Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has admitted that he is “in the dark” about his future with the ongoing takeover talks stealing all of the headlines on Tyneside.
The 59-year-old has been in the Magpies’ hot seat since last summer after inheriting the position from the departing Rafael Benitez, who was unable to agree terms on a new deal at St James’ Park, which deeply upset the fans and rightly so.
Along with this comes the uncertainty of the futures of the existing board members, with Newcastle on the brink of a £300m takeover by the Saudi-funded PCP Capital Partners.
This would make the Public Investment Fund (PIF) the new majority shareholders with 80%, with Dubai’s Amanda Staveley and the Reuben brothers taking a share of the final 20%.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Bruce said that he would love to be a part of the new regime and backs himself to be able to cope with whatever is thrown his way.
Will Steve Bruce be Newcastle manager next season?
Yes
No
Bruce said: “If it’s good for Newcastle, and the club are going to try to compete with these teams, to be part of it would be great. I would love to see it and I’d love to be part of it. I hope it’s where it goes, but in the meantime I’ll just crack on, wait, roll my sleeves up and get on with trying to get some results to try and get the club going forward.
“If that happens for Newcastle in the future, then great – I’d be delighted. You do get labelled in the game, and that’s why I enjoyed my time managing in the Championship. I’d back myself against most people in that division.
Bruce added that it would be exciting to be part of a team that is challenging as the Magpies did back in 1995 under Kevin Keegan and the early 2000s under Sir Bobby Robson.
The experienced manager was harshly ridiculed from the moment he walked through the door at St James’ Park, partly because of how much we all worshipped Benitez. Mainly, the buck stopped at Ashley’s door on that one, which cruelly reverberated onto Bruce.
Considering the tools he’s had to work with, he has done a fine job. The result against Manchester United is the game that stands out.
With Mauricio Pochettino being strongly linked, I believe that we must treat Bruce with the greatest respect and keep him more informed than we are doing.