Ex-Newcastle United ace on Steve Bruce, Eddie Howe's 'four non-negotiables' & how Graeme Jones 'saved' Toon

Former Newcastle United striker Dwight Gayle has made a number of claims about Steve Bruce’s managerial reign at St James Park.

The former Sunderland boss was named as successor to Rafa Benitez during the summer of 2019 after United had reportedly made a number of approaches for Bruce during Mike Ashley’s ownership. The appointment was met with scepticism by the Magpies supporters and their relationship with the new manager always felt strained as their side struggled to make major progress on the pitch.

Reports over Bruce’s methods only increased tensions and Gayle has claimed the former Manchester United defender ‘didn’t do much on the training pitch’ until a Saudi-led takeover was completed just weeks prior to his departure in November 2021.

He told The Open Goal Podcast: “You just get on with it but I’m sure a lot of players would have liked Rafa’s approach but as soon as someone comes in you try and adapt to it and try to get on with it. He (Bruce) was ok but I felt he didn’t spend enough time working on a lot of things with us. He tried to go game-by-game rather than trying to develop us as a team. We could have improved with a lot of things. Obviously, he didn’t do much on the training pitch but when the Saudi owners came in he stuck his boots on and had a whistle, he was like if I’m going, I’m going to run you into the ground so he’s just run us and he’s blowing the whistle and making it into a joke saying they’re over there watching you.

“They brought in Graeme Jones. He's very good, he saved us to be fair. I think something happened a bit because he (Jones) got called up to England and the following season, they stopped him from going, he signed a new contract and they didn’t let him go and do the international, which upset him a bit.”

After initially approaching then-Villarreal head coach and current Aston Villa manager Unai Emery, the new-look Magpies hierarchy appointed Eddie Howe and that has proven to be a shrewd move. The former Bournemouth manager led United away from the Premier League relegation zone during his first six months before claiming a top four finish and a visit to a major cup final during his first full season in charge. After narrowly missing out on European competition last season, Howe has enjoyed a truly historic campaign this time around after his side ended Newcastle’s 70-year wait for major domestic silverware with last Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final win against Liverpool.

Gayle admitted Howe’s methods made an almost immediate impact and gave an insight into how different his methods were to those used by his predecessor.

He said: “A few of the boys had him before, Matty (Ritchie) loves him so three or four years previously he was telling me Eddie is this and Eddie is that. I’m thinking he can’t be that good but when he came in, it was an absolute joy. He put up these four non-negotiables and it was about respect and stuff like that. I remember the first training session, he was just at it and the boys weren’t really clued on to the passing drills and the thinking that comes into it.

“Sometimes coaches will put on passing drills where there’s no thinking process and it means people can go through the motions - but his first one was you lot are going to have to start thinking and be on it. It was fast and it was sick. He’s shouting to do things properly and if you aren’t doing it he’s stopping it and kicking off.

“He’s so good and for the next six months we just worked on everything and he was so on every aspect of the game and he wanted all of his players to be thinking. Everyone knew their jobs but then they’d know everyone else’s to the point where towards the end of the season we had injuries and I was going to play in midfield. He said you know everything I do, if we need you will you play in midfield? And I just said yeah.”

Gayle revealed Howe’s influence and improvement went far beyond on-pitch matters as the current United manager expertly put in place the foundations on which his side’s historic Carabao Cup Final success were built.

“His understanding of the game is so clever and he’s always be open to learning new stuff,” he explained. “The groundwork he puts in, we’d watch so much on team spirit and we had these spin meetings where there were two players tell the story of their lives, how they worked through four periods of their lives that were special to them and getting emotional and crying and stuff. It was really good. He is the one that does it first and he spoke about his first four decades, his first ten years, growing up, teenage years, playing years and coaching years. Honestly, I’ll take so much away from Eddie, his motivational stuff is so good.”

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