A lot of Newcastle United fans have not responded well to Mark Douglas’ suggestion that some of them overreacted after the Toon were beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa.
Newcastle were dreadful that night, but it led to some fans dismissing Steve Bruce – since then Newcastle have drawn 2-2 with Manchester City and won 2-0 at Sheffield United.
Is Steve Bruce doing a better job than expected at Newcastle?
Yes
No
This led the Evening Chronicle’s Mark Douglas to tweet about the Villa game, and some fans have not reacted well to that.
After the overreaction of some to Villa loss, NUFC ticking along very nicely with a winnable game on Sunday. #nufc retained the defensive organisation of last two seasons but added some freedom in final third for likes of Shelvey, ASM. Working nicely.
— Mark Douglas (@MsiDouglas) December 6, 2019
I disagree Mark, it was not an overreaction at all. They were appalling that night and rightly bashed by the fans and media. Yes, they did bounce back very well. But we don’t want those kind of performances at Villa. If you lose, lose with dignity, heart and fight!
— Nigel Anthony Smith, Honorary QC (@toastofworcesta) December 6, 2019
Dunno if it was an overreaction Mark, we were absolutely dreadful ?
— Luxfordinho (@Moldinho88) December 6, 2019
Not an “overreaction” Display was beyond shocking. The team/coach have now stepped due to said display. For that they should be rightly applauded.
— Nick Jones (@NicholasJones20) December 6, 2019
I disagree. Both teams, City and Sheff Utd were afforded time to bring the ball forward. Sitting back and letting the team defend then hitting them on the counter, hoping for a goal, soon enough will be found out… call me negative but Bruce has been very lucky.
— Lee Robson… (@leerobson23) December 6, 2019
Other Newcastle supporters, though, do agree that there was an overreaction.
fans need to get behind bruce, he’s 11th in the league and doing his best and after all he is OUR manager
— Steve Bruce ? (@RichKingsleyy) December 6, 2019
After all the talk at the start of the season with people saying he needs respect and time.
You can only earn those things, he’s now starting to earn it. Some cracking results and since the Battering Vs Leicester Bruce has really turned things around
— Michael Howe (@michaelhowe9) December 6, 2019
Agreed @MsiDouglas ??
An excellent result last night a defeat would of put the next few weeks in a hard situation.
But now we can go into these next 3 games with some confidence. 4/5 points from those would also be a very good 1st half of the season..#nufc— Paul Sutcliffe (@PaulSutcliffe80) December 6, 2019
What do we think?
Newcastle United were awful at Villa Park last Monday, and it rightly made some Toon supporters worry about their team, but not one of them can argue with the response from Bruce’s men.
City at home and the Blades away could have been three defeats in a row for the Magpies, but they have emerged from those fixtures with four points and are in a good position to really push on up the table.
The Toon face Southampton, Burnley, and Crystal Palace in their next three games – so if they can perform as they have done in the last two matches, Newcastle could be in the top six.
That would be a remarkable turnaround for a side that were hammered 5-0 off Leicester City only two months ago.