Chris Waugh has been speaking on Pod on the Tyne about when Steve Bruce’s fate was sealed and how players may react to Graeme Jones as interim manager.
According to the club’s official statement that was released when Bruce was sacked, Jones is set to be interim manager for at least the short-term future, as the Magpies travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon in what will be his first match as a top-flight manager.
Do you think James Tarkowski will join Newcastle United?
Yes
No
Bruce’s future was seemingly sealed after the Tottenham Hotspur defeat on Sunday afternoon when they were easily swept aside and only made the scoreline more respectable thanks to a late Eric Dier own goal, and despite a load of managers sticking up for Bruce following his sacking, Waugh believes that some players may well benefit from Jones now being the main man.
Waugh revealed when Bruce was sacked and how the players feel about Jones.
“We understand that at least at some point last week, one of the ideas floated from some members of the consortium was the idea that maybe they would look to an interim manager going forward, and that is because of all the reasons I mentioned previously – maybe the lack of availability of other managers they may want on a more permanent basis.
“Also, the fact that, really, Graeme Jones already knows the club, he understands what’s there, he could maybe get a bit of an uplift of players.
“I mean, I’ve spoken to sources close to players over the course of the last few months, and they’ve made the point that they believe that if Steve Bruce had been dismissed under Mike Ashley, that you would have seen an uplift in form from the players, just on the basis that Steve Bruce had been gone and that some elements of the dressing room didn’t want to be there and Jones had the respect of them.
“Now, that theory is going to be tested this weekend because Graeme Jones is going to be in charge at least for the Palace game.”
TIF Thoughts on Newcastle’s managerial search…
It appears quite clear that Jones is not on the new owners’ minds about becoming the permanent manager of Newcastle United, and that could be down to his lack of experience as a manager and also that there are a few reputable managers out of work at the minute.
The fact that a call on Bruce’s future was made just a day after the Tottenham defeat should come as no surprise given the club are winless this season, while considering the new owners were all in the country, it will have made any decision a lot easier to make.
With Waugh claiming that some players would’ve preferred Jones to be manager over Bruce even when Mike Ashley was owner, it will be interesting to see how the Magpies perform against Palace, who have only won once all season themselves.
In other news: ‘He really wants this job’ – Insider drops exciting ‘big name’ boss claim at Newcastle