Fans of Newcastle United have been reacting on Twitter after Steve Bruce claimed it’s difficult to manage the expectations that still surround the club.
The Magpies have endured a difficult campaign this time around and looked to be heading for a relegation scrap until a good run of recent form has lifted them 12 points clear of the drop zone.
A run of just two wins in 20 games at one stage of the season looked as though it may condemn the St. James’ Park outfit to another year in the second tier of English football, but wins against Leicester City, West Ham United, and Burnley have eased those fears.
However, battling to avoid the drop year in year out is a far cry from the success that Newcastle fans experienced in the 90’s when Kevin Keegan’s ‘entertainers’ were battling for Premier League titles.
Speaking on a recent installment of TalkSport, Bruce claimed: “It is difficult managing the expectation that is still here,” due to the club’s past endeavours, but it seems as though the supporters have very little sympathy.
“Our fans expectations: Not parking the bus against a team that hasn’t won all season come Jan. Expecting to beat a league one club in the cup, other than by penalties, when we’ve put out a team that should be winning comfortably. Wouldn’t have thought that was too much really.”
“This is the most worrying thing that our manager has played “the fans expectations card” he has the media on side and plays it to his advantage. I don’t know one fan that thinks or expects us to be in Europe never mind signing world record players we have had 14 years of MA”
“Tell ya what then, walk away. Obviously expecting to win more than 2 games in 20 is just way too high expectations. Rafa talked about building something. Now we have this. And people wonder why we twist. Honestly don’t come back.”
“The more he opens his mouth the more toon fans dislike him. For someone from the area, a “Geordie”, been at the club for 2 years to be so out of touch with fans’ expectations is quite remarkable. You’ve had it easy kidda.”
“NUFC fans DO NOT expect too much. Top 10 would be amazing but realistically, we just want to see the team improving on the pitch each season. Instead, we’ve got worse. Ultimately, has Steve Bruce improved us? No, statically he has not. The majority of performances have been awful”
“What nufc fan expects world record transfer fees these days?? He really is on another planet”
In other news: Allan Saint-Maximin’s ‘banger’ tweet has got a lot of Newcastle fans talking