Paul Dummett insisted to the Chronicle that the players are to blame for last weekend’s abysmal capitulation at Leicester, not Steve Bruce, as he continues to back the beleaguered manager.
But despite the fact that Bruce has received much criticism this week, let’s make one thing clear: no one has tried to say the players did not contribute to that nationally televised disgrace.
Of course the players must bear some responsibility, but it is the manager who selects them, and it is the manager who should instil the belief and pride into the players.
He has failed on both those counts.
Obviously, players should know the passion of playing for Newcastle, and what it means to pull on that black and white shirt, without the need to be told by the manager.
That is especially the case for players like Dummett and Sean Longstaff, who are born and bred in the region, and spent their whole lives supporting Newcastle.
But last week’s performance was an insult to the fans, from start to finish, and the man who formulated the game-plan – which was already clearly not working, long before Isaac Hayden’s dismissal – must accept the bulk of the blame.
Steve Bruce proving he is no Rafa Benitez
He is tactically inept, and seems to lack the basic principal of football management – motivating his players.
I do not want to keep harping on about Rafa Benitez, but one of the main reasons we never fell apart under the Spaniard, like we did at Leicester, is because he knew how to keep them going, and how to bring the best out of each individual every week.
The same cannot be said of Bruce. It is a plain as the nose on your face, he does not extract the best from any of those players week after week.
Dummett also added: “We’ve never collapsed and given away the goals we gave away. That’s one thing the manager wanted to address, and I think as a team we knew it wasn’t acceptable.”
Well he must have a very short memory, because we did exactly the same thing at Norwich.
Granted, we did not concede five goals, but we could easily have, had the Canaries taken their chances.
So that is twice in seven games Newcastle have fallen apart on the football pitch, and virtually given up, under Bruce’s leadership – twice more than during the whole of Rafa’s time at the club.
So while the players must have fingers pointed at them, the biggest finger should be directed towards the man in charge – and that man is Steve Bruce.
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