Steve Bruce has shouldered the blame for the tactical confusion that prefaced Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring Arsenal’s winning goal at St James’ Park last Sunday.
Things were going reasonably well for Newcastle’s manager in his first Premier League game after succeeding Rafael Benítez until he replaced the injured Jonjo Shelvey with Jetro Willems.
The Netherlands left-back, acquired on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt, was sent on in a central midfield role but careered around to chaotic effect until Bruce ordered him to swap positions with Matt Ritchie and switch to left wing-back.
Unfortunately, Willems was still adjusting to that position when his error contributed to Aubameyang sealing a 1-0 victory for Arsenal.
“I put Jetro on in midfield, where he played all last season for Frankfurt, and then very quickly thought, ‘It’s a bit unfair on him because he’s making his debut so I’ll put him in his favoured position instead’,” Bruce said. “So I switched him very, very quickly.
“We’ve made a mistake but Jetro wasn’t the only one who made a mistake in the buildup to the goal. Two or three people made that mistake and if you make a mistake in the Premier League you get punished.”
The uncertainty surrounding Willem’s role, which at one point had Bruce screaming “what’s happening?” from the technical area, may have been resolved quickly but it failed to prevent some Newcastle fans using the unfortunate cameo as a stick with which to beat Bruce.
It has left him particularly anxious to secure three points on Saturday at Carrow Road, where he once shone in Norwich’s central defence. Under Benítez, Newcastle began last season extremely slowly, taking until November to win their first Premier League fixture at home to Watford but Bruce accepts the fans will not afford him similar patience.
“It would settle everybody down if we could get a nice positive result at Norwich,” he said. “But I do believe we’ll get better as we go on. The more time I have with the players, the better we’ll be.”
It helps that Bruce already understands the volatile nature of life at St James’ Park where he is in charge of a fractured club with many supporters vehemently opposed to Mike Ashley’s ownership and still mourning Benítez’s departure. “Coming to manage Newcastle was never going to be easy, that’s for sure,” he said.
“The big interest in Newcastle United is what makes it unique. But, hopefully, the fans will come round. I’m from here, so it steels you. When you go to school in the north-east you have to be tough. I’ll have a go, have a crack and won’t be frightened of anything.”
Bruce hopes his tenure can perhaps mirror those far distant playing days at Norwich. “I made my debut for them against Liverpool, the team of the 80s,” he said. “And I scored two own goals in the first 20 minutes but still ended up in Norwich’s hall of fame, included in their best-ever XI. So you don’t always need the best of starts.”