Under fire Toon boss Steve Bruce addressed the media ahead of welcoming Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur to St. James’ Park.
Despite the pressure on his job, it seems he is here for at least the short term future with a sacking or resignation not forthcoming unfortunately.
When asked about the horror show at Brighton and his immediate future, Bruce replied:
“I realise that the performance against Brighton was simply not good enough, so you have to accept people’s opinion and move on with it.
“The one thing I’ve never done is walk away, the easy thing to do would be to walk away but because we’re in a fight and in the thick of it, the last thing I want to do is walk away.”
For starters, Brighton is not the only game that simply wasn’t good enough and by singling just one game in his reply, it almost seems like he thinks that this game is in isolation from what we have been doing.
Make no mistake, we have been turgid and horrible for the vast majority of the season, hence the predicament we find ourselves in.
Bruce again stating his intention not to walk away is hardly surprising, he is after all sitting on a potential £4M payout but the irony of him saying he won’t walk because we are in a fight is not lost on me.
The whole reason we find ourselves in the thick of a relegation dogfight is because of you, Steve!
Bruce also took a question about the recent poll ran by the Chronicle, where 95% of fans voted in favour of Bruce no longer being Newcastle United Head Coach
“Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I can’t take any notice of polls. I just have to focus on Tottenham.”
In a similar vein, Bruce again responded to criticism of him by saying:
“Certain individuals are entitled to their opinion – of course, they are – but I’m determined to see it through and that’s what I’ll try and do.”
Daily Mail journalist responded quickly and replied with this brilliant tweet:
Steve Bruce said today that “certain individuals are entitled to their opinion”. No, Steve, we’re not. I am banned for having an opinion & writing stories that you & NUFC confirmed to be true.
— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) April 2, 2021
To label the thousands of disgruntled Magpies fans as ‘certain individuals’ is quite frankly a joke and it yet again seems that Bruce does not appreciate to distain for him held by the fans.
Another press conference that brings as many questions as answers but at least Steve didn’t claim that there are six or seven teams still in this relegation battle, again.