Newcastle Cannot Break Away From Negativity
With Steve Bruce being a former manager of Sunderland, it was never going to be easy for him to sit in the St James’ Park hotseat and although the current Newcastle boss has at least kept the club in the Premier League, there is always a feeling that he could do a little bit more.
Because even though Newcastle’s fans are passionate, they are also pragmatic and although they are not demanding top four finishes each season, they are at least asking that the manager shows a little more ambition.
Whether the lack of flair is an edict that comes from owner Mike Ashley can be argued, although there is a sense that the bare minimum will do on Tyneside and all that means is finishing 17th in the Premier League each season.
A standing that means demotion to the EFL Championship has been avoided and more importantly, another round of television money is collected by Ashley, money that rarely filters through to the procurement of new players.
Which would have made the news in the off-season even more galling, as with a Saudi Arabian takeover deal agreed, those Newcastle die-hards would have been dreaming on how to spend an embarrassment of riches.
An embarrassment that turned from how to spend the money, to no money at all and with the deal collapsing after the Premier League’s refusal to rubber stamp such a move, it has meant the current ownership has remained.
Which only means more of the same safety-first football from manager Steve Bruce and although they have not been mentioned in relegation circles thus far, that is not to say that the club are out of the woods either.
Because this is the time of the year that the firefighters are deployed and with West Brom already sounding the distress signal for Sam Allardyce, the former Newcastle boss will now look to move his new charges further up the table.
Which means if one entity goes up another will have to go down and if the other relegation threatened outfits decide to get their houses in order, it will only mean more pressure being applied to Newcastle.
Pressure that could simply be lifted with a win. However, that is easier said than done and with the effects of Covid-19 still lingering through the squad, it has meant a downturn in results across December.
With only one point collected from the last nine on offer, it has certainly been a month to forget and with Liverpool next on the horizon, the defending Premier League champions look set to pile on more misery.
Of course, it is not just in the real world where Newcastle’s poor performances are causing distress, but also the fantasy one and those who have selected the likes of Callum Wilson or Miguel Almiron in recent times, will have only got their fingers burnt.
However, there is a way to avoid such mishap and that is to follow Fantasy Football picks at SBR, as their handy guides will steer you towards the names you should be picking and most importantly, those who you should be avoiding.
Unfortunately, when it comes to Steve Bruce, there is nothing in the way of cheat codes or training manuals that can steer him through the rest of the season, and he will have to dig deep into the managerial nous that he has accumulated over the years.
Nous that seems to always revert to type and you only need to look at Newcastle’s attacking output against Manchester City recently as evidence of this. Then again, it would be difficult to look at such a thing, because there was no output at all.
Admittedly Newcastle would not have had much of a chance against Pep Guardiola’s men, but they would have lessened that chance in the way that they set up and without a single shot being generated in 90 minutes, it only highlights the lack of desire that comes from the coaching staff.
The question that needs to be asked, is what is the end game in all of this? Because the more things change in the world of football, the more they stay the same in Newcastle and now their hardened supporters may have to pray that a takeover bid rids the club of their current owner.
