even to match the worst ever NUFC PL season that hasn’t ended in relegation.

Just think on that, Steve Bruce needs seven more points just to try and match John Carver’s edge of disaster season.

It is quite apt really, John Carver managed just three wins in the twenty games before he was sacked at the end of that 2014/15 season, Steve Bruce is currently on only three wins in his last twenty two matches. Ironically / amusingly, it was Steve Bruce who gifted John Carver his biggest win, Bruce’s Hull embarrassingly losing 3-0 at home to Carver’s NUFC.

If indeed Steve Bruce has the nerve to stay on at Newcastle United AND Mike Ashley fails to comprehend the sheer stupidity of risking another Bruce season, even if we cheat relegation…

A quick look at the Steve Bruce record of this past decade doesn’t exactly fill you with hope…since 2011 the highest Premier League total that Bruce has recorded (other than last season at Newcastle) is 37 points in 2013/14 when at Hull. Hull City scraped survival that season but Newcastle should learn their lessons from what then happened, as Hull stuck with Steve Bruce and got even less points (35) the next season and went down.

Yes, Mike Ashley is the biggest challenge we face as Newcastle fans BUT if your house is burning down, you throw water on it to help the situation, not petrol.

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks