OPINION
Storm clouds are gathering at Newcastle as manager Steve Bruce hit back at critics today in his pre-match press conference ahead of the club’s next Premier League game against Tottenham.
Newcastle have lost their first two games of the season and Bruce has come in for sustained criticism from the fans. Off-the-pitch talk hasn’t helped either from senior players and a former Newcastle star.
Striker Yoshinori Muto said he felt “isolated” in the 3-1 defeat to Norwich [Chronicle] and Paul Dummett said the side didn’t feel right from the warm-up, although he later took to Twitter to clarify his comments and said it was the players not the coaching staff to blame
Earlier this week, Michael Chopra made the headlines when he said that he’d spoken to senior players and claimed they didn’t know what their job was and that they weren’t being drilled properly in training. [TalkSPORT]
Bruce called Chopra out on Friday morning in comments quoted by the Chronicle.
“The Chopra thing was blown out of all proportion. Some of this stuff out there is just nonsense, blatant lies,” Bruce said.
“I’m just surprised that people take any attention of him. Some of the stuff is just fabricated and lies.
“When it’s like that, you think why is that making national headlines – which is total rubbish.”
Storms gathering
It might be very early in the season to pass judgement on Bruce – two games in is premature even by crazy Premier League standards – but it’s hard to imagine how things could have gone any worse for the new manager.
Putting the results to one side, the claims and counter-claims that have been bandied about are creating a real sense of impending doom at Newcastle, for the club as well as the manager.
Newcastle are now favourites to get relegated, ahead of the three newly-promoted sides, and that wasn’t the case after the slow start from Rafa Benitez last season.
Bruce had to respond to the Chopra claims, but for the good of everyone connected at the club that will hopefully draw a line under it now. If Chopra cares about Newcastle then he should stay quiet and let Bruce get on with managing the team.
Interestingly, there have been a few Newcastle fans showing cautious support for Bruce over the furore, but they’re still in the minority.
https://twitter.com/dangraham9/status/1164823909717307393
Poor track record
Two things are at play at Newcastle and both conspire against Bruce.
Newcastle fans want Mike Ashley out of the club and after losing Rafa Benitez it was going to be tough for any manager picked by the owner to come in and do a job.
However, there are fans of other clubs who are still on the warpath and looking to take him down – and that’s not helping his image among the Newcastle supporters.
Some Aston Villa fans have said that what Bruce said in the press conference today was the same lines he’d trotted out to them.
Literally word for word what he said at Villa
— Rob (@Nakamba_19) August 23, 2019
Garantee the words 'mass hysteria' will be coming after the next loss.
— Foxy (@FoxyN77) August 23, 2019
It makes you wonder what Bruce can do to turn things around.
A win against Tottenham might be unlikely but a battling point would help. A heavy defeat will heap unimaginable pressure on Bruce and with Heung-min Son set to play after missing the first two games of the season through suspension, you have to fear for Newcastle.
It’s a lot to ask but if the fans could agree their beef is with Ashley and try to get behind Bruce it could only benefit the team.