When discussing what former Newcastle United players think about the current state of the club, it’s probably fair to say Michael Chopra’s opinion isn’t always the most sought after.
That’s not to a disservice to his career but, in terms of big-name pundits with a connection to the Toon, he’s not exactly the biggest fish in that particular pond.
Still, the former striker did nail his colours to the mast in terms of being anti-Steve Bruce on Twitter. Indeed, much like the rest of us, Chopra seems to be sick of hearing about what an excellent job Bruce is doing at St. James’ Park and duly tweeted out images of statistics.
Wonder if @mrjakehumphrey @StanCollymore @PeteGravesTV can mention these stats to all the pundits like @RobbieSavage8 and @chris_sutton73 etc that keep saying Steve Bruce is doing a fantastic job at @NUFC #BruceBall pic.twitter.com/GRgkiPNVXh
— Michael Chopra (@MichaelChopra) November 23, 2020
While some of the stats included in the image refer to last season, it’s not as if Newcastle are doing much better this time around. According to WhoScored, they average the fewest shots on target per Premier League game (2.3) while allowing the most (16.2) and The Athletic pointed out how they are the least efficient team in the division when it comes to getting the ball forward.
Pundits such as Robbie Savage and Mark Lawrenson have criticised Newcastle fans for their own criticism of Bruce but, looking at these stats, it’s not hard to see why supporters would be upset. Right now, the Magpies aren’t even a good team to watch never mind a successful one on the pitch.
On this matter, it’s not hard to imagine a lot of people agreeing with Chopra.