Newcastle United were thumped 5-0 on Sunday by Leicester City in a disgustingly bad display where there appeared to be no direction from manager Steve Bruce – as he watched his side be outfought and out-thought by a superior team.
Bruce blew up in the dressing room after the game and decided to give the players a day off before they reconvened on Tuesday.
In light of this pathetic display, you would expect the manager to be criticised, but bizarrely Bruce has received barely any criticism with some former players and managers defending Bruce.
Sam Allardyce claimed on talkSPORT that it was not the 58-year-old’s fault that Newcastle were performing badly.
His two main points were that they are doing better than last year and that maybe the players aren’t good enough.
The players may not be the best in the league, but they have proved in their two years in the Premier League that they are a capable bunch who are willing to fight and die for the shirt – so I don’t think the players are the real problem.
If there is no organisation or communication coming from the bench, then what are they supposed to do?
The reference to last year is getting boring now.
Yes, Newcastle took ten games to get a win, but they won three in a row after that and were never thrashed.
This season is totally different; the team look like they don’t have a clue what to do.
Allardyce was not the only one to defend Bruce though, as recently retired, Micah Richards believed that Newcastle were not that bad until the sending off and that Isaac Hayden’s red card took the game away from them.
I am not sure what game he was watching, but Newcastle were awful even before the sending off.
Bruce was the manager of Aston Villa when Richards was there, so perhaps that is why the former Manchester City player is defending him.
I certainly believe that Bruce has got too much protection from elements of the media, and he cannot be allowed to avoid the blame for such a pathetic display.