Does Bruce deserve a lot more credit than he is actually getting since taking over at Newcastle United.
A local lad coming back to manage his boyhood club would usually be welcomed spectacularly but, in Steve Bruce’s case, it was far from it. Letting go of Rafa Benitez didn’t sit well with the Newcastle United faithful and rightly so but has it all worked out well?
Benitez is a hero at Tyneside having stayed with the Magpies when they went down into the Championship and brought them back to the Premier League.
The Spaniard did so with limited resources available to him but, at the end of the day, it is the on-field achievements that will go down in the history books.
Last season at this stage, Newcastle were 15th in the Premier League table after winning just six of their opening 25 games. The Magpies were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions and were in a spot of bother in the league as well.
Benitez worked his magic and led Newcastle to a 13th-place finish in the league but disagreements with owner Mike Ashley saw him leave the club at the end of his contract.
Bruce definitely had a mountain to climb to win the fans over even before a ball was kicked. Winning just two out of his first 10 games in all competitions wasn’t the start he would have hoped for but things have slowly fallen into place.
The Magpies are now 12th in the league table after eight wins and 10 draws in their 25 league games. That is three places and seven points ahead of Benitez’s tally from last season at this point.
Newcastle have also made it into the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since the 2006/07 season which is a brilliant achievement irrespective of the fact that they only had to deal with Rochdale and Oxford in the competition so far.
If only stats are taken into account, Bruce has well and truly improved Newcastle United since taking over from Benitez.
However, one can only wonder how well the Spaniard would have done had he been given the same kind of money to spend that Bruce was in the summer window.
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