Steve Bruce opens up about death threats he received during spell as Newcastle United boss
Steve Bruce's managerial reign at Newcastle United came to an end shortly after the PIF-backed takeover in 2021, and it came as a massive relief to so many fans.
To say that Bruce wasn't a popular manager may be an understatement. His relationship with the fans soured over time, not that it was overly fantastic to begin with.
Newcastle were, under Bruce and Mike Ashley, merely there to make up the numbers in the Premier League; there was no ambition, and a manager of Bruce's calibre was about the best we could expect under the Ashley regime, particularly after we had a great manager in Rafa Benitez, who saw all the issues behind the scenes and left.
We certainly wouldn't claim to be members of the Steve Bruce Fan Club here at NUFCFEED, and we've made that quite clear over the years, but the way some fans went on is ridiculous.
Steve Bruce endured hell towards the end of his tenure at Newcastle
Speaking to the SACKED! podcast, Bruce opened up about his time at Newcastle, his relationship with the fans and the extreme action he had to take after the actions of one muppet of a 'fan'.
"Towards the end, it became a little bit toxic, and by the way, this is only a tiny minority when they're threatening you and you have to get the police involved – and we had to do that. We had to do that in the end where you knew that this is bordering on being ridiculous.
"I'm one of them. I'm a Newcastle fan and I could understand that frustration. They didn't want to be a team that’s aspiration was to just stay in the Premier League and that was my job. That was my remit.
"I wouldn't change it. I've managed Newcastle, my hometown club, which I thought in the circumstances I did okay with.
"However, there's no doubt it was difficult. But then again, so was Villa, so was Sunderland, so were they all.
"We see it now and we've seen it for years. I believe it is all fed by social media in the hatred that brews up and was something that we had to call the police. When they are threatening to kill you and all the rest of it then it is ridiculous and it did border on being ridiculous at times.
"I managed through COVID too so towards the end my wife went back to Cheshire where she could breathe a little bit. It was pretty normal for everybody because football carried on during the COVID time so we handled it like that but it wasn't easy for any of the family at all. Thankfully my mum and dad weren't alive to see it but it was certainly difficult, difficult times."
We hope you'd all join us in condemning the actions of that one 'fan'
We were all very well aware that Bruce's remit was just to keep the club ticking over in the Premier League. That's all Mike Ashley ever wanted. And if that's all you want for the club, then Steve Bruce was the perfect choice for that. The man is mediocrity personified.
But making death threats because he doesn't/can't match your ambition is a new low, and we're sure that everyone reading this condemns that type of action.
We're glad that it never progressed beyond that level into something more physical, but there's no room for idiots like that in our fanbase.
