Steve Bruce is not impressed by suggestions Newcastle United’s players are confused by his frequently shifting tactics. “I think that’s the biggest insult I can have,” he said. “Graham Potter changed Brighton’s formation four times during last week’s game [a 0-0 home draw]. Graham’s radically changed Brighton’s style and I want to change my team’s too, but I won’t do it radically. It’ll be gradual, it won’t be overnight.”
In what could be construed as a veiled dig at his predecessor, Rafael Benítez, Bruce cited Newcastle’s lack of possession retention as his biggest problem. “Last season Newcastle were second bottom of the Premier League in the respect of keeping possession,” he said. “If we’re to improve, it’s something we have to get better at – we have to keep the ball better.”
Under Benítez Newcastle were very much a counterattacking side and passing the ball around fluently for prolonged periods did not really feature in their gameplans. “It [not having the ball] is something the players have become accustomed to,” said Bruce. “They’ve been used to playing in a certain way but I would hope we can slowly change it.”
Bruce was sanguine about the latest takeover talk surrounding Newcastle – namely Peter Kenyon’s second attempt to buy the club, this time backed by the Florida-based GACP Sports – but Mike Ashley seems unlikely to be leaving any time soon. In a rare interview given this summer Newcastle’s owner issued a reminder that the details of the takeovers which get completed tend to remain discreet.
“Peter Kenyon convinced me last Christmas that it was going to get done,” said Ashley. “I’m never doing that again. The reality is with these deals that once it gets out, if it’s not done, it’s probably not going to get done.”
Accordingly the leaking of a 46-page brochure designed to attract additional investment – at the moment Kenyon and co can afford a £125m down payment and would aim to raise the outstanding balance over three years – suggests GACP will not end up succeeding Ashley.
“I’m not really bothered about it,” said Bruce, who has minimal contact with the owner. “I don’t know anything. There’s been what, two takeover stories a season for the past five years?”