‘It’s new to me!’ Steve Bruce distances himself from Newcastle United manager’s job reports

Steve Bruce has reacted with incredulity to reports linking him with an exit from Sheffield Wednesday to join his hometown club Newcastle as successor to Rafa Beintez.

The 58-year-old has emerged as favourite to be named as Newcastle’s new manager by Mike Ashley following widespread betting activity over the past 48 hours.

The possibility of such an outcome would not be a major surprise, given that the Geordie is a lifelong supporter of the club, although the fact he spent two years as manager of bitter rivals Sunderland, and only took over at Wednesday in January, would appear more of a potential obstacle.

‘It’s new to me!’

However, speaking with the Sheffield Star from Wednesday’s pre-season base in Portugal, Bruce moved to distance himself from the speculation.

“It’s new to me. God only knows what happened on Tuesday afternoon. There seemed to be an upsurge (in the betting) from somewhere,” he said.

“John Terry was favourite yesterday. It was Mikel Arteta the day before so who knows.

“As far as I am concerned, I am here, I am going home tomorrow and looking forward to walking the dog!”

Analysis: Ashley is getting desperate

High profile names such as Patrick Vieira and Roberto Martinez have ruled themselves out of contention for the job, vacated in such controversial fashion when Benitez left the north-east this summer.

And with Newcastle having returned to pre-season training under coaches Neil Redfearn and Ben Dawson in preparation for the new season, it is believed that owner Ashley is becoming increasingly desperate to find Benitez’s replacement.

The fact that Bruce would reportedly cost less than £1m in compensation, should Ashley make such as move, also leaves him as a viable candidate.