The fallout from Steve Bruce vs Matt Ritchie continues at Newcastle United.
Reports of a bust-up emerged on Wednesday 3rd March, with the Daily Mail claiming there had been an altercation between the player and the manager.
Bruce blamed Ritchie for the comical Wolves equaliser in his post-match interview, much to the anger of the Toon midfielder.
Things came to a head at the training ground days later, with Ritchie branding his manager a ‘coward’.
Ahead of the West Brom game, Bruce confirmed that there had been a clash between himself and the player, but he wanted to draw a line under it.
Ritchie apologised for the incident, and hasn’t played a single minute since.
Now there is another twist in the tale.
Ritchie rejects media request from Newcastle
According to the Daily Mail, Ritchie was asked to speak to the media after Bruce confirmed what had happened.
However, the former Bournemouth man reportedly said no.
The club obviously wanted Ritchie to tow the party line and confirm all was well.
Can you blame Ritchie for turning down the club’s request?
It’s not like he would have been able to give his side of events, as he would effectively be slagging off his manager to the media. And that’s hardly going to be a good PR exercise, is it?
While Ritchie speaking to the media and blowing the incident under the carpet might have been a good soundbite, it wouldn’t have changed anything.
The 31-year-old hasn’t played since the incident, although I don’t think he would have featured regardless.
The current system doesn’t suit Ritchie, so it’s hard to see where he would fit whether he thinks the manager is a coward or not.
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