Steve Bruce has drawn the ire of former Newcastle United players recently but one current star discussed his relationship with him in 2024.
Newcastle United are in a much better place now than they were under the rule of the deeply unpopular Steve Bruce.
Just as it felt like Newcastle were going somewhere under Rafa Benitez, the beloved Spaniard departed and Bruce was his underwhelming replacement. It was a giant leap backwards after some tentative steps in the right direction.
The fans were instantly against Bruce as their displeasure with Mike Ashley’s ownership reached fever pitch.
The football was turgid and there weren’t even results to excuse it. When the PIF takeover finally went through in October 2021, Newcastle were 19th in the Premier League table, with just three points from seven games, without a win.
It took the new ownership just 13 days to relieve Bruce of his duties after suffering yet another defeat and Eddie Howe was hired as his successor.
Now, the 70-year wait for a trophy has ended and former players have started to question Bruce’s methods while in charge at St. James’ Park.
But Sean Longstaff did it a year ago.
Sean Longstaff knew ‘straight away’ he wouldn’t get on with Steve Bruce at Newcastle
Speaking to FourFourTwo in 2024, Longstaff explained how Bruce’s arrival nearly led to his departure amid strong interest from Manchester United.
Man Utd were highly interested in Longstaff but Ashley’s £50m asking price ended their pursuit.
“To be honest, I’m not 100 per cent sure,” he said when asked how close he came to moving to Old Trafford.
“At the time, Rafa had left, and I’ll be the first to say that as soon as I saw Rafa go, I thought, ‘Oh, he’s just given me a chance – he knew me’.
“Then the new boss comes in and straight away you get a feel for people, and I could sort of tell that we were going to butt heads.
” Then the club stated ‘We want £50million for you” and you think, ‘Well that’s because they’ve lost Rafa’.
“Then they said ‘We’ll give you a new contract’, but they never gave me a new contract. It plays with your head a bit, and I just thought it was very disrespectful.”
However, things turned around for Longstaff after Bruce’s sacking in the wake of the PIF takeover. Now, he loves working under Howe even if his game time is limited.
“My contract was winding down and you think, ‘Ah, I’m probably not going to be here any more’ – then the takeover happens, the new manager comes in and you think, ‘Oh, I’ve only got a year left on my contract and now I really want to stay here!’
“It’s bygones. I love coming in every single day now, and hope I can be here for a while.”
Dwight Gayle recently criticised Steve Bruce
Speaking on the Open Goal podcast last month, former Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle criticised Bruce for immediately changing his training methods following the takeover.
“He didn’t really do much on the training pitch,” he said.
“Then when the Saudi owners came in he stuck his boots on and a whistle. He was like if I’m going, I’m going to run you into the ground or something like that.
“We were doing some running drills and he’d be blowing his whistle. He’d make it into a little joke… ‘they’re over there watching’.”
Now in charge of League One side Blackpool, Bruce labelled Gayle’s comments as ‘exaggerated’ and ‘lies’ and hit back with a personal dig.
He said: “Is that the legendary Dwight Gayle, who missed the chance in the quarter-final against Manchester City? Is that the same Dwight Gayle? – Interesting.
“I’ve been around the block a long long time. I’ve only managed 1,050 games but according to Dwight I don’t know what I’m doing.
“I’ll let other people make their minds up who are a bit more established than Dwight ever was.”
Fabian Schar and Andy Carroll then took a pop at Bruce on Instagram this week.
The defender posted on Instagram following the victory over Leicester City, to which Carroll replied: “And Brucey benched you.” Schar posted a zipped mouth emoji in response.
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