Steve Bruce was thrown into a no win situation when he replaced Rafa Benitez, with fans, angry at the Newcastle hierarchy, questioning his ability before a ball was kicked.
It did not deter the lifelong Newcastle fan, however, and he was confident he could win over the dissenting fans.
His results so far have been mixed, and the fantastic win at Tottenham has been sandwiched between a pair of less auspicious performances.
We have heard many pundits and players say what a great person Bruce is, but unfortunately being a decent guy does not bring success – points do.
So it is results on the pitch that will decide the success or failure of his time at Newcastle, and it is on the basis of what we have witnessed so far that we are judging the early weeks of his stewardship on.
Rafa Benitez’s formation has been maintained by Steve Bruce
Bruce has kept faith with the three centre-back formation adopted by predecessor Rafa Benitez, and with the players at the heart of the defence being well drilled in the role, it was a sensible decision.
The centre-backs have – on the whole – looked accomplished, with the exception of the last hour of the game against Norwich.
However, it would have been nice to see him make the most of the opportunity to change it up a bit, due to the injury situation.
He could have gone for a more offensive 4-4-2 lineup for the home game against Watford, which had they won, would have made the most of the great win at Spurs the previous week.
Tactics leave room for improvement
In the precarious position Bruce is in, as far as his relationship with the fans goes, the last thing he can afford is to get things wrong on the pitch.
But he got off to the worst possible start, with his substitution during the opening game against Arsenal leading to the goal that cost them the game.
When Jetro Willems was brought on to replace the injured Jonjo Shelvey, he clearly had no idea where he was supposed to be playing, and whether that was the player’s misunderstanding, or not, the buck for that stops with the manager.
It got worse for Bruce when his game-plan at Norwich simply did not work, and he seemed to have no plan B in mind to turn to.
That said, he got things spot-on at Tottenham, with a defensive masterclass that Rafa would have been proud of.
As mentioned previously, he could have changed it up for Watford, but for one reason or another, he did not, and the result was a draw that could, and should, have been three points.
Injuries have not helped with player selection
In an ideal world, Bruce would love to have been able to count on enigmatic winger Allan Saint-Maximin to provide the team with a little bit of the unexpected.
But his hamstring injury kept him out of the Norwich trip, and then recurred in the early minutes at Tottenham, which was unfortunate for the player, and Bruce.
He was questioned by some for his decision to ‘rest’ Sean Longstaff at Norwich, but I actually agreed with his decision, as the player was clearly not up to speed following his recovery from a long-term lay-off.
In fact, after a good display at Spurs, Longstaff again looked off the pace against Watford, which justifies Bruce’s protestations that he needs to rebuild his full fitness to be able to play week in, week out, again.
Full-back has caused Bruce a few selection issues too, but that is nothing new, as Benitez would be able to tell him.
Emil Krafth and Willems are both trying to get to grips with the Premier League pace, and the latter seems to be adapting much quicker than the Swede.
Whether Bruce will bring DeAndre Yedlin back when fully-fit is one of the intriguing issues ahead for him.
Verdict
Four points from the first 12, which included games against both Arsenal and Spurs, on the face of it does not seem too bad. But it could easily have been seven or nine, and that would have given Newcastle a fantastic platform to build from.
It has definitely been a topsy-turvy start, with the sublime of the Spurs win being offset by the ridiculous of the loss to Norwich.
In reality, the team is probably somewhere in between those extremes, and although it could have been better, it could also have been a lot worse.
There are signs that Bruce will be able to steer the club away from a relegation scrap, but he still has a lot of work to do to convince fans that he is the long-term answer.
As we mentioned earlier, it is results on the pitch that will determine his fate, and so far it is ‘okay, but could be better’.
Overall Grade: C
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