NEWCASTLE UNITED’S players are on an SOS mission to ‘Save Our Steve’.
Manager Steve Bruce is odds-on to lose his job once the Saudi takeover of the club goes through.
Newcastle players want manager Steve Bruce to keep his job
Bruce remains very popular among his squad who are determined to prove to the new owners that he should be kept on beyond this season
But Bruce remains very popular among his squad who are determined to prove to the new owners that he should be kept on beyond this season.
Mauricio Pochettino is favourite to take the reins at St James’ Park having been out of work since being sacked by Tottenham in November after five years in charge.
There has been no approach to Poch or any other manager by the Saudi backed consortium led by financier Amanda Staveley.
In fact they WILL give Bruce until the end of the season when it restarts before making a decision.
Now the players, led by captain Jamaal Lascelles, are determined to show in those closing games that Bruce should stay on.
Newcastle’s fans were desperate for former boss Rafael Benitez to stay.
He left at the end of last season after falling out with owner Mike Ashley and there was huge opposition in the support base to Bruce being appointed.
There is now a respect among the Toon Army at the job the 59-year-old has done in helping to stabilise the situation at the club during difficult times.
Indeed the Magpies currently sit one place and four points better off than they were at the same stage last season under Benitez.
Bruce left Sheffield Wednesday to take the job and it is the 11th different club he has managed.
Despite his experience some fans fear he is not a big enough name to attract star players when money becomes available after the takeover.
But he has huge support in the dressing room where he is viewed as a superb man-manager.
Despite early season worries there was an upturn in Newcastle’s fortunes before the Coronavirus lockdown.
A 3-2 away win at West Brom put them into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2006.
Then in their last Premier League game before football was halted they beat Southampton away 1-0 to stand eight points above the drop zone in 13th.
The takeover bid is currently before the Premier League and must pass its ‘Fit and Proper Persons’ test.
There is opposition from Amnesty International over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
Qatar base beIN sports have also written to all Premier League clubs asking for them to oppose it over accusations of piracy surrounding TV rights.
It is still expected to go through as early as this week.
Bruce is odds-on to lose his job once the Saudi takeover of the club goes through
Trevor Sinclair is excited about the Newcastle Utd take over from Saudi consortium involving Mohammed bin Salman
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
