The new Premier League season starts this weekend, and at Newcastle it starts with talk of protests and boycotts over the running of the club by owner Mike Ashley.
Steve Bruce has been talking to BBC Radio Five Live about the planned boycott, and what he hopes he can do to change the opinion by getting results on the pitch.
Unfortunately for Bruce, he seems to be way off the mark with what it is the supporters are boycotting and protesting about.
It, in all honesty, has very little to do with him, or the fact that he is an underwhelming choice to be in the St James’ Park dugout.
It is everything to do with Mike Ashley and his shambolic running of the football club for more than a decade, in which we have seen two relegations and very little ambition.
Steve Bruce is not the problem, Mike Ashley is
Unfortunately for Bruce, he is merely a pawn in the process, and he may think fans are protesting against him, when in fact they are protesting at the people who brought him.
It is not his fault that he was approached for the job, and many – if not all – fans can fully understand why he has taken it – as a Newcastle fan, who wouldn’t?
But it is who he replaced, the treatment of his predecessor, the neglect of the football club and disrespect towards the fans that have tested fans’ patience to breaking point, and led to this position.
Fans have been quick to point out Bruce’s misconception. Some fans, however, are urging others to get behind the club. Here are a few of the responses from Twitter.
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