Steve Bruce (now unemployed)

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

 

I'm not going to press play on that, because I know I'll just get pissed off. But who's on Soccer Saturday now? Is it still Aw' Merse, Skitty Nicholas, Phil Beak and Libertarian Matt? I dont know how anyone chooses to watch it, they got so embarrassing I couldnt stand the constant cringe.

[Yorkie]

 

I'm not going to press play on that, because I know I'll just get pissed off. But who's on Soccer Saturday now? Is it still Aw' Merse, Skitty Nicholas, Phil Beak and Libertarian Matt? I dont know how anyone chooses to watch it, they got so embarrassing I couldnt stand the constant cringe.

 

It's Sherwood so don't worry, feel free to watch, s'all good.

[Ben]

I just associate West Brom (a) with managerial changes.

 

I think Kinnear's heart attack was on the morning of a match there, then Hughton was sacked after one too.

 

Aye, it’s an actual thing...

 

Hughton 2010

Mick McCarthy 2012

AVB 2012

Di Matteo 2012

Di Canio 2013

Ferguson’s last game for Man U 2013

Roberto Mancini 2013

Hughton (again) 2014

Craig Shakespeare 2017

 

Yes

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

 

I'm not going to press play on that, because I know I'll just get pissed off. But who's on Soccer Saturday now? Is it still Aw' Merse, Skitty Nicholas, Phil Beak and Libertarian Matt? I dont know how anyone chooses to watch it, they got so embarrassing I couldnt stand the constant cringe.

 

It's Sherwood so don't worry, feel free to watch, s'all good.

 

  Not a fucking chance.

[BlueStar]

I don't understand how he's even a pundit, you hear lots of players who were able to give insightful analysis in post-match interviews after a game, are we sure he's one of the best we've got?  "Well, this is a complex situation which requires some thoughtful discussion. Paul, you've spent the best part of three decades turning your brain into Swiss cheese with a steady diet of booze, cocaine and head injuries and, let's face it, you were hardly fucking Oscar Wilde in the first place - what do you think?"

[Yorkie]

Merson's suggestion was to put Ritchie - yes, the notably faint-hearted and gutless left-winger Matt Ritchie - in at number 10 when the fans were back in: "and then see who's the coward."

 

Pundit.

[Ben]

Merson's suggestion was to put Ritchie - yes, the notably faint-hearted and gutless left-winger Matt Ritchie - in at number 10 when the fans were back in: "and then see who's the coward."

 

Pundit.

 

Its ridiculous, to think and then say that Ritchie would be scared to play number 10 shows how much Merson and his fellow pundits have their head in the sand, only to pop up for a few hundred quid for a lazy soundbite

[St. Maximin]

Such pundits are becoming parodies of themselves but I do wonder if Bruce has pictures of them naked or something (not something I try to think about mind). I’m sure Bruce has genuinely convinced some people he’s a nice bloke, but I really doubt he has enough time on his hands to be bessies with them all. I doubt many of them really know him. Simon Jordan actually said he didn’t speak to Bruce for four years after he ditched Palace (he is a nice bloke though) and still weirdly sticks up for him. The reluctance to criticise an imbecile and terrible manager is just a bit weird to be honest.

[Abra Dubravka]

Merson’s harmless enough. People getting annoyed with anything he says are making the critical mistake of taking him seriously; once a season he might say something salient, but I find it usually amusing to see what he’s going to come out with next.

 

That cock spot Richard Keys on the other hand is totally intolerable. He knows full well what he’s doing, these dorks like Paul Merson and Tim Sherwood are just amusing.

[Ben]

When Bruce eventually goes the fans will get the blame for forcing him out, Bruce will do nothing to dispel this myth just like he did with the social media abuse he recieved off every single Newcastle fan.

[Shearergol]

Merson’s harmless enough. People getting annoyed with anything he says are making the critical mistake of taking him seriously; once a season he might say something salient, but I find it usually amusing to see what he’s going to come out with next.

 

That cock spot Richard Keys on the other hand is totally intolerable. He knows full well what he’s doing, these dorks like Paul Merson and Tim Sherwood are just amusing.

 

Merson’s a selfish wanker, fleeced the majority of his friends over the years. Yeah he’s had his addiction issues but he’s proper fucked some good people over. Cunt of the highest degree.

[St. Maximin]

Merson’s harmless enough. People getting annoyed with anything he says are making the critical mistake of taking him seriously; once a season he might say something salient, but I find it usually amusing to see what he’s going to come out with next.

 

That cock spot Richard Keys on the other hand is totally intolerable. He knows full well what he’s doing, these dorks like Paul Merson and Tim Sherwood are just amusing.

Yeah I try not to see it as a big issue. It’s more weird. These guys are pretty irrelevant and it’s uncommon for fans to be singing their praises for their punditry. I agree about Keys also but he’s far and away the biggest laughing stock of them all and widely considered an awful bloke.

[Scotty66]

Did Merson actually say in that clip that Ritchie should play number 10 in front of a crowd but then follow it up with Bruce shouldn't play him for what he did?

 

How the fuck do these twats keep getting contract renewals at Sky.

 

When has Merson ever said anything that has gone viral with people saying "wow, he's absolutely spot on, and that's a great piece of insight"

 

I mean why on Earth would you bin off the others (correct decision) and not him?! He can't even pronounce players names correctly most of the time which is a basic requirement for a TV pundit?

[Wolfcastle]

Did Aston Villa fans get accused of forcing him out? Was any of the stick they gave out harsh, disgusting etc. being as they were doing it online as well as actually in the stadium (something Bruce has not experienced a lick of here).

They certainly didn't get accused of expectations, 'what do they want?' etc. Why?  Why is it okay for Villa to want rid of a failing manager and to give him stick including actual real-life stick but not us? 

If he wasn't good enough for a team in the championship and that was largely fine why's he being defended to the maximum now when he's ever more out of his depth.

[Pons Alias]

Because we’re a shitty little northern town full of thick Jordys who don’t know our place.

[Wolfcastle]

Because we’re a shitty little northern town full of thick Jordys who don’t know our place.

 

Bingo.

The same reason Sunderland fans DID get a bit of stick for hounding him out. (despite the upturn in results straight after he left, much like Villa)

[Dr Jinx]

Soccer Saturday has always been a haven for the aul drunks

[Thomson Mouse]

Such pundits are becoming parodies of themselves but I do wonder if Bruce has pictures of them naked or something (not something I try to think about mind). I’m sure Bruce has genuinely convinced some people he’s a nice bloke, but I really doubt he has enough time on his hands to be bessies with them all. I doubt many of them really know him. Simon Jordan actually said he didn’t speak to Bruce for four years after he ditched Palace (he is a nice bloke though) and still weirdly sticks up for him. The reluctance to criticise an imbecile and terrible manager is just a bit weird to be honest.

 

There’s a Trump/Merson/Keys pisstape somewhere

[Scotty66]

Keep seeing people say that Ashley will only sack him if we go into the bottom 3. Maybe there's a clause in his contract that he can be sacked with no/reduced payoff if it happens while we're in the relegation zone?

[Miggys First Goal]

Coward is too tame of a word to describe this oaf. Cunt is more appropriate.

[Big Geordie]

A loss today and Cabbageheed is still going nowhere. Safe as houses.

 

I agree with what's said elsewhere - he's picking players who are loyal to him.

[marki]

a drubbing today might just see him out on his arse,anything but a loss it goes on

[Yorkie]

I think a defeat here would only force a change if we concede 3+ goals. A narrow defeat and he'll be fine. Even if we go into the relegation zone he'll probably still get the next game to sort it.

[Smal]

Hendrick will probably get sent off after 80 minutes to give him the excuse that will save his job after an inevitable 1-0 loss.

[TRon]

Who will the Newcastle fans hate next if defeat today spells the end for Steve Bruce?

 

As ever, the giant pantechnicon of lunacy that is Newcastle United is trundling towards the edge of a cliff. A win for Sam Allardyce’s West Brom today and the Geordies are right in the mire. Sam knows Newcastle, of course. He is also a close friend of Steve Bruce — a man about as popular on Tyneside as a crusty handkerchief full of Covid. Or indeed as popular as Mike Ashley, the club’s cordially loathed owner.

 

But then, that’s Newcastle all over — a club where it seems everyone wants to get the hell out, except the manager. They have an owner desperate to sell but the prospective Saudi buyers have already been blocked by the Premier League and may well be blocked again very soon. The club lost a High Court case last week to change the membership of the arbitration panel that will decide the matter.

 

And then there is poor Bruce. It is a truism to say that Bill Shankly, Alexander the Great and Jesus Christ would be considered characters of insufficient standing to manage Newcastle by the somewhat picky fan base. They hated Bruce when he was appointed and they hate him even more now. It is fair enough to say, in their defence, the team’s form has been parlous and their headlong dive towards the bottom precipitous.

 

They have won only two of the past 17 games, are possessed of a fragile defence and a forward line incapable of putting the ball in the net. In July 2019, as virtually his first act in charge, Bruce broke the club’s transfer record by bringing possibly the worst Brazilian footballer who ever existed for £40 million. That would be Joelinton, described by his manager as an “unorthodox” centre forward in that he a ) doesn’t score goals or b) make them or c) venture too close to the penalty box. He has contributed three goals in 58 appearances. The Toon supporters, meanwhile, dislike Bruce’s footballing style, which they consider beneath them, but they particularly dislike the results.

 

It may be that the players do too. There was an almighty bust-up last week on the training ground between Bruce and his Scottish winger Matt Ritchie. Bruce had been scathing on TV about the entire team’s performance against Wolves last week — according to fans he “threw the team under the bus” to preserve his own job. He singled out Ritchie for failing to pass on instructions to the rest of the team when he was sent on as a sub. Ritchie was livid and later called his manager a “coward”. Brucie went berserk and a degree of pushing and shoving took place. There are some reports that several of the players sided with Ritchie — and there have been murmurings in the past that they are unhappy with Bruce’s supposedly laissez-faire approach, compared with the previous manager Rafa Benítez’s obsessive attention to detail. Ritchie has since apologised but it would be an optimistic soul who would suggest that all now is well.

 

Bruce may well feel himself attacked from all sides. The fans were a given, of course. But now the players, and he also has Graeme Jones to contend with as his “coach”. Jones, the former manager of Luton Town, was brought in at the beginning of the year — by whom it is not entirely clear. Bruce says he is happy with the appointment. Certainly the fans are, believing that his input led to a brief upturn in form, particularly at the back. There have been rumours, too, that the players are happier working under Jones. There are fanciful suggestions as to why Jones was brought in, one such being a desire on the part of the owner to undermine Bruce so that he might be forced into resigning. Give Brucie the sack and that’s four million quid in compensation down the Swanee.

 

For many Geordie fans, that four million quid could not be better spent. I saw a list of runners and riders for the possible job vacancy on a Newcastle fans forum: Roberto Martínez, the manager of the best international side in the world, Belgium, was mentioned. You see what you’re dealing with here? My own suspicion is that if Newcastle lose today, Ashley will bite the bullet, wave goodbye to Bruce and four million pounds and install Jones as manager at least until the end of the season, giving the fans a full three months to learn to hate him too.

 

It should be an entertainingly fractious game today, then. Allardyce has got his defence in quickly by pointing out that West Brom played on Thursday night, while Newcastle had eight days to recover from their previous fixture. The form has improved a little under BFS but the gap between the Baggies and safety has narrowed largely because of Newcastle’s implosion and the West Brom faithful haven’t entirely taken to their newish manager. I hope the two old friends enjoy an agreeably rancorous post-match drink.

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/who-will-the-newcastle-fans-hate-next-if-defeat-today-spells-the-end-for-steve-bruce-qpphp8btm

 

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Ron fucking Liddle. But he wouldn't put it in print in a national newspaper if he thought it wasn't a popular opinion.