Steve Bruce’s side are in the bottom three on almost every metric except the one that counts – but are they taking pragmatism too far?
Steve Bruce sits in Rafael Benítez’s old chair in the centre of the room where his predecessor once held court. The walls are still the same colour, the furniture has not moved and the vending machine in one corner remains temperamental but, these days, the mood is very different.
Where Newcastle’s former manager entertained his audience with colourful off-the-record tales of, among other things,
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Neapolitan Camorra and Marcelo Bielsa, Bruce has recently faced some awkward journalistic inquiries? “Have you been lucky?”, “Are you in a false position?” and “Is playing this way sustainable?” are just three sample questions from recent media debriefs.