OPINION
John Carver delivered his verdict on Sheffield Wednesday manager Steve Bruce becoming the next manager of Newcastle United and his opinion is quite easy to poke holes in.
Bruce confirmed in an interview, filmed by Sky Sports, on Saturday that he had held talks with the Magpies about their vacant position, but the broadcaster claims that Sheffield Wednesday are holding out for more money for Bruce than Newcastle expected.
Carver, who was on Newcastle books as a player back in the day and previously had spells as caretaker boss of the club, shared what he thought about Bruce potentially succeeding Rafa Benitez.
The 54-year-old shared that lots of people in the North East would support him as he is a geordie guy who loves the club and claimed that the manager had a good record in the Premier League.
“If he does get appointed today or tomorrow then he has got my support and a lot of people’s support in the North East,” said Carver on Sky Sports News (15:35, Saturday, July 13th).
“He is a geordie guy, he’s from just down the road in Corbridge, he loves the football club but not just that he’s got a good record in the Premier League, I think he is almost just short of a 1000 games as a coach and a manager so he’s a stable appointment, so let’s get behind him.”
There’s no denying that Bruce may love the club due to being a local boy, though managing Sunderland during his career makes that hard to accept him as one of their own, and might have the support of some in the area as a result.
However, he will have people against his appointment based on how Newcastle United fans have previously reacted on social media, time and time again.
Yet while that remark by Carver can be picked apart, his claim about Bruce having a good record in the Premier League is surely questionable.
The 58-year-old may have managed a lot of games, with several being in England’s top-flight, but his record doesn’t make for comfortable reading.
Duncan Alexander, the author of Opta Joe’s Football Yearbook, highlighted via his Twitter account that Bruce was one of only two managers to have a win percentage of less than 30% out of the managers who have been in charge for more than 250 top-flight games.
PL managers with more than 250 games to have a win percentage of less than 30%:
Steve Bruce
Bryan Robson— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) July 12, 2019
Bruce oversaw Hull City being relegated from the Premier League and was sacked by Sunderland in November 2011 after a torrid run of results left them only two points above the relegation zone, despite the club making a host of new signings (Source: BBC Sport).
Also given that Bruce’s last two jobs, Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa, have been in the Championship; surely if his record was so good in the top-flight like Carver implied; other teams would have come calling for him sooner.
So with that in mind while Carver no doubts wants to be positive about Bruce potentially arriving, perhaps saying he has a good record in the Premier League is misleading.
