Steve Bruce has thought long and hard about his position at Newcastle United and has vowed not to walk away.
What’s the story?
According to The Telegraph, many figures behind the scenes are increasingly confident that the 60-year-old will remain in charge until the end of the season at least no matter what happens and that Bruce himself has given consideration to his future.
However, the under-fire former Sunderland manager is believed to be adamant that he will stay on and try to steer his side to safety with the idea of him staying solely so he won’t give up a potential pay-off said to have been rejected.
Should we be surprised?
Probably not. no.
Nothing But Newcastle brought you news last week that former Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder was keen on the job but owner Mike Ashley was reluctant to cave in to the pressure to relieve Bruce of his duties following the dismal loss at Brighton. Having survived the international break, we can reasonably assume Bruce would get the Tottenham game at least on Sunday, meaning any new manager would have only eight games to try and come in to make a difference even if there was a change.
What happens from here?
The report suggests the returns of Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin has raised Bruce’s confidence and, at this stage of the campaign, that does seem to be Newcastle’s best hope of an improvement in performance. The two players leading the way in terms of goal creating actions per game (via FBREF) they do at least bring an extra attacking impetus to the team, which could potentially help the team convert their recent spate of draws into wins.
Clearly, it’s not ideal to be relying on injured players hitting the ground running as soon as they’re back but, frankly, it’s the best the team can do at the moment.
