Many Newcastle United fans have been reacting on social media, after Steve Bruce stated that he intends to tackle the FA Cup head-on when we host AFC Rochdale in the Third Round Replay.
Bruce’s Magpies were held to a 1-1 draw at Spotland earlier in the month thanks to Aaron Wilbraham striking a 79th-minute equaliser for the Dale, following Miguel Almiron’s first-half opening effort.
Chances were there throughout for the Toon to progress through to the Fourth Round without the need for a replay, but only five of our 18 shots were on target, per WhoScored data.
Club-record summer signing Joelinton also misplaced three of his game-high six efforts, while Ki Sung-Yueng and Sean Longstaff failed to find the target with two of their three shots each.
Rochdale will now travel to St. James’ Park on Tuesday night looking to progress into the next round, where Oxford United are waiting to visit the winners of our replay.
What will the result be vs Rochdale on Tuesday?
Win
Loss
But Bruce is hopeful that he can orchestrate a win over the Dale at the second attempt, and would like to see a victory lead to a solid run in the tournament.
“I’ve said all along I don’t think it does any harm [to have a cup run] and for too many years, we haven’t had any cup runs at all,” said Bruce at his pre-game press conference via the club’s official Twitter account.
“It doesn’t do any harm to have a cup run, I learnt that in my experiences, so let’s try and tackle it head-on like I said when I first walked through the door and nothing’s changed.
“We’ve got an opportunity, we’ve got two [League] One teams to be in the Fifth Round, so let’s have a go for it, why not?”
Here are some of the messages shared as fans reacted to Bruce’s statement of intent to tackle the FA Cup “head-on”…
Queue the u21s playing tomorrow then
— LeeTheMag (@LeeTheMag) January 13, 2020
Go a year back and add these comments to a Rafa Benitez press conference and let’s see the fans react with“finally, a manager with ambition,” or “go on Rafa,standing up to MA who only cares about the league.”
But cause it’s Bruce he’s reading off a script.Grow up,howay the lads.
— Lennon Campbell (@CampbellLennon) January 13, 2020
It’s great for morale, sure, but when your injury list of as long as your arm, perhaps reconsider priorities. Replays are not great either.
Unless we’ll be signing a handful of reinforcements, of course.— Rich Harle (@RJHarle) January 13, 2020
Doesn’t do any harm.. mate have you seen your roster when it comes down to injuries 👀
— TV22 (@CrazyTangoLA) January 13, 2020
The FA Cup should always be a priority
— Chris (@brumymag) January 13, 2020
Sign some players
— Dell ❄️ 14-3 (@agbnufc) January 13, 2020
Optimism and belief. Refreshing. 👍🏻⚫️⚪️♥️
— Ms. L H (@exspygirl) January 13, 2020
Finally a manager who knows what the FA cup means to the fans! Come on Brucie lad! Get past Rochdale and Oxford and some lucky draws you never know what can happen! 🤞⚫️⚪️
— Liam Hall (@Liam14Hall) January 13, 2020
Fighting talk
— Mike Ashley (@mikeashley1964) January 13, 2020
In other Newcastle United news, the club have reportedly made contact with a £7.2m-rated defender.