Winless Newcastle Sack Steve Bruce
Steve Bruce has been sacked as manager of Newcastle United after two-and-a-half years in charge.
Bruce's position as head coach of the Magpies had been in doubt after the club's takeover by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund earlier this month.
He was expected to be relieved of his duties before the game against Tottenham Hotspurs last weekend, which they lost 2-3, but remained to take charge of his 1000th game as a manager.
Bruce had been in charge of Newcastle United since the summer of 2019 and led the club to 13th and 12th place finishes in the Premier League but his relationship with the club’s fans has always been on the edge.
Newcastle are still winless after eight rounds of Premier League action this season, lying in 19th position with just three points to show for their efforts.
“I really have to thank all the people who have worked alongside me, because I can be demanding and I can be hard work - especially when I was younger," Bruce told The Telegraph. "When we get beat, I get very low, but when you are managing in the Premier League with Birmingham, Wigan, Hull, Sunderland you do get better at dealing with it. You have to.
“By the time I got to Newcastle, I thought I could handle everything thrown at me but it has been very, very tough. To never really be wanted, to feel that people wanted me to fail, to read people constantly saying I would fail, that I was useless, a fat waste of space, a stupid, tactically inept cabbage head or whatever. And it was from day one.
“When we were doing ok results wise, it was ‘yeah but the style of football is rubbish’ or I was just ‘lucky.’ It was ridiculous and persistent, even when the results were good.
“The best one was to be told we were a relegation team in all but points…this was all in the first season. We finished 13th. It [the criticism and abuse] got even worse in the second year. We finished 12th, 17 points clear of the bottom three.
“I tried to enjoy it and, you know, I did. I’ve always enjoyed the fight, proving people wrong, but that’s all it ever seemed to be. A fight, a battle. It does take its toll because even when you win a game, you don’t feel like you are winning over the supporters."
