Newcastle United transfer news (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)Newcastle United transfer news (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
Newcastle United transfer news (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)

Newcastle United transfer news: Magpies tipped to win race for ex-Aston Villa star, Arsenal-linked lethal striker eyed

Newcastle United took another step into their bold new era yesterday morning, when they announced the departure of manager Steve Bruce by mutual consent, following his 1000th game as a manager.

The Magpies are now on the hunt for his replacement, and the likes of ex-Roma boss Paulo Fonseca, former Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre, and English duo Frank Lampard and Eddie Howe are all thought to be leading candidates for the job.

Speaking after his departure from St James' Park, Bruce gave a brutally honest assessment on the struggles he faced at the club, and said: “I really have to thank all the people who have worked alongside me, because I can be demanding and I can be hard work - especially when I was younger.

“When we get beat, I get very low, but when you are managing in the Premier League with Birmingham, Wigan, Hull, Sunderland you do get better at dealing with it. You have to.

“By the time I got to Newcastle, I thought I could handle everything thrown at me but it has been very, very tough.

He continued: “To never really be wanted, to feel that people wanted me to fail, to read people constantly saying I would fail, that I was useless, a fat waste of space, a stupid, tactically inept cabbage head or whatever. And it was from day one.

“When we were doing OK results wise, it was ‘yeah but the style of football is rubbish’ or I was just ‘lucky.’ It was ridiculous and persistent, even when the results were good.

Take a look at all the latest news from the Premier League, as the reaction to last weekend's exhilarating action continues:

“When we get beat, I get very low, but when you are managing in the Premier League with Birmingham, Wigan, Hull, Sunderland you do get better at dealing with it. You have to.