So Steve Bruce is leading the ‘race’ to be the next Newcastle United manager. But was it ever really a race?
With the lads heading to China for the Premier League Asia Trophy, we need a permanent manager to take charge. The clock is ticking, with the new Premier League season set to start in just over four weeks.
The way the board have handled things this summer, we were never going to get a high calibre manager. Steve Bruce is what we should have expected all along.
Newcastle were never going to get anyone better than Steve Bruce
The way Newcastle United is run by Mike Ashley, nothing is done quickly.
It was officially announced on June 24th that Rafa Benitez would not be extending his contract. But the Spaniard claims that it was decided that he would be leaving the club much sooner than that. Benitez says he told the club in May that he would not be signing a new deal.
But still the club delayed the announcement and the consequential search for a new manager.
By the time the search for a new manager began, most teams were back for pre-season, welcoming new signings to their squad. Yet Newcastle began pre-season with the mishmash duo of Ben Dawson and Neil Redfearn.
If Ashley and Lee Charnley really wanted to take the club forward following Benitez’s departure, they’d have acted as soon as possible. But instead, they continue to sleepwalk the club towards oblivion.
The way they treated Benitez will have put other managers off becoming manager. So the pool of potential managers is pretty small.
The only options are the usual washed up managers who register their interest in any job that comes available. It’s amazing that Mark Hughes hasn’t been mentioned.
Steve Bruce is probably a nice bloke. But he’s not managed in the Premier League since he was relegated with Hull in 2015. As a local lad, he’ll have dreamed of managing Newcastle. This is the only change he’ll get now. We should’ve been expecting this all along.
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