Journalist Ben Jacobs has provided some more details about the sacking of Steve Bruce from Newcastle United and the role Mike Ashley played in it.
Bruce was finally relieved of his duties as Newcastle United boss last week following a rather poor start to the season which saw them fail to win any of their opening games and stick them in the relegation zone.
Poor runs of form were nothing new to Newcastle United under Bruce, as there was a spell last season where they only picked up just one win across the months of February and March, leading to some very vociferous calls for Bruce to go.
However, despite their troubles, previous owner Ashley refused to sack him, and speaking on the latest edition of NUFC Matters (44:36), Jacobs revealed why Ashley allowed Bruce to stay in the role for so long, noting it may have been more for financial reasons rather than what was happening on the pitch:
“My understanding is that Steve Bruce’s payoff is so big because Mike Ashley basically gave him a kind of rolling three-year contract, which means that every day Steve Bruce woke up, he had the same amount of time left on his contract, which means that his payoff was always going to be huge.
“And I believe he did that because he felt that he wouldn’t ever be paying that bill. And he was right, because it’s the consortium that are having to come in and find another £8m to get rid of a manager that really Mike Ashley should have got rid of.”
TIF Thoughts on Ben Jacobs’ comments about Steve Bruce, Mike Ashley and Newcastle United
Do you think there were positives from Mike Ashley's reign?
No, not a single one
Yes, there have been a few
Jacobs’ answer would certainly match up with Ashley’s policy when it came to finances, as he was always shy when it came to splashing the cash, so to have to pay that money out for Bruce certainly comes across as something that may have been hard for him to do.
You just hope that Ashley’s reluctance to get rid of Bruce and passing the decision on to the new owners doesn’t end up costing Newcastle in the long run.
Bruce has left them in a rather unenviable position in the table, and whilst a three-point gap certainly isn’t insurmountable, points dropped in the first portion of the season may end up coming back to be important for them.
In other news: ‘On pure transfer fees alone’ – Liam Kennedy shares potential huge NUFC budget for January