Steve Bruce knew he was in for a baptism of fire at St James’ Park and a bizarre moment in the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal won’t have won the manager any new fans.
New signing Jetro Willems was introduced on 54 minutes but spent the first couple of minutes in central midfield, much to the fury of Bruce.
Bruce was livid on the touchline until he finally managed to get the correct info out to the player, who was supposed to be playing on the left.
A few minutes after he was introduced, Arsenal scored the only goal of the game through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with Willems caught on his heels after a poor pass from Paul Dummett.
Bruce admitted the cock-up after the game but claimed that it didn’t directly lead to the goal.
Plenty of Newcastle fans think otherwise though:
https://twitter.com/CJHHHHH91/status/1160856351586824194
Team shape and positional discipline also a key manager role. Dummet mistake was player fault but he’s always been that type of player. Willems head was scrambled by incoherent instructions from the bench and it contributed to the farce that unfolded. Bruce at fault for that
— Martin Johnson (@MartinJohnson10) August 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/scottiesports/status/1160720069678096385
Willems and Ritchie didn't have a clue where they were playing and what role they had until 5 minutes later when Hayden (the only centre mid left on the pitch) told them both where they should be after Bruce eventually got his head out his arse.
— Jordan Hinds (@JordanHinds7) August 12, 2019
There are two sides to the Willems/Arsenal goal debate. Lots of Newcastle fans blame Bruce with one fan saying Willems’ “head was scrambled” by the mistake.
Another said that if Willems had come on in his correct position, he wouldn’t have made the mistake that led to the Arsenal goal.
I agree with this. Willems was slow to react but the pass was poor. If we'd lost 1-0 with Rafa in charge we'd have been unlucky. Lose 1-0 with Bruce in charge and we're terrible? I thought Rafa did a good job for us, but you can't blame a manager for a player's mistake.
— Peter Donaldson (@powerfulpete80) August 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/mridley81/status/1160841685603094531
https://twitter.com/ToonTweets16/status/1160684202272219137
https://twitter.com/Barticus2894/status/1160627081459486720
However, there are also Newcastle fans who see it differently. As one fan said, “Willems was slow to react but the pass was poor. If we’d lost 1-0 with Rafa in charge we’d have been unlucky. Lose 1-0 with Bruce in charge and we’re terrible?”
Another was more blunt in his reaction saying, “Blaming Bruce for Dummet playing a short pass and Willems not being alert to it and running towards the ball is ridiculous”.
He’s got a point but it shows how hard it’s going to be for Bruce to win all of the Newcastle fans over.
He’ll just be glad that not all of them are on his back over the howler on Sunday.