There were 48 hours to the season’s opener at West Ham and the headline in the Newcastle Chronicle read: “It’s All Systems Go”.
It was written across a picture of Newcastle United’s latest three signings – Callum Wilson, Jamal Lewis and Ryan Fraser.
Newcastle won 2-0 in London with Wilson scoring and another new signing, Jeff Hendrick, getting the second. It was mid-September and Newcastle’s season was up and running. The signings looked good, sensible.
Fast forward four months and the headline in the same local paper was: “Shambolic, Pathetic… Simply an Insult to the Club Crest.”
It was printed the day after Newcastle lost 1-0 at Sheffield United, a performance Newcastle manager Steve Bruce would later call “absolute shite”. Fraser was sent off at the end of the first half. Wilson missed a chance at 0-0. Lewis did not make the bench.
What tomorrow’s Chronicle headline will be remains to be seen but their reporting will contain limited input from Bruce, whose press conference before Tuesday night’s match against Leeds United was terminated after 13 minutes without questions from the written press.
Bruce, and others inside the club, feel the tone of coverage has gone beyond legitimate criticism into personal venom. They are as unimpressed with some media as some media are with them. The club and manager will fulfil contractual obligations but this was a withdrawal from wider co-operation. It has happened before during the Mike Ashley regime – to the Chronicle and others – and it happened before Ashley.
“Ignore the noise”, and “try not to listen to the negativity” were two of Bruce’s short statements pre-Leeds. He confirmed an approach to Roberto Martinez’s former assistant, and former Luton manager, Graeme Jones. Bruce said the Gateshead-born Jones, currently coaching at Bournemouth, wants to come – “and of course a fresh voice, fresh idea is never a bad thing.”
Bruce also used “fresh” and “different” to describe Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa, though he did not call Bielsa by name, instead “the guy in charge”.
But “fresh” is the last thing anyone would call Newcastle United 2021. Supporters are desperate for something different.
The club is sour. Despite what some claim, the reason for mutual disenchantment is not inflated expectation in the stands or press box; it is sustained under-achievement on the pitch. When Newcastle exited the FA Cup at Arsenal earlier this month, it meant the Geordies had not won the Cup for 66 years; when they exited the League Cup at Brentford just before Christmas, it was another year without the winnable trophy Newcastle have never won. It is, in fact, 17 years since Newcastle last reached even a semi-final. It has not happened once in Ashley’s 14 years. This is what Bruce walked into 18 months ago.
Compared to his predecessor Rafa Benitez, there was also a pronounced popularity deficit. The accumulation of disillusion meant that when Bruce hit turbulence, it would be severe and Newcastle host Leeds having won none of the last 10 games, eight of which have been defeats. Fans who had misgivings about Bruce from the start feel vindicated, while Bruce’s allies have begun to question style as well as results.
As recently as mid-December a defence of Bruce was possible – Newcastle were 11th in the Premier League, three places above Leeds and four points off fourth. They had just beaten Crystal Palace and West Brom.
But in seven of the 10 games since, Newcastle have failed to score. They are 16th and relegation candidates. Fans’ overriding impressions, borne out by underlying statistics, are that the team is ponderous in attack, vulnerable at the back and occasionally lucky. They wonder what the system is.
Bruce bridles when luck is mentioned, but he could do with some. Lose to Leeds and at Everton on Saturday and his situation would appear untenable, even to Ashley, the absent guy in charge who wants to sell up.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3iNzbxd
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