Newcastle brought in a number of new faces at the tail-end of the summer, although one or two areas failed to get strengthened, and is something Bruce wants to address in January.
An attacking right-sided winger was one such position that was in need of additions, but glaringly overlooked, much to the side’s cost.
Central midfield reinforcements are also desperately needed, with the atrocious form of Jonjo Shelvey, and the early-season struggles of Sean Longstaff.
But with Newcastle currently second bottom of the Premier League, it is hardly the type of position that will see talented players queuing up to sign in January.
Jarrod Bowen is a name that has been mentioned, and looks to be a fantastic signing, should they pull it off.
But would Bowen’s agent be encouraging him to make a move to the north east, given the turmoil surrounding the club, and the dire position they are in right now?
It would be a very real possibility that he would get his Premier League move, only to see him back to square one next season – playing in the Championship again.
Rumours were rife that he may be offered a contract extension at Hull, and frankly, he may actually be better off signing that, than playing under Steve Bruce.
The same can be said of any player that Newcastle approach, given they are a million miles away from looking like an established Premier League club for the foreseeable future.
Only a new, competent manager can change Newcastle’s fortunes
There is a way around it, of course, and that is by having an upsurge in results.
Of course, the clueless Bruce does not seem capable of achieving that, which leads us back to the scenario of Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley acknowledging their mistake, and sacking the manager for a more capable replacement.
Rest assured, if Newcastle are in the bottom three when the winter transfer window opens, and receive many more thrashings, like they received at Leicester on Sunday, St James’ Park will become a no-go zone for available players.
And so we are left with a catch-22 situation: we need new players to improve results in the second-half of the season; but we need results now to attract players to the club.
It’s a vicious circle that can only be escaped by the removal of the broken component, and that is Steve Bruce.
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