Newcastle United supporters have every right to be upset about Rafa Benitez’s departure, but they are judging his replacement, Steve Bruce, far too quickly…
Immediately after being announced as the new manager of Newcastle United, Steve Bruce and his coaching staff took the long journey to China to meet up with the squad ahead of their clash against West Ham tomorrow. Earlier this week, I wrote an article that the Toon Army need to give Bruce a chance to succeed at Newcastle United, but far too many fans are judging the man before he’s even coached a single game. The fact that #BruceOut was trending on Twitter just a few hours after he was announced as head coach is unfair and not classy at all.
Despite this pessimism from a large number of supporters, Bruce and the players have the right mentality. In a recent interview, Bruce acknowledged that he has “big shoes to fill” and he accepts the fact he is not “everyone’s cup of tea,” but he is proud to be the Magpies’ head coach. In addition, he asked fans to judge him “over a period of time” because he is “quietly confident” that he will do a good job under the lights of St. James’ Park.
Key players, such as Jamaal Lascelles, Matt Ritchie and Federico Fernandez, all publicly spoke out in favor of Bruce’s appointment. The players have accepted the fact that Benitez is gone and it is time for them to create a new chapter at the club. Lascelles put it best when he made the following statement for the media:
"We’ve got a great manager coming in and we’ve got to remain positive. Now we know that Steve Bruce is in charge. We know we have that strong leadership and he will be going through his philosophy, giving his instructions and we are really looking forward to it."
If the players are already united and determined to accept Bruce’s philosophy on the pitch, we as fans need to follow suit. Bruce is confident he can earn positive results with the Toon and the players are confident they are in the right hands going forward. The internal optimism at training camp is a good sign and hopefully the team puts in a good showing against West Ham in Shanghai tomorrow.