A fresh set of banners remonstrating against Steve Bruce’s tenure in charge at Newcastle United has emerged since Newcastle’s unnerving 3-0 defeat against fellow relegation battle rivals Brighton.
What’s the story?
Wor Flags unveiled a punchy new banner branding Bruce a ‘coward’ outside St. James’ Park on Saturday as they urged the Tyneside tactician to depart from the club.
The defeat against the south coast side will have done little to allay fears that Newcastle could be set for their third relegation under Mike Ashley’s reign at the club.
According to nufcblog.co.uk, the fan blog believes that the ‘coward’ slur refers to the infamous training ground bust-up with Scotland international Matt Ritchie a few weeks prior to the weekend’s acrimonious defeat.
The manager is then demanded to ‘LEAVE NOW’ with Bruce being told that ‘YOU ARE NOT ONE OF US’ – perhaps a sly dig at the manager’s past spell at arch-rivals Sunderland.
The two damning banners can be viewed here.
The Verdict
Such provocative banners are symptomatic of the tension threatening to boil over at Newcastle.
Claims from Sky Sports that the Newcastle board remains set on backing Steve Bruce will only further exacerbate a pool of anger that is steadily swelling on Tyneside.
However, one report may somewhat ease fears of fans.
If challenge and pressure from the fans is not enough to convince Mike Ashley, anger in the dressing room might be.
Separate reports from Football Insider hint at a player-led coup against Bruce at Newcastle – something that might force the hand of the board.
