Before I begin, I feel as though I should clarify my position on Steve Bruce. I'm not out to criticise Bruce at every given opportunity, as he has done a good job under the circumstances. However, nor I am one that will big him up to the point of comparing points totals to that of our previous manager. My biggest gripe with Bruce is and has always been how he manages his squad rotation, and how some of the injuries to key players this season, could have been avoided.
This goes back to December. Florian Lejeune made his long-awaited comeback from injury on the 21st December in a home victory against Crystal Palace, memorable as it was the game that Miggy Almiron ended his much maligned goal drought. Five days later, despite being out injured for months, Lejeune lined up at Old Trafford alongside Federico Fernandez and Fabian Schar in a disasterous 4-1 defeat.
This was when Bruce was experimenting with a horrendous 3-5-2 formation which did not work in the slightest, and caused major hindrance to key players such as Isaac Hayden. Surely after two games in quick succession, Lejeune was due a rest after being out for six months previous? No, just two days after the drubbing against Manchester United, the former Eibar man lined up to face Everton at St James Park. Unbelievably, the trend continued as Lejeune played the following game against Leicester, and the Frenchman looked a shadow of his former self; blowing all over the pitch, desperate to be taken out of the firing line. The normal steady solidity we had come to expect, had turned into Boumsong-like embarrassment.
The same thing has happened since the restart. I'm fully aware we are in unprecedented times, but Bruce certainly hasn't helped him self with certain aspects of his team selections. Take Matt Ritchie for starters; another one coming back from injury who played a major part in the opening win over Sheffield United; Ritchie looked impressive and got on the score sheet. But for Bruce to name an unchanged team three days later against relegation fodder, Aston Villa was ill judged, especially with the biggest game of the season against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final the following weekend. Needless to say the workload was too much for the never say die winger, who had to go off injured in the 68th minute.
Similar fates were handed to Sean Longstaff and Isaac Hayden, as Bruce seems totally unwilling to use Matty Longstaff (don't get me started on that one!) and the Newcastle gaffer shot himself in the foot by not resting top league goalscorer, Jonjo Shelvey against Aston Villa, forcing him to miss the cup tie against Man City, where our cup dreams once again died with a whimper.
Arguably our best outfield player, Allan Saint-Maximin has now followed suit and succumbed to the Bruce curse. Bruce is in big danger of becoming overly reliant on the enigmatic Frenchman, who has been overworked since the restart. Players of Saint-Maximin's ilk need looking after, as injury problems are never far away from these type of flair players, and "Maxi" is no exception. Failure to rest ASM in games such as Villa and West Ham, whilst loanee, Valentino Lazaro is sat on the bench, still not having received a proper chance in the Premier League has left supporters scratching their heads.
Bruce's squad is now down to its bare bones, and the boyhood Newcastle United fan is facing up to the possibility of five defeats to finish the season. Indeed he may have "gotten away with it" this season, overachieving with a squad that were relegation favourites at the start of the current campaign. But if there is to be no takeover, and the only aim is another depressing survival campaign, he will have to start boxing clever with his squad to avoid embarrassing fate.
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