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3 months ago
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Steve Bruce is at it once again.
The Mike Ashley stooge / minion talking about Newcastle United.
His version of events at St James’ Park during his time as NUFC Head Coach.
As you might guess, what is discussed / claimed in this interview, not matching up with the reality, certainly not what Newcastle United fans see as the reality they experienced.
No wonder Steve Bruce is so despised by the NUFC fanbase.
Steve Bruce speaking to Talksport about his time at Newcastle United – 19 March 2024:
“I managed Newcastle for two-and-a-half years. And it wasn’t easy, the pandemic going on as well, that didn’t help either, but it was a different Newcastle to what it is today.
“I think that finishing 12th and 13th, you did your job, as Newcastle United then, the remit was: keep Newcastle in the Premier League.
“I absolutely adored the job, I loved coming to work even though it was during Covid, it was difficult and I just think I was the victim.
“I really enjoyed it.
“It became tough of course but I think I was the victim of the whole club at the time desperate for the takeover.
“We talk about FFP, the club would never be in any distress under Mike Ashley.
“It was a greatly run club under Mike and I know I’m going to get slaughtered for that, but it was.
“The big thing is, we never had a lot of money to spent, we would spend exactly what the club generated and of course that was never going to be enough to be successful.
‘My remit was, I had just got in after Rafa [Benitez] who finished 12th, we lost Aleksandar Mitrovic to Fulham and Ayoze Perez who went to Leicester.
“So we lost the two strikers and the remit was to just keep Newcastle [in the Premier League].”
Newcastle fans loved Rafa Benitez and respected him, because he was genuine and did the best possible job in the circumstances at the time, conducting himself professionally at all times, made you proud that he was your manager.
I would say it was exactly the same case with Kevin Keegan, Sir Bobby Robson, Chris Hughton and now Eddie Howe.
The fact that Steve Bruce referred to Eddie Howe in the past as ‘The fella that got Bournemouth relegated’, tells you all you need to know about Steve Bruce. Somebody who doesn’t come within a million miles of the great people named above, who have also been in charge at NUFC.
It is tragic how Steve Bruce wants to paint this picture above and even more painful that he allowed to get away with it by the likes of Talksport.
For Steve Bruce to claim that he did just as good a job as Rafa Benitez in exactly the same difficult circumstances, is just not reality.
Rafa Benitez was allowed not a penny of net spend in his three years under Mike Ashley.
In just over two years under Mike Ashley, Steve Bruce was allowed £130m+ in terms of net spend.
In simple terms, Ashley had starved Rafa Benitez of transfer backing, especially once promoted to the Premier League, then once Mike Ashley had his preferred kind of stooge / puppet once again, Steve Bruce was backed with relative fortunes. Over £130m spent on players whilst Steve Bruce was Head Coach and the only player sold for a fee was Dan Barlaser for £250,000.
Mike Ashley allowed Steve Bruce all kinds of relatively more expensive signings, both in terms of transfer fees and wages, permanent and temporary signings, plus free transfers on high wages.
Whilst Steve Bruce was at Newcastle United, amongst the signings were – Joelinton, ASM, Krafth, Rose, Lazaro, Willems, Bentaleb, Fraser, Hendrick, Wilson, Carroll, Lewis (£15m!!), Willock.
In contrast, Rafa Benitez having to duck and dive after promotion.
Needing a striker he paid £5m for Stoke reserve Joselu in summer 2017. A year later, despite selling Mitro for £28m, Mike Ashley only even allowed the loan signing of Rondon, on condition that Rafa agreed to Gayle leaving on loan.
Steve Bruce makes is sound like he had been put in a very difficult position because Mitro was no longer available for Newcastle in the Premier League when he (Bruce) arrived in July 2019. Mitro hadn’t started a PL game for NUFC since 2016 during his debut season at Newcastle!
The truth was that Rafa Benitez did a great job with limited circumstances.
Steve Bruce inherited a defence that had been the seventh best in both 2017/18 and 2018/19 and turned it into a shambles. He didn’t even rate Fabian Schar, playing midfielder Isaac Hayden ahead of him at times in defence. Bruce was ruining the careers of players such as Joelinton, Schar, Longstaff and many others, as he didn’t have a clue. Despite inheriting a solid mid-table team with a great disciplined defence and then given £130m+ net spend on new signings.
Yet in just over two years, Steve Bruce had Newcastle United relegation certainties until Eddie Howe and the new owners arrived and saved us all from Bruce, Ashley and Charnley. Three people who will always be despised by the Newcastle fans.
The truth is as well, whilst much of the football under Rafa Benitez wasn’t great to watch at times in the Premier League, once he was allowed his first even slightly ambitious signing, things massively changed.
Almiron was signed for £20m on 31 January 2019, the final day of what would prove to be Rafa’s very final NUFC transfer window. This allowed Benitez at last to get more on the front foot, in the final 16 games of that 2018/19 season, Newcastle United had the fifth best form in the Premier League AND scored the fifth most goals, indeed, it had gone on longer than that in terms of positivity of sorts, as the final 28 games of that final Rafa season saw NUFC with the eighth best form in the top tier.
Steve Bruce may be able to get away with some of this nonsense when it comes to outsiders, however, Newcastle United fans know all too well what Steve Bruce was all about and never will forget or forgive.
We know who the good guys are and who make us proud to have them as managers, we also know who the chancers are who embarrass us all.
It was absolutely rubbish football under Steve Bruce, terrible to watch and it was getting us relegated for sure, despite all the relatively significant backing he’d had from Mike Ashley and the outrageous luck he regularly enjoyed during those first two years at St James’ Park.
It is laughable as well when Steve Bruce claims ‘…the club would never be in any distress under Mike Ashley. It was a greatly run club under Mike…’
If that is the case, how come Mike Ashley got Newcastle United relegated twice and a third one was guaranteed if he and Bruce had stayed, if no takeover and Eddie Howe had happened.
Getting Newcastle United relegated so often, undoubtedly had a massive negative effect on the ongoing club finances and the club was only saved by the advantage on and off the pitch the NUFC fanbase gave over the rest of the Championship, plus Mike Ashley accidentally finding out Chris Hughton was a class act, then duping Rafa to stay on, only to break his promises after promotion via Benitez.
Steve Bruce says he is looking for another job but reality is that he has found that impossible after the appalling job he did at Newcastle United and then the disaster he was at West Brom, just look at how well the Baggies have done under the managers immediately before Steve Bruce and straight after!

 
