Newcastle United journalist Liam Kennedy has been sharing his thoughts on recent footage that emerged on social media during the club’s recent 1-1 draw against Leeds United in the Premier League.
This comes after Kennedy made an appearance on a recent episode of NUFC Matters on Steve Wraith’s YouTube channel where he spoke about a range of topics concerning the Tyneside club.
Footage emerged on social media from the Leeds game of Newcastle player Matt Ritchie speaking to Toon coach Graeme Jones on the touchline with Steve Bruce trying to get involved, but seemingly failing to get Ritchie’s attention away from Jones. Kennedy had this to say on the matter.
He said: “The biggest thing that I took from it was the eye contact.
“Matt Ritchie stayed absolutely focused in that conversation on what Graeme Jones was telling him. That was the bit that I took from it more than anything else, is that that’s a player who is listening to the coach and Steve Bruce – it looked, from the outside looking in – looked like it almost was more of an inconvenience as part of that conversation than anything else.”
TIF Thoughts on Liam Kennedy’s comments on the touchline footage of Bruce, Ritchie and Jones…
Taking into account how Ritchie and Bruce had a reported bust-up in training earlier in the year, it’s easy to see why the player was seemingly focusing on what Jones had to say on the touchline against Leeds rather than the manager.
In our view, if Ritchie is more inclined to listen and take advice from Jones during games, this throws up a big question over Bruce’s seniority at the club and how he is viewed by the players, which should not be the case for any Premier League club.
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Moving forward, if there is an issue behind the scenes between Bruce and certain players about his leadership and his position as Newcastle’s manager, then this could well prove to be an issue for the entire squad in the long run, especially if their poor run of results in the Premier League this season continues.
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