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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Newcastle United fans are not happy.
Search any official club tweet and you’ll find a reply, or ten, with the hashtag #AshleyOut.
Rafael Benitez has left the club, with the Spaniard moving to Chinese club Dalian Yifang after reportedly growing frustrated with the direction of the Premier League outfit.
Now it appears they are set to turn to Steve Bruce, the former Sunderland boss. Reports suggest that he will be appointed before the pre-season trip to Asia.
This is, of course, a negative. Benitez won the Champions League with Liverpool and went down to the Championship with the Magpies, guiding them straight back up as champions. He kept the club in the Premier League, too, on a shoestring budget and with players who, really, aren’t good enough to be playing in the Premier League regularly.
Bruce has not got a laundry list of achievements anywhere near as long. Firstly, he managed Sunderland. That’s a major red flag to start with. He did twice take Hull City into the Premier League and also took the club to the FA Cup final, where they lost to Arsenal.
And yet, this isn’t his mess.
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The fans are absolutely right to be angry at Ashley. The Sports Direct tycoon has not put enough money into the club. He is a billionaire and yet the club’s debt has doubled since he took charge; he attempted to rebrand the iconic St James’ Park as the Sports Direct Arena and the Magpies have just lost perhaps the best manager they have had since the days of Sir Bobby Robson.
But again, Bruce is not at fault for this.
He is a decent, hard-working, principled manager who has worked in the Premier League before. No, he is not the most exciting appointment the club could make but they are hardly likely to lure in someone like Jose Mourinho or Arsene Wenger.
Bruce is who they are likely to end up with and fans should not be venting their spleens at the former Manchester United centre-back. If they do, they will only foster an atmosphere of heightened toxicity that could suffocate the club into relegation.
Bruce deserves a chance to show that he can manage at St James’ Park, that he can take the likes of Jonjo Shelvey, Jamaal Lascelles and Miguel Almiron to new heights. Stranger things have happened, just ask Claudio Ranieri and Leicester City.
Insisting on barracking him throughout his tenure will only have a negative effect and get his time at the club off to the worst possible start.
Fans need to give him the benefit of the doubt; stay angry at Ashley, by all means, but there is no point in directing that anger towards their new manager.