Newcastle and Steve Bruce in for another season of ambition-less football
Only one Premier League club has failed to make at least one new signing ahead of the 2020/21 season, and those of a black and white persuasion won’t be surprised to learn it’s Newcastle United.
This sort of indifference, after all, has become the norm for the Magpies in the Mike Ashley era. At least news of the club agreeing a fee with Arsenal for the permanent signing of Joe Willock on Sunday night may go some way to tempering growing frustration on Tyneside.
Steve Bruce has, in the mind of many fans, become a reflection of the Newcastle United hierarchy’s apathy towards their own club. Despite delivering a 12th-place finish last term, the 60-year-old remains an unpopular figure on Tyneside and supporter sentiment is unlikely to change with the contract extension Bruce (who has publicly denied talks) is reportedly in line for.
It’s not necessarily that Bruce is a bad manager. He is perfectly adequate at Premier League level, but Newcastle United fans are tired of settling for the bare minimum.
A club the size of theirs should be beyond being satisfied with a mid-table finish - look at how the likes of Aston Villa, Leicester City and even West Ham have made big strides past the Magpies.
This won’t change under Bruce - that’s the problem. Newcastle United might maintain their position in the Premier League this season, but there is no real ambition at the club. Meanwhile, there are clubs below the Magpies - see Brighton, Crystal Palace, Southampton and even newly promoted Brentford - with the drive to leapfrog them.
Newcastle fans, now allowed back in St James’ Park this season, won’t be slow to voice their frustration at the performances being produced on the pitch. At times last term, Bruce’s team were so insipid they surely would have drawn boos from the stands. At other times, though, they were rather entertaining to watch.
Indeed, Newcastle carry an attacking threat, but only through the individual quality of three players, so it is no surprise they were so desperate to bring Willock back to the North East.
The other two, Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson, are prone to injuries. In the periods when one or the other, or both, was sidelined during the 2020/21 campaign, Bruce’s team were lifeless.
Wilson finished last season as the Magpies’ top scorer (15 goals) with Willock second-top (eight goals). Beyond that, Joelinton was Newcastle’s most prolific goalscorer with just four strikes. With Saint-Maximin and Wilson in the team, Newcastle’s points per game (PPG) last season stood at 1.8. Without them, it was just 1.4.
This over-reliance on Saint-Maximin and Wilson isn’t the sign of a well-coached team. Instead, it’s the illustration of a side so poorly constructed only one or two shrewd signings have kept them afloat in recent seasons.
Bruce can only do so much with the unbalanced, mishmash of a squad currently at St James’ Park.
The permanent signing of Willock from Arsenal this summer would at least present the illusion of ambition, with the 21-year-old something of a revelation in the North East in the second half of last season.
Bruce isn’t the biggest problem at Newcastle, far from it, but he’s a manifestation of the bigger issues at the club. As long as the proposed Saudi Arabian takeover remains on ice, and in the courts, the 60-year-old is likely to remain in the St James’ Park dugout. Ashley is content just to let the club coast.
With Saint-Maximim and Wilson are on the pitch, though, Newcastle United will hold their own against most Premier League rivals.
That is about as good as they can hope for right now, but Bruce and the decision makers at St James’ Park must prepare for another season of ambition-less football to add to the sense of tedious toxicity around the place.
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