CabbageHeed claims he was a victim and Fatso was a good owner

[ex_pat_magpie]

I wonder which planet he's on, and it just shows up his level of reasoning.

Quote.

Former Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce has defended his time at the club and former owner Mike Ashley.

The 63-year-old succeeded Rafa Benitez at Newcastle in 2019 and led the Magpies to two mid-table finishes. Bruce left the club in October 2021 after a Saudi-led consortium completed their takeover of the North East club from Ashley and appointed Eddie Howe.

Former Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce has defended his time at the club and former owner Mike Ashley.

The 63-year-old succeeded Rafa Benitez at Newcastle in 2019 and led the Magpies to two mid-table finishes. Bruce left the club in October 2021 after a Saudi-led consortium

completed their takeover of the North East club from Ashley and appointed Eddie Howe.

Newcastle enjoyed a successful campaign in Howe's first full season, reaching the Carabao Cup final, and securing Champions League football by finishing fourth. Results have dipped in 2023/24 but the Magpies fanbase have generally been more united behind their current owners amid their lofty ambitions.

And Bruce has defended his record in charge of Newcastle, highlighting the different level of ambition during his tenure. "Look, I absolutely adored, adored the job," he told talkSPORT. "I loved going to work on it even though it was during Covid.

"It was difficult and look, I just think I was the victim. It's a bit like when I managed Sunderland, you know, I said in 10 years' time, they will look back and think 'that fella did an all right job.

"We'd gone in after Rafa [Benitez] who had finished 12th, we'd lost [Aleksandar] Mitrovic and we lost the other centre forward who went to Leicester so we'd lost the two strikers.

"So the remit was, I've got to just keep Newcastle up and look, we weren't a great watch, I understand that too. We didn't have the team to play like Edie Howe's does and I knew that's what the Newcastle fans wanted.

"I would like to think we were very, very well organized, difficult to beat, but I think I was the victim of the whole club at the time were desperate for the takeover."

Bruce then discussed former owner Ashley, sharing his view that the club were well run during his ownership.

"The club would never be in any distress under Mike Ashley," he said. "Sometimes you have to get this balance right and all this financial fair play is to ensure that clubs don't get themselves in a situation where they go bust.

"Unfortunately, in the lower divisions, we've seen it over the years now, your Bury and Stockport and places like that who've gone under because obviously they haven't managed the finances well. It was a well-run club, under Mike.

"I know I'm going to go slaughtered for that, but the big thing is we never had a lot of money to spend, you know, we spent exactly what the club generated. Of course, that was never going to be enough for it to be really, really successful."