OPINION
Newcastle fans aren’t enamoured by Mike Ashley’s potential choice of new manager.
And they will no doubt be rolling their eyes at the latest updates that are coming out about Steve Bruce.
The deal looked like it was pretty much done and dusted yesterday with Newcastle keen to get Bruce in before their pre-season tour to China.
However, an update from Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards on Twitter suggests that it may take a while longer yet. Edwards claims talks are still ongoing over compensation.
#nufc are still to agree compensation with Sheffield Wednesday in their attempt to appoint Steve Bruce as manager. Talks ongoing.
— Luke Edwards (@LukeEdwardsTele) July 12, 2019
BBC journalist Adam Oxley reported later that Bruce was still at the Sheffield Wednesday training ground on Friday morning and claimed there hadn’t actually been a formal approach from the club yet.
Informed that Steve Bruce is at #swfc training ground this morning as he continues to be linked with the vacant #nufc manager’s role. I’ve just checked and there still hasn’t been a formal approach from Newcastle.@footballheaven
— Adam Oxley (@adam3oxley) July 12, 2019
Newcastle fans might be hoping that this is a deal that Ashley manages to mess up, judging by their reaction to his appointment – they certainly wouldn’t mind if the club ended up looking elsewhere if the compensation Sheffield Wednesday asks for is too high.
However, we think things have gone too far down the road for that.
According to the Chronicle, Bruce has said he wants to leave to join Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday are going to find it hard to keep hold of an unhappy manager.
The negotiations over the compensation could be tough, though. Ashley won’t want to pay more than a penny more than is necessary but Sheffield Wednesday hold the power.
This could well take a while to sort out and in the meantime it looks like Newcastle will be flying to China without a manager.