This Newcastle squad’s lack of motivation at the moment is a poor reflection on Steve Bruce. The lads at times seem unmoved on the pitch. While I don’t knock their effort, there’s just been a malaise about the group this season.
There are plenty of events over the past year that can be pointed to as a potential cause. There’s been the disjointed start to this season due to the pandemic, the failed takeover that dragged on and on, and the Covid outbreak at the club in December.
Last season, the bulk of the performances were uninspiring, however, the lads showed a tenacity that has been absent for the most part this season. We can’t see this year’s rendition of Bruce’s boys pulling out late miracles like against Chelsea or at Everton last season.
Former Magpie Warren Barton, who is currently a pundit in the States, spoke to TalkSPORT about last night’s performance at Sheffield United. Barton has expressed perfectly the problem this season, and last to be fair.
The Chronicle has transcribed Barton’s comments, which are just spot on about Steve Bruce’s negative impact on the players before the ball is even kicked:
“I think it’s a mindset.
“I think of Newcastle going forward, being ambitious, winning games. Steve is going into games, not just now but all this season and last season, it’s about not getting beat and that sets a tone in the game.
“You’re playing against Sheffield United yesterday who haven’t won a game. You know they are going to be petrified and they are going to be nervous. We let them get into the game, we let them get a hold of the ball and we let them get some tempo.
“Forget about the red card. Even before that, the tone was set.
“Even when he gets interviewed afterwards, Steve, he’s supposed to be a Geordie from that area. When he wins the game there’s no passion. I remember Sir Bobby Robson and he’d be smiling from ear to ear, and Kevin Keegan as well.
“I used to walk into St James’ Park thinking: ‘how lucky am I to be playing for this football club?’ I don’t see that from the staff, I don’t see it from Steve, and I feel for the players because I think there’s enough quality to be playing a lot better, attractive football and winning games than what we’re doing at the moment.
“This has been a long time coming.
“Nobody looks like they are, even when they win a game, enjoying it, which is such a strange thing to say. I know Steve and I have got a lot of respect for him, he’s a good football guy but I don’t see him enjoying being manager of Newcastle and he is a Geordie so he should be enjoying it more than anybody.
“I look at what Steven Gerrard has done to Glasgow Rangers. He’s gone in there and grabbed that club by the scruff of the neck. He’s got hold of that club and took it forward. Someone needs to do that with Newcastle.
“Whether that is Steve or the ownership, they should enjoy being in that football club. There’s no ambition in the players.
“What is demoralizing for me as an ex-player, captain, spectator, whatever you want to call it, is that it is not enjoyable to watch. I am sure it can’t be fun to play in either.
“There have been glimpses. They got the new signings, they beat West Ham and you thought: ‘Come on then, boys. let’s have a go.’.
“But then it has slowly, slowly, turned back around again. It is negative, it is boring and it drains you because you can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
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182 comments so far
Great White Hunter
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:29 PM
Comment #41Mund, Winks is a top, top pro believe me, the coaches , staff at Spurs rate him very highly, IMO a future captain of England, now is the time to try and get him. Ps, I,m not his agent. LOL
magicmac54
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:29 PM
Comment #42WLtoon
I get bored saying it on here, but nothing will ever change as long as Ashley is here mate, he and he alone is the root cause of all the problems at Newcastle.
Mund
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:30 PM
Comment #43A Must listen and refreshing to see the tide is turning on the opinion of Bruce
https://mobile.twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1349403334369751041
hibbit
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:32 PM
Comment #44Bruce should have sacked last night and not let back on the team bus home,
lochinvar
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:35 PM
Comment #45geordietom
The Government have now dictated to NHS Trusts that staff now due their second inoculations within days have to wait 12 weeks for their second. It is already known and endorsed by the WHO that this is wrong. What’s more staff have consented to a course of treatment which is now mid course denied to them . Yet many are expected to go onto wards and into Care homes and prisons where covid remains rife and staff there may have had their full inoculations. There are already cases of staff catching coivid despite their first inoculation. The first course is only 52% efffcetive.
In one fell swoop they have destroyed any remaining morale and put staff and patients health and lives at risk. It is also illegal.
Mad Frog Boom 22
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:35 PM
Comment #46Mike&Bruce out now!
hibbit
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:36 PM
Comment #47Bruce is just a symptom not the disease
Mund
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:38 PM
Comment #48GWH
I agree Winks is a talented lad and would bring quality to the areas we are desperately lacking.
The problem for me isn’t who we can bring in it’s the worry of any player coming in to be under the guidance of Bruce as most have went backwards under his stewardship and wouldn’t be confident if we ended up bringing 3 top quality players to fill much needed areas as they will all be Bruced.
lochinvar
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:38 PM
Comment #49geordietom
pleased that your situation is stable.
Just stay off the fags, although after last night Bruce has done more to encourage taking up bad habits that any punk rock band ever did.
Mad Frog Boom 22
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:39 PM
Comment #50https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11678/12186782/steve-bruce-at-newcastle-football-failing-to-inspire-clubs-supporters
WLtoon
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:39 PM
Comment #51magicmac,
Yeah i know mate, you have said it till you are blue in the face, trouble is you are right, everybody knows it.
Tackle from behind
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:40 PM
Comment #52No way on earth is Harry Winks coming to NUFC
Why on earth would he throw away a promising career.
He has a choice in where he goes, it can’t be forced on him, even with a buy out clause you only get to talk to the player and that would be a one word conversation on his part
“No”
Unrealistic garbage.
Tackle from behind
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:43 PM
Comment #53If we are looking for anyone to come to NUFC, we would have to look below us or to the lower Euro leagues, simple as that.
Anyone who wants to come to NUFC from above us is either crocked, fake or a false 10.
geordietom
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:43 PM
Comment #54LOCH …
all im saying is those nurses havent had /been invited for their covid jabs yet and they are front line workers , makes me wonder what the government are doing mate …
Loch yeah i had a few tabs last night mate after watching that crap , good thing i never liked punk rock mate …
Mund
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:43 PM
Comment #55100% Ashley is to blame for the situation we find ourselves in and nobody else.
That doesn’t save Bruce from criticism tho and if he was a true Geordie as he likes to say and he has any dignity left he would walk as the stats don’t lie and they are horrific.
Pottsclock
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:50 PM
Comment #56I have criticised Sean Longstaff’s performances, as have many others. But when you think about it, how does a midfield player develop when what they are asked to do is play as an extra line of defence all the time and give 75% possession to the opposition? Even if this style of play was working, which it isn’t, it would not develop the team and make us more competitive at a higher level.
Not another deJong
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:55 PM
Comment #57Being a Geordie, I thought Bruce was wrong for taking the job in the first place. But he has the ready made excuse that he lacks the proper resources for a PL club and that is due to the Owner. He would instantly reclaim some respect and pride.
Tsunki
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:57 PM
Comment #58It’s hardly perceptible but I get the slightest whisper of a feeling that our coach is not experiencing the love these days. 😐
Tackle from behind
Jan 13, 2021 at 5:59 PM
Comment #59Tsunki
He’s getting plenty of false love.
TomaKaThor
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:03 PM
Comment #60I want Bruce gone, his one so called decent attribute as a manager is his man management but they players look unmotivated and fed up.. So what is the point of him?
Our performances have been dire since he came and has only picked up point via a combination of Benitez defence, luck and Saint Max one man show and even he looked sick to death when he played this season.
I’m tired of pundits saying Bruce has done a good job, they clearly don’t watch us week in week out, and I’m sick of the narrative that Bruce is a nice guy… If he is such a nice guy why does he show zero loyalty to numerous clubs? Treated clubs who gave him a chance awful.
Bruce knew he wasn’t wanted here and he selfishly took the job,but fair enough you can’t blame him to much but now if he was truly a fan he would see he is so far out his depth and he would hold his hands up and step down for the good of the club….but he won’t because he is a selfish man
He is now pretending he is at a small club and just surviving would be a success… He has had a year and a half and 100 million spent on new players and even him himself said we should be pushing on for top 10..yet we are playing the worse football we have in years somehow.. I didn’t think that would be possible
lochinvar
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:04 PM
Comment #61“There is no worse mistake in public leadership than to hold out false hope soon to be swept away”
Winston Churchill.
Goodbye Steve.
Please leave the keys under the mat.
magicmac54
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:04 PM
Comment #62Mund
Some good posts by you today Mund, in reference to Bruce telling people he is a true Geordie, thats another fake story that comes out of his mouth, iam Irish and i am more of a geordie than he will ever be for gods sake as i love Newcastle with all my heart and care about them deeply, we all know Bruce really loves Man Utd thats beyond doubt my friend.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:05 PM
Comment #63There’s another one, Brighton have won twice all season and they absolutely tore us to shreds.
WLtoon
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:06 PM
Comment #64Not every club Bruce has been at is tin pot like ours, yet Bruce still made a pigs ear of it when managing their teams.
lochinvar
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:07 PM
Comment #659 December 1892
Newcastle United founded
12 January 2021
Newcastle United flounders
Steve Bruce declares : “Work in Progress, false number 10’s and not being able to play higher up the pitch”
That’s a gross insult to all those who have gone before.
Ashley, Charmless, Barnes, Bishop and the three Steve’s need to leave town.
None are fit for purpose.
The old yardstick is who would you have in the trenches alongside you ?
None of these.
Mund
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:08 PM
Comment #66Magic
He is full of shit mate and only cares about the money and he has no shame.
I do think Ashley won’t allow this to go on much longer as logically it can’t as this isn’t just a regular season and if it’s true and there’s no real timeframe on matters or an end in sight just yet then something has to be done as every single day he continues to be here we are running risk of being in some serious trouble that could jeopardise everything.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:08 PM
Comment #67magicmac,
He’s as much a Geordie as Bobby Charlton, might have been born here and still have family here but has absolutely no affiliation with the club. He just stops short of sneering at us.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:12 PM
Comment #68We’re going to start hearing him hoop licking Ashley at a new level as the noose starts to tighten.
jane
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:12 PM
Comment #69Brighton playing with 3 strikers, what are they playing at!
Robo Toon
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:12 PM
Comment #70…….loading diagnostics
…….invoking manager analysis
INPUT:
“blah, blah,blah, false number 10, blah,blah,blah”
OUTPUT:
WTF is a false number 10?
Error 2369 – Defective Manager. Recommend replacing part immediately
WLtoon
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:14 PM
Comment #71I`m giving Total Sport a listen tonight, want to hear what John Anderson the the fans think of last night shambles, doesn`t take an Einstein to guess what they will be saying mind.
Munster Mag
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:15 PM
Comment #72Rotonda, I’ve no problem standing over my comments and I don’t give a flying flute what you think. I gave Bruce a chance (and slated him when we were rubbish v Norwich etc) because there was little point slating him all day like you and others just because he wasn’t as good as Benitez. I never claimed he was. He got 13th, with luck and a brill keeper. Then he got some better players, and we hoped he would improve a little. He hasn’t, it’s got worse. I didn’t think it wud. Plenty others were optimistic, as witnessed by league predictions. What was wrong with saying it as I saw it happening, v brighton/Southampton etc. Is that a problem? And now you accuse me of chucking him under a bus. Again, why shudnt I? Last night was staggering.
So if you want to go gloating about how big and clever you were, off you go, fill your boots. You don’t impress me, you’re no genius, just another know it all twat.
Adamn_92
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:15 PM
Comment #73geordietom
No worries, I’m patient facing but not front line staff. I don’t work in red areas and rarely get a symptomatic patient. The entire hospital here has an online booking system to get as many staff done as possible. I just used that and selected a time and date to get mine. So I have no idea why the nurses at your hospital don’t know when they’re getting one. My only guess would be that Norfolk has a higher average age (we’re very elderly here!) and so deem it a vulnerable county, so our hospital is being prioritised over others. That’s purely an educated guess, I have absolutely no idea fully as to why. My sister works at Addenbrookes in the mortuary (considered a red zone) and has also had hers. Might be because the cases have spiked in the south and south east, whereas cases have gone down gradually up north.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:15 PM
Comment #74I remember on here five years ago when people were wanting Mclaren sacked, the main opposition cry was “well who’s going to replace him” I think now no one gives a foof who reaches this clown as long as he’s replaced.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:17 PM
Comment #75There goes Munster with the name calling, come on Mund step in and moderate here.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:18 PM
Comment #76Reaches?? Replaces
hibbit
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:19 PM
Comment #77that’s not you changing side Jane is it ??
magicmac54
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:19 PM
Comment #78WLtoon
The problem is its like Groundhog day under Ashley, nothing ever changes, its just rinse and repeat constantly going round in circles, Ashley Barnes and Charnley know nothing about football, as we talked about a week ago even if Bruce gets the chop, he will be replaced by another dinosaur of the scrapheap who is washed up and cant get a job at another club, its so so frustrating.
Munster Mag
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:19 PM
Comment #79The 2 false 10s is the best yet. All I saw was a lot of defenders who have no movement and a seriously athletic striker stuck up front on his own. It wud have been so easy to stick close to the teams v Liverpool and arsenal but its mind boggling that even with 8 defenders on the team, we cudnt ‘go after’ sheff utd.
Adamn_92
Jan 13, 2021 at 6:21 PM
Comment #80geordietom
The way the government have handled everything, it’s equally as likely that they just put a map on a dartboard to decide where the vaccines go.