Newcastle United supporter Steve Wraith caught the attention of many of his fellow Toon fans recently after he posted a tweet criticising Sky Sports’ Jeff Stelling for comparing the club’s current manager Steve Bruce with his predecessor Rafael Benitez.
This post from Wraith shared a tweet that was recently posted by another Toon fan which included some footage from Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday. In this clip, Stelling states that if Newcastle United, who sit on 43 points after playing 36 games, earn all three points in their clash with Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday evening, they will surpass the total of 45 points that the club earned under Rafael Benitez last season.
Wraith criticised Stelling, and others in the media, for making this comparison. He declared that Newcastle fans ‘are sick of’ seeing their current manager getting compared with his predecessor and stated that it is ‘irrelevant’ and ‘has never been done before.’
Hi @JeffStelling i appreciate your at work at the minute but i can assure you that most #nufc fans are sick of you and others in the media comparing current head coach and last manager! It is irrelevant. It has never been done before. Why now and why all season? Please tell us? https://t.co/k57LLnxePO
— Steve Wraith (@stevewraith) July 18, 2020
Plenty of Toon fans replied to Wraith’s tweet to react to the Newcastle supporter’s criticism of the Soccer Saturday presenter. Some Newcastle supporters were in agreement with Wraith and they shared that they don’t like this comparison between Bruce and his predecessor.
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They just can’t help themselves.
Where is the constant Arteta/Emery compsrison? What about the Mourinho/Pochettino one? Or Hughton/Potter?Not once has any of them been mentioned because for same reason, it doesn’t fit the agenda.
— Darren Rogers (@thetruestorey) July 18, 2020
It’s non stop, it’s an absolute joke, I don’t recall Rafa getting compared to previous Newcastle managers to this extent when he was in the job. Bruce may well have equal of surpass Rafas record for last season, this does not give fair comparison to each of their cv’s at all
— Totally NUFC (@TotallyNUFC) July 18, 2020
Do you agree with Wraith?
YES
NO
It’s ridiculous, why do they never compare the fact we have less goals, more conceded, less fan interest (10K free tickets) players regressing (Longstaff, Schar) nah it’s all about this weird points vs points to decide everything.
— Dell ? (@agbnufc) July 18, 2020
The questions they should ask is! Under Rafa, we had some shape, we had a game plan and we were hard to break down! Under Bruce, a 10yr old could get past our defence, we are that bad! Plus, under Rafa we secured Rondon, who had an amazing loan spell! #nufc
— Paul (@Paul23106948) July 18, 2020
However, some Toon fans weren’t entirely in agreement with Wraith. One Newcastle supporter shared that they believe the club’s fans ‘created this argument’ themselves and another Newcastle supporter claimed that Wraith’s statement is ‘bizarre,’ explaining that ‘every manager at every club is compared to the previous manager.’
Steve, after every win and every loss this season I have seen more than a few fans on here comparing the 2. I think with any appointment which was so unpopular they would discuss it at any club. We created this argument ourselves so can’t condemn others for using it.
— Michael (@geordiemanning) July 18, 2020
Every manager at every club is compared to the previous manger. Bizarre comment. How many times do we hear Ferguson, Wenger, Robson etc compared with those that follow them into the role. It’s always happened and always will.
— Brett Dodds (@dodds_brett) July 18, 2020
Some current Premier League managers, such as Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, have been compared with their predecessors by the media. Even Benitez himself was compared to previous Newcastle managers during his time at St. James’ Park.
It may be fair to say that managers being compared with their predecessors is not unusual and this isn’t exclusive to Newcastle United. This may raise questions over Wraith’s claim that ‘it has never been done before.’