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We have become used to Steve Bruce feeling the need to offer supposed reality check by reminding fans and journalists that Newcastle United “is where we are”.
But the Magpies head coach went a step further in his post-game press conference following a 2-0 loss to Man City on Boxing Day.
Bruce confirmed that his mission was to keep his team in the Premier League and that was what he would ‘try to achieve. As much as the 59-year-old has spoken of “progress” and “moving the club forward” a year and a half after his appointment, safety remains the primary focus.
Not a groundbreaking reveal, we’ve long known that survival is what matters most to owner Mike Ashley, but it didn’t make it any less sobering.
However, Newcastle doesn’t necessarily need an acquisition to fight for a bit more. The signings the magpies made last summer were, supposedly, with the next step in mind: looking up instead of looking over their shoulders.
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The goal of being a football fan is to dream but, if it was not already clear, it seems that 2021 will be very similar to 2020 for the black and white: an effort to reach 40 points and what comes after. it is an advantage. That prospect felt even more daunting when Newcastle were just one win away from their first cup semi-final in the Ashley era a few days earlier.
On paper, Newcastle are two points better than at this stage last season, but it appears that the last week and a half has taken the life out of the Magpies’ campaign.
It was not a shame to suffer a 2-0 loss to Man City, even if Pep Guardiola’s team were not in their prime, but, again, that’s nothing to celebrate.
This has been a season of unpredictable results: Aston Villa beat Liverpool 7-2 in October, but this loss will not have come as a surprise to Newcastle fans.
The Black and White have failed to upset any of the top six since football was restarted last summer and this game was no different.
Of course, these are not the games that will define Newcastle’s season. Rather, it was the three games leading up to that trip to the Etihad that mattered in a season-defining period before a brutal streak of holiday matches against City, Liverpool and Leicester.
In the end, the Blue and Whites were unable to beat Leeds and Fulham, two newly promoted teams, and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup quarter-finals by Brentford. Was it wrong to wait more than those three games?
Bruce vowed to ‘accept whatever came our way’ after that loss to Brentford’s second team but clearly the Magpies head coach was hurt by what followed. Even before a ball was kicked at the Etihad, Bruce attacked the ‘histrionics’.
The atmosphere on the training ground was understandably flat after Newcastle squandered a glorious opportunity to reach the League Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1976 and if Bruce has really been bothered by what has been written then You just have to look at how mentor Sir Alex Ferguson used to channel criticism to inspire Manchester United during his playing days.
Bruce demanded a response from their side and while they were stiff and reasonably defended in parts against City, ultimately it could have been a lot worse if goalkeeper Karl Darlow had not made two splendid saves to deny Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio. Omen.
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Newcastle had just 24% possession and two shots on target and at times it felt like a damage limitation exercise despite City’s own vulnerabilities (West Brom recently scored a point at the Etihad) and Guardiola didn’t start. the game with a recognized striker.
Ilkay Gundogan put City ahead just before the quarter hour after the midfielder somehow managed to pick his spot despite three Newcastle defenders standing at the finish line.
Jacob Murphy didn’t register Newcastle’s first shot on goal until the 50th minute, and just minutes later, Ferran Torres had doubled the hosts’ lead after Federico Fernández inadvertently mounted the Spanish international after blocking a cross from Joao Cancelo.
Bruce nonetheless was encouraged by Newcastle’s attitude that night and the way his players responded, even if his trip to Manchester ended in defeat.
To paraphrase the Newcastle manager, his team stays where it was: 12th place Ashley certainly won’t complain.
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