Matt Maher: A dirty job but it was Steve Bruce who had to do it
Steve Bruce spent his entire managerial reign at Newcastle United under a cloud.
An unpopular appointment with the vast majority of supporters in July 2019, his departure this week was considered cause for celebration on Tyneside.
There is a good chance history may judge him more kindly. Indeed, even now it is possible to make the argument Bruce’s tenure was a relative success.
At the very least, he fulfilled his remit, which was simply to keep the Magpies in the Premier League as owner Mike Ashley attempted to engineer a sale. Despite flirting with relegation, they ended up finishing 12th, some distance clear of the drop zone. In both of his campaigns they either equalled or bettered their points tally under Rafa Benitez, a far more popular manager whose departure continues to be mourned on Tyneside.
Of course, Bruce’s biggest problem was the identity of the man appointing him. For more than two years, a large part of his role was to take the flak on behalf of Ashley.
Bruce is too smart not to have realised that would be the case. Deep down, he surely knew he was on a hiding to nothing?
And yet there is stubbornness about his character, some might call it arrogance, which meant once the job was offered he was almost certainly going to accept.
Granted, at times he did not help himself. Taking credit for the club’s 2019 summer business, including the £40million signing of the largely hapless Joelinton (a deal over which Bruce in reality had very little say) backfired considerably.
His critics might claim he has been well remunerated for the role, yet no amount of money can excuse some of the disgusting abuse hurled in his direction.
The club’s takeover by a Saudi Arabia-backed consortium was always going to herald Bruce’s exit. But it is also true the £305million buy-out would not have happened had the Magpies fallen out of the Premier League. If the club reaches the heights of which supporters dream in the coming years, perhaps there will be a chance to look back on Bruce as the man who did a very dirty but necessary and ultimately successful job.
