‘Hadn’t really recovered’: Steve Bruce shares why managing Newcastle was ‘difficult’

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Former Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has opened up on his spell in charge of the club and the difficulties he faced during his tenure, but has claimed that he has no regrets.

Bruce, who is quite an unpopular figure amongst Newcastle fans, was in charge prior to the appointment of Eddie Howe, has admitted that there were difficulties in managing the club.

Bruce was appointed in the summer of 2019, and dismissed over two years later, having kept Newcastle in the Premier League by some slim margins, and played a very unattractive brand of football.

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast alongside Sam Allardyce, Bruce claimed that managing the club during lockdown, which meant that there were no fans to support the team, provided a tough challenge.

“I’ll maybe go along West Brom to say I shouldn’t have jumped into that as quick, on the back of Newcastle. I hadn’t given myself enough time. I hadn’t really recovered, because I managed Newcastle in, the pandemic, can you imagine?” He stated of his career after his Newcastle exit.

“We were the same at Newcastle Sam (Allardyce) with no facilities and all the rest of it. It was a difficult period for everybody. So I didn’t have a crowd either, you know, the crowd’s huge at Newcastle.

“But now I’ve got no real regrets, I’ve enjoyed every one of them (managerial jobs) in their own particular way.”

A stark contrast

Newcastle under Bruce were almost a totally different club to the one seen today, with Howe bringing the side back to the Champions League and playing an intense style of football.

Whilst the takeover from previous owner Mike Ashley has meant Howe has received a lot more backing than any of his predecessors, there is not a single Newcastle fan who will look back on the Bruce era with fond memories, particularly given how well the team is doing now.

Bruce managed Newcastle for 97 games, winning just 25 of those and losing 43. Whilst this was good enough to save the club from relegation, the football was dire to watch, and he failed to get the best out of players such as Fabian Schar, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron, who have all shone under Howe.

Whilst Bruce did encounter more difficulties than Howe, with no fans in the ground, he did himself no favours with his overall leadership of the club during his spell in charge.