Steve Bruce has predicted what he thinks Newcastle United fans will be saying about him 10 years time.
Bruce left the club in 2021 with Newcastle stuck at the bottom of the Premier League table without a win and looking destined to be relegated before Eddie Howe was appointed.
After the takeover had been confirmed, Bruce leaving was inevitable, and the decision was welcomed by supporters who had grown very frustrated with the head coach.
In the two-and-a-half years he was manager, he came under a lot of criticism from the Newcastle fans, however, speaking on talkSPORT, Bruce thinks their opinions of him may change in a decade’s time.
Bruce likens his time at Newcastle to Sunderland stint
It was easy to see from the beginning that Bruce had an uphill battle to win over the Newcastle fans, but he didn’t exactly help himself with some of the decisions he made during his time as head coach.
The theory he puts out to the media is that the supporters never gave him a chance because of his previous ties to Sunderland, but you only have to look at the likes of Deandre Yedlin and Javier Manquillo who made the same move to prove that wrong.
Despite finishing mid-table in the league for two years running, fans weren’t happy with the style of football that was being played and how much they were relying on the individual talent of Allan Saint-Maximin to carry them through games.
The one thing that actually did save him at the time was the lockdown during which fans were not allowed to attend games at St James’ Park which prevented the atmosphere at the club from becoming very toxic.
But Bruce is confident that once the dust has finally settled, Newcastle, like Sunderland, will actually look back on his time at the club with a bit more appreciation and respect for what he achieved.
On his time at Newcastle, Bruce said: “Look, I managed Newcastle for two-and-a-half years.
“And it wasn’t easy, the pandemic going on as well, that didn’t help either, but it was a different Newcastle to what it is today.
“I think finishing 12th and 13th, you did your job, as Newcastle then, the remit was, ‘Keep Newcastle in the Premier League.’
“I absolutely adored the job, I loved coming to work even though it was during Covid, it was difficult, and I just think I was the victim.
“It’s a bit like when I managed Sunderland, I said, ‘In ten years’ time they will look back and think that fella did an alright job’.”
Bruce hasn’t done himself any favours
Newcastle fans were never going to warm up to Bruce after the job he did at the club and the way he went about his business, but his latest comments about his time at the club certainly won’t have helped his case.
The 63-year-old, who has been out of a job since 2022, has been praising Mike Ashley’s ownership of the club – whether you agree with him or not, he knew the reaction that this would have got him from supporters.
Bruce continuously likes to play the ‘victim’ card at so many clubs he’s been to who have eventually hounded him out, but at some point you have to look at the common denominator in all of these situations.
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