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Mass hysteria is a condition that affects a group of people and is characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behaviors or beliefs, or unexplained symptoms of illness.
It has also become one of Steve Bruce’s responses when the dust has settled on a poor result despite the Newcastle United head coach reportedly having thick skin.
Bruce previously insisted that he “had to accept” what was coming after Brentford expelled the Magpies from the Carabao Cup, but the criticism clearly hurt the 59-year-old.
So much so, even before a ball was kicked against Man City at the Etihad on Boxing Day, Bruce set out to lash out at the ‘histrionics’ ‘quite ridiculous’.
It’s important to emphasize that the coaches have every right to fight in their corner, just look at how Bruce’s mentor Sir Alex Ferguson used criticism to motivate Manchester United over the years, but this felt like a mechanism. family defense.
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Having admitted that simply keeping Newcastle in the Premier League was their “competition” in his post-match press conference, Bruce later added that “some of the mass hysteria” was “unfair”.
It is not often that managers speak of “mass hysteria,” but fans of Aston Villa and Sunderland are familiar with the term.
After Villa claimed just seven points from seven games in 2018, Bruce acknowledged that the insignificant comeback ‘opens you up’ but criticism had ‘turned to mass hysteria’ at ‘a club like ours’. Bruce went so far as to say ‘you can understand why’ Villa had seven coaches in as many years because it was ‘the end of the world’ after a ‘couple of bad results’.
A month after Sunderland’s 1-0 Wear-Tyne derby loss to Newcastle in 2011, Bruce addressed the ‘mass hysteria’ that had ‘engulfed’ the Black Cats and how he taught new signings about ‘ how difficult it is to play here. ‘
Perhaps, then, it’s no big surprise that Bruce played that card in Newcastle. Inevitably, Bruce’s situation will win the support of the usual suspects, be it pundits who feel he has performed above expectations despite considerable investment or outsiders who look at the Premier League table and see that Newcastle it is seven points away from the relegation zone.
But, when it comes to the figures Newcastle sees week after week, is it really unreasonable to expect a little more from the Magpies?
This is a tough group of players and Bruce deserves credit for fostering a spirit within the camp that no metric can truly quantify.
Bruce has also had to deal with a brutal outbreak of COVID-19 lately and while the Newcastle boss has wanted not to use that as an excuse, it cannot have been easy knowing that his players and staff were vomiting, dealing with painful sores and feeling shattered after a short hike.
However, you already have a feel for the emerging narrative as we approach 2021. Fans and journalists alike need a reality check on where Newcastle is and it is unreasonable to expect much more than what we have witnessed in what it’s in season.
It already looks like the second half of the season will be hard work and, if all goes well for the hierarchy, Newcastle will remain in the top flight when the new campaign begins in August to do it all over again. It is absolutely sad.
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There were some sobering moments early in the season, but it seems like this season’s life has run out after what happened in the last week and a half.
Newcastle were ripped apart by Leeds in the final stages at Elland Road on December 16 and conceded three sloppy goals in 11 minutes in the final stages; the magpies were so passive against 10-man Fulham, another newly promoted team, three days later and didn’t take the initiative; the Black and White missed their chance to reach the League Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1976 after being eliminated from the competition by Brentford’s second team just before Christimas; And even in a season of unpredictable results, no one will have been surprised to learn that Bruce’s team lost 2-0 to Man City on Boxing Day.
The irony, of course, is that if Newcastle had simply performed better in those matches, Bruce would not have had to deal with the ‘mass hysteria’ that he has complained about.
The Magpies head coach has been in the game long enough to know that. Surely.
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