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Steve Bruce has complained of being “insulted” by suggestions that he is a “lucky” manager destined to be “discovered” soon. Privately, the Newcastle manager must surely concede that his team has been lucky at times this season, but there was nothing remotely casual about this comfortable deconstruction of Burnley.
In fact, on a night when Allan Saint-Maximin shone with a much improved home performance, the only caveat was that Sean Dyche’s team was generally so poor that it was easy to see why they still don’t have a point.
“We’ve all had our fair share of criticism,” Bruce said. “But hopefully we’ve calmed some down, at least for a while. Saint-Maximin can do things that other people cannot. It’s explosive. “
There were whispers that Saint-Maximin and Bruce haven’t always exactly seen each other lately, so it seemed significant that, immediately the Frenchman scored, he ran to hug the Newcastle coach in the technical area before hugging three of his staff. from the back room.
There is nothing like a goal to restore harmony and Saint-Maximin was good. When Callum Wilson threw Karl Darlow’s punt on her way in the 14th minute, the former Nice winger embarked on a slaloming run that involved avoiding five alleged markers. It concluded with the expert dodge of Dale Stephens and the unleashing of a low drive that Nick Pope touched but couldn’t sustain.
If the serpentine advances from Saint-Maximin’s left left Dyche’s defense in a terrible turn, they also didn’t always enjoy the presence of Jeff Hendrick’s right. The Irish midfielder joined Newcastle from Burnley as a free agent this summer in a move Dyche called “unnecessary” and perhaps emblematic of the tensions between the manager and Turf Moor’s management over contract renewals and the new signings.
It appears that toxicity in the corridors of power is exerting a debilitating effect on the field. Indeed, it was surely indicative that the play that preceded Ashley Barnes with a goal disallowed, correctly, offside represented a rare first-half scare for Newcastle.
Both teams were set up in matching 4-4-2 formations, but only Bruce’s version seemed to work effectively in sometimes sloppy, rough, and worn competition.
While Charlie Taylor often fought back against Hendrick, Phil Bardsley fought horribly against Saint-Maximin until he finally managed to make noise with his nemesis. As the winger limped away at halftime, there was a feeling that Tyneside’s gloomier, wetter nights might get even darker, but, bolstered by a pair of woolen gloves, he appeared for the second half. “I’ve known Phil Bardsley since I was 12 years old, so I’m not surprised that he gave Allan some kicks,” Bruce said.
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Presumably fueled by a pep talk from Dyche in the interval, Burnley was, albeit temporarily, a transformed team. They tied through Ashley Westwood’s excellent volley after Newcastle failed to clear the fallout from a corner kick Westwood had taken, allowing Bardsley to launch the goal-creating cross.
Another center, low and from Saint-Maximin, now recast as number 10, allowed Callum Wilson to restore Newcastle’s lead courtesy of a tap-in after another thunderous dribble from the man of the match ended with a Dwight McNeil and Taylor. disoriented due to slip.
Ryan Fraser replaced Saint-Maximin and quickly earned a penalty, converted by Wilson, after Pope knocked him down as he pounced on the goalkeeper’s poorly controlled backward pass.
Dyche said: “In the first half he could have played against us. There was no faith or effort. “
