Steve Bruce insists he is ‘determined’ to be Newcastle boss next season despite 95 PER CENT of fans calling for his sacking and admits his struggling Magpies ‘haven’t been anywhere near good enough’ ahead of Spurs clash
- Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has vowed to fight on despite calls for his sacking
- A poll of supporters found 95 per cent want Bruce to leave St James’ Park
- Bruce admits the Mapgies ‘haven’t been anywhere near good enough’ this term
- The team are two points off the bottom three ahead of Sunday’s clash vs Spurs
Steve Bruce says he is determined to be in charge of Newcastle United next season and will ignore a poll in which 95 per cent of supporters called for him to leave now.
The local newspaper, the Evening Chronicle, has demanded that Bruce walk away for the good of the club and their readers responded in a recent survey pleading for a change to be made.
Newcastle have won two matches in 20 and fans protested outside of St James’ Park following their 3-0 surrender at Brighton a fortnight ago.
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce is determined to fight for his job despite doubt over his future
Mike Ashley let it be known within 12 hours of that defeat that Bruce would be going nowhere, causing further irritation among supporters.
But Bruce said: ‘I’m determined to see it through. I hope I’m still the manager next season, but that’s for others to decide.
‘I realise the performance against Brighton was simply not good enough. You have to accept people’s opinions and move on. I can’t take any notice of any polls. All I can focus on is Tottenham (on Sunday).
‘The easy thing would be to walk away. Because we’re in a fight, the last thing I’m going to do is walk away. Certain individuals are entitled to their opinion, but I’m determined to see it through and that’s what I will do.’
The Magpies are creeping towards relegation and are two points outside the bottom three
Fans have protested against Mike Ashley this season and 95 per cent want Bruce to be sacked
Bruce also revealed that Ashley has been in touch, although there have been no showdown talks.
‘The owner hasn’t had his say at all,’ he added. ‘He sent his support to rally the troops and get behind everyone.’
Newcastle, in 17th, are two points clear of Fulham with a game in hand. Bruce believes another nine points from nine games should keep them up.
Bruce admits his side ‘haven’t been anywhere near good enough’ but tipped them to survive
‘It hasn’t been anywhere near good enough, but we’ve given ourselves a decent platform,’ he said.
‘We took nine points from our last nine games, which is nothing mouth-watering, but a point a game is usually enough to keep you in the division.
‘I will have to draw on my experience, to do 980-odd games there is a fair amount there. In some people’s eyes you wouldn’t have thought I’d done half a dozen.’
Bruce will be boosted by the return from injury of Allan Saint-Maximin for the visit of Spurs, but the game will come too soon for top goalscorer Callum Wilson.