Palace (a) SOLD OUT
Chelsea (h) SOLD OUT
Brighton (a) SOLD OUT
Arsenal (a) Public sale now (50pts)

Bruce goes, coaches stay:
End of an error



From NUFC, Wednesday morning:

Newcastle United can confirm that Steve Bruce has left his position as head coach by mutual consent.

He leaves the Magpies after more than two years in charge, having steered the club to 13th and 12th-place finishes in the Premier League and reaching the quarter-final stage in both the Emirates FA Cup and Carabao Cup during his tenure.

Newcastle United would like to place on record its gratitude to Steve for his contribution and wishes him well for the future.

Steve Bruce said: "I am grateful to everyone connected with Newcastle United for the opportunity to manage this unique football club.

"I would like to thank my coaching team, the players and the support staff in particular for all their hard work. There have been highs and lows, but they have given everything even in difficult moments and should be proud of their efforts.

"This is a club with incredible support, and I hope the new owners can take it forward to where we all want it to be. I wish everyone the very best of luck for the rest of this season and beyond."

Graeme Jones will lead the team on an interim basis, starting with Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace, and will be supported by the coaching team of Steve Agnew, Stephen Clemence, Ben Dawson and Simon Smith.

The process of recruiting a new head coach is under way and an appointment will be announced in due course.

The club will not be making further comment at this time.

The next permanent manager market as priced by Boyle Sports is online here

Reaction:
Bruce quotes

In conversation with The Telegraph:

"By the time I got to Newcastle, I thought I could handle everything thrown at me, but it has been very, very tough.

"To never really be wanted, to feel that people wanted me to fail, to read people constantly saying I would fail, that I was useless, a fat waste of space, a stupid, tactically inept cabbage head or whatever. And it was from day one.

"When we were doing okay results-wise, it was, ‘Yeah, but the style of football is rubbish’ or I was just ‘lucky’. It was ridiculous and persistent, even when the results were good.

"I tried to enjoy it and, you know, I did. I’ve always enjoyed the fight, proving people wrong, but that’s all it ever seemed to be. A fight, a battle. It does take its toll because even when you win a game, you don’t feel like you are winning over the supporters.

"It’s not just about me; it’s taken its toll on my whole family because they are all Geordies and I can’t ignore that.

"They have been worried about me, especially my wife Jan. What an amazing woman she is, incredible, she’s just a fantastic woman, wife and mother and grandmother. She dealt with the death of my parents, hers have not been very well. And then she had me to worry about and what I’ve been going through the last couple of years.

"I can’t take her for granted, she has spent her whole life following me around from football club to football club and if I was to say to her tomorrow, I’ve been offered a job in China, or anywhere, she would say, ‘Steve, is this right for you, do you want to do it?’ And she’d back me again.

"I’m 60 years old and I don’t know if I want to put her through it again. We’ve got a good life so, yeah, this will probably be me done as a manager — until I get a phone call from a chairman somewhere asking if I can give them a hand. Never say never, I’ve learnt that.

"I really have to thank all the people who have worked alongside me, because I can be demanding and I can be hard work – especially when I was younger.

"When we get beat, I get very low, but when you are managing in the Premier League with Birmingham, Wigan, Hull, sunderland you do get better at dealing with it. You have to."

Facts:
Bruce stats

Steve Bruce leaves Newcastle United having not quite reached his century of games, three short of the ton, 84 of those in the Premier League.

So how does his league record of 23 wins, 23 draws and 38 defeats compare with his predecessors?

In short, worse than Graeme Souness, the same as Ruud Gullit and better than Steve McClaren.

His percentages are: 27.4% wins and 36.5% points won (92 from a possible 252). Rafa Benitez's Premier League stats were slightly better at 31.4% and 39.6% respectively.

As is the case with all NUFC managers, their budgets, squads and circumstances are all different and difficult to compare but Bruce inherited some big money signings and was given more than most to spend.

In comparison to the six other main managers under Ashley (Allardyce, Keegan*, Hughton, Pardew, McClaren and Benitez) his record is similar, although Pardew and McClaren stand out as the best and worst by some distance.

But that's where his appointment was a bad one - he was brought in to keep things chugging along. Get one more point than the bottom three and with a bit of luck and a favourable following wind get into mid-table.

And yes, he was lucky at times. There are many occasions when things went his way unexpectedly.

The 0-3 defeat at Brighton in March 2021 had even the Bruce supporters readying themselves for relegation. Our biggest game for years and our worst performance in living memory. This was Bruce giving it his best shot.

But the demise of Fulham - who had looked certain to overtake us - and the amazing form of Allan Saint-Maximin and Joe Willock in the final nine games of the season saved his bacon.

They say the final league table never lies but for us to finish the 2020/21 season in 12th position, 17 points ahead of Fulham was ridiculous.

Did Bruce deserve any credit for that turnaround? Only if he takes full responsibility for the absolute shambles that preceded it. The run of results and performances between December 2020 and the win at Burnley are as bad as anything in our Premier League era.

The fear was we would endure the same experience that Aston Villa had with Bruce and it was incredibly similar. That was just the job for Ashley but not for the rest of us.

Full Premier League managerial stats here.

* John Carver and Joe Kinnear managed a similar number of games to Kevin Keegan and Chris Hughton (post-Keegan) but their positions were always seen as interim.

Reaction:
The usual suspect

After the new administration succeeded in getting Br(uc)exit done, we thought it worthwhile revisiting our reaction to his installation at SJP in July 2019:

So all the talk of progressive football has been sacrificed on the altar of expedience and we're now saddled with a John Carver/Steve McClaren reboot.

We don't really care about his club hopping or the plight he's left Wednesday in; Bruce's mackem connection or his perception as an Old Trafford apologist is of little consequence.

And even the claim that the man who allegedly bleeds black and white once preferred Norwich City to Newcastle doesn't particularly matter - football is a lie, as his predecessor was fond of saying. 

Regardless of your viewpoint of Rafa though, this appointment cannot be seen as anything other than a retrograde step - a man who previously boasted of his dislike of tactics. 

This is the very opposite of ambition, but an appointment that nicely mirrors our grubby, unloved, derided shell of a football club.

One of the game’s greatest mercenary managers is now in residence at his "spiritual home", for now. 

Acutely aware of the frosty reception awaiting, Bruce has accepted the job with open arms knowing that the worst case scenario is a multi-million payout.

The job title given to him of Head Coach seems significant: with just over three weeks to go until the transfer window closes, let's hope that whoever is actually in charge of recruitment on Barrack Road has a coherent and credible plan to avoid what looks like nothing but a relegation fight.

Whether the club have shown some foresight in appointing Bruce remains to be seen; perhaps they've merely acquired a manager with promotion to the top flight on his CV, 13 months before he's needed.   

We may have got the timescale wrong in the last paragraph, but the direction of travel was correct.....

Unlikely lad:
Goats get Tayls!



Sporting his familiar number 27, this is former Magpie Steven Taylor playing in a Dubai Amateur Football League fixture earlier this week.

The 35 year-old defender announced his professional playing retirement back in September, terminating his contract with Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand.

Tayls turned out for the interestingly-named Slugs & Goats soccer club on Wednesday, conceding a penalty but helping his side to a 3-1 win over DHL Dragons. A club insider called his performance sluggish....

Premier League:
Welcome to our world

Newcastle  2  Spurs  3

Match report

U23s:
Colliers fixture
date confirmed

The draw for this season's Techflow Marine Northumberland Senior Cup Quarter Final took place on Wednesday; Newcastle U23s rewarded for defeating Benfield with a trip to Northern League Ashington.

Ashington v Newcastle United U23s
Bedlington Terriers v Newcastle University
Morpeth or Whitley Bay v Blyth Spartans
North Shields v Heaton Stannington

It's a decade since the teams last met in this competition, United winning 2-0 at Whitley Park in November 2011.

Ashington confirm that the tie will be a 7.30pm kick-off at Woodhorn Lane on Tuesday December 14th.

Borrowers:
Loan lads

Updates on Newcastle's loan contingent:

Kelland Watts (Wigan Athletic)
AFC Wimbledon (a) League One, Saturday.

Rodrigo Vilca (Doncaster Rovers)
Cheltenham Town (h) League One, Saturday.

Jake Turner (Colchester United)
Port Vale (a) League Two, Saturday.

Lewis Cass (Port Vale)
Colchester United (h) League Two, Saturday.

Matty Longstaff (Aberdeen)
Hibernian (h) Scottish Premiership, Saturday.

Oisin McEntee, Tom Allan (Morton)
Queen of the South (a) Scottish Championship, Saturday.

Premier League:
PL meet, Charnley
represents NUFC

From The Guardian, Monday:

The hostility among Premier League clubs to the Newcastle United takeover was underlined on Monday when they voted through legislation designed to prevent the Saudi owners from striking lucrative sponsorship deals.

Newcastle made it clear at the emergency meeting of all 20 clubs that they considered the rule change, which will temporarily ban commercial arrangements that involve pre-existing business relationships, to be anti-competitive.

They were represented by Lee Charnley, the incumbent managing director, rather than Amanda Staveley, the director and minority stakeholder, who is now responsible for running the club on a day-to-day basis. Charnley is understood to have made it clear that his club had legal advice to say that the amendment was unlawful.

But the clubs pressed on with the vote and it was passed 18-2. Standing in opposition with Newcastle were Manchester City, whose Abu Dhabi-based owners have benefited in the past from what are known as related party transactions. An example was the deal that saw Etihad Airways, the Abu Dhabi-government owned carrier, sponsor them.

Many of the clubs in the Premier League are worried that Newcastle’s Saudi owners might conclude deals in the oil-rich Kingdom which could give them an advantage. The clubs want pre-emptive measures to be put in place that would either prevent this or ensure that fair market value was paid.

The rule will be in force for the next month – and it will apply to all 20 clubs – but many of them want it or something similar to become a permanent feature. A working party is to be set up – comprising a cross-section of clubs – to investigate what, if any, changes should be made. Newcastle have been asked whether they would like to be on it.

The league was already looking into such issues and they remain involved in a long-running investigation into whether City have breached financial fair play regulations. City have denied any wrongdoing.

Following the Newcastle takeover, the 19 other clubs demanded a special meeting with the league, wanting to understand why the deal had been signed off. That meeting took place last Tuesday, with some clubs attending in person at the league’s Paddington HQ and others dialling in via conferencing software.

Straight after it, the 19 clubs met on their own to discuss the financial implications of having the Saudis as competitors. It led to the draft of the temporary ban on related party transactions – Newcastle would be notified of this – and then to Monday’s meeting.

PL2:
Stadium of delight!

mackems U23  1  Newcastle U23s  2

Match report

Premier League:
TV times

A week later than expected, the latest live Premier League TV selections were announced on Monday as follows:

Tue 30.11.2021 Norwich City (h) 7.30pm  Am

Sat 04.12.2021 Burnley (h) 3pm (no TV)
Sun 12.12.2021 Leicester City (a) 2pm Sky
Thu 16.12.2021 Liverpool (a) 8pm BT
Sun 19.12.2021 Manchester City (h) 2pm Sky
Mon 27.12.2021 Manchester United (h) 8pm Sky
Thu 30.12.2021 Everton (a) 7.30pm Am

Sun 02.01.2022 Southampton (a) 2pm (no TV)

Only alterations up to January 3rd 2022  were announced, meaning that United's other two PL games in January are yet to be confirmed:

15.01.2022 Watford (h)
22.01.2022 Leeds United (a)

It's claimed that the outstanding TV games for January will be announced on Monday (25th).

Update:
Club/police confirm racism investigation

NUFC statement, Monday - reportedly in response to a photo doing the rounds on social media showing someone making a Nazi salute in the Leazes End:

Newcastle United is aware of an alleged racist gesture made by an individual towards Tottenham Hotspur supporters inside St. James' Park during Sunday's match. An investigation is under way and the police have been made aware.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: "We can confirm we are investigating an alleged racist incident during Newcastle United’s home fixture with Tottenham at St. James’ Park on Sunday.

"Enquiries are ongoing with the club to identify anyone involved and ascertain whether criminal offences have been committed.

"As a Force, we do not tolerate hate crime of any kind within our communities and are committed to taking swift and robust action against perpetrators."

Magpin:
Memories of
Maiden Castle



Saturday saw a double badge release from Magpin, with black & white and white & black versions of the club's training shirt from the entertainers era.

Orders are open now - click on the image above for more information.

PS: pre-orders for the Magpin Shay Given charity badge and the SJP t-shirt have now closed, but limited quantities of both are still available online here

Update:
Got out of our club

Our coverage and reflections on the change of club ownership are here

Retro:
Chronicled

The latest episode of a free NUFC history Podcast series hosted by the Chronicle is now available online here

Presenter Matt Ketchell and club historian Paul Joannou are joined by Supermac and John Gibson to reflect on the 1970s. Bet his boutique gets a mention....

Premier League:
Brighton (a) COVID
status update

FYI anyone going to the Brighton away game, the following advice has been published - note that while similar checks have theoretically been in place at other PL grounds we've played at, Brighton have been asking for the specified documents before games this season:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING ENTRY TO THE AMEX STADIUM:

1. In order to enter the Stadium, supporters must confirm their COVID status. This may involve showing:
(a) a valid NHS COVID Pass in your name evidencing that you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19; or
(b) proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR or lateral flow test in your name taken in the preceding 48 hours (evidenced either via the NHS COVID Pass or in the form of an official NHS email or text message); or
(c) evidence of natural immunity in your name via the NHS COVID Pass, and photo ID matching the name on the COVID Pass or negative test (as applicable).

Premier League:
On sale dates



NUFC have now published the ticket sale dates for home matches until the end of 2021 as follows:

Sat 20.11.2021 Brentford (h)
Mon 25.10.2021 ST holders/members
Mon 01.11.2021 Public sale (online)
Mon 08.11.2021 Public sale (all)
 
Tue 30.11.2021 Norwich City (h)
Tue 09.11.2021 ST holders/members
Tue 16.11.2021 Public sale (online)
Tue 23.11.2021 Public sale (all)

Sat 04.12.2021 Burnley (h)
Wed 10.11.2021 ST holders/members
Wed 17.11.2021 Public sale (online)
Wed 24.11.2021 Public sale (all)

Sun 19.12.2021 Manchester City (h)
Mon 22.11.2021 ST holders/members
Mon 29.11.2021 Public sale (online)
Mon 06.12.2021 Public sale (all)

Mon 27.12.2021 Manchester United (h)
Tue 30.11.2021 ST holders/members
Tue 07.12.2021 Public sale (online)
Tue 14.12.2011 Public sale (all)