After a miserable Christmas period for Newcastle United, Saturday’s FA Cup draw away at Rochdale did little to improve the mood amongst supporters it seems.
The Magpies lost all three of their quick-fire games across the festive period, of course, as well as suffering a number of injuries, so the fact Steve Bruce picked a strong side for their trip to Spotland should have offered the chance for some of the players to build their confidence. Indeed, the likes of Joelinton, Sean Longstaff and Yoshinori Muto have struggled to wholly convince this season so the fact they were facing a League One side were promising.
However, club-record signing Joelinton was unable to add to his tally of 1 goal this season, while Muto missed a good chance to put the Magpies 2-0 up after Miguel Almiron’s opener before going off injured and Longstaff – who has seemingly lost his place to Jonjo Shelvey of late – was handed a fairly pitiful 5/10 rating by the Chronicle, who noted he was ‘not at the races’.
Now, the Dale are a good side. They took Tottenham Hotspur to a replay at Wembley in 2018 and managed to hold off Manchester United at Old Trafford until a penalty shootout in the Carabao Cup earlier in the campaign but the idea that a Toon team boasting a number of internationals could not beat them after going 1-0 up should be fairly fanciful given the respective statures.
Still, while a number of players obviously disappointed, Bruce certainly took some criticism from a number of fans on social media. After giving a post-match interview posted on the club’s official Twitter feed, the former Hull City boss was torn into by fans online, who questioned his ability to manage the club despite some good results earlier in the season.
📺 Steve Bruce's assessment of today's 1-1 #EmiratesFACup draw with Rochdale at Spotland.#NUFC
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) January 4, 2020
With that in mind, here’s a look at what some of them made of his comments.
https://twitter.com/Jonathandurbri1/status/1213567199589359619
https://twitter.com/TilehurstsOwn/status/1213543758819733506
I agree.. In football you have to put the ball in the net….lets have some forwards that can.. Come back cisse n ba.
— Tee D (@southwesttrbd) January 5, 2020
Get lost
— Lucky (@Lucky16538099) January 4, 2020
More excuses than Pardew this bloke 😴
— Stephen Kirkbride (@K999RKYs) January 4, 2020
“We don’t score enough goals”
*sits watching Joelinton waste chance after chance from the bench and didn’t bother to bring a young striker on with his remaining sub*
It’s embarrassing Bruce, just bloody embarrassing. No excuses.
— Kevin Brown (@kevbrown77) January 4, 2020
Clueless,but that’s the managers Ashley wants who just happy to have a job
— scott biffa carlin (@carlinbiffa) January 4, 2020
He's right about one thing "the frailty is there for everyone to see"… its him.
— Tom Nolan (@Tomtomnolan1) January 4, 2020
In an ideal world, who would you replace Steve Bruce with mid-season? Join the discussion by commenting below…
