Newcastle United head coach Steve Bruce is considering giving his players some time off over the Premier League’s first ever winter break in February, according to The Chronicle.
The newspaper claims that the Magpies boss is weighing up whether to allow his squad some time with their families when the top flight takes a mini-break between February 8 and 15.
For the last two years the Toon have jetted off to Costa Blanca for some warm-weather training under former boss Rafael Benitez, so Bruce would be breaking with his predecessor’s tradition if he does decide to sanction time off.
The possibility of a similar break in Dubai has been mooted behind-the-scenes on Tyneside, but Bruce may simply allow his players a break from training altogether.
OPINION
This is interesting from Bruce, and it will be fascinating to see what managers around the league decide to do during this maiden winter break. Will they take their players off for a min training camp to try and improve morale and get everyone on the same page? Or will they reward their squad with time off, as Bruce is considering doing? Obviously he hasn’t made his mind up yet, so he could easily whisk them all off to Dubai as has been suggested. However, given the type of guy Bruce is, you do get the sense that he may well grant his players some extra time with their families. That would allow them all to relax, heal up and hopefully return refreshed and ready to go for the final few months of the campaign. We can all state pretty confidently what Benitez would have done in this situation, but Bruce is his own man and so it will be interesting to see if he does indeed break with tradition here.
