The former Newcastle United and Sunderland manager has weighed in on the Celtic favourite’s weekend misery
Steve Bruce has cast sympathy for Ange Postecoglou after his Nottingham Forest sacking - with a throwback to time at Celtic.
The Australian is a hero at Parkhead after installing a high octane brand of attacking football, delivering five trophies out of six domestically after a collapsed bid for 10 titles in a row. He won the Europa League last season at Tottenham but a poor Premier League campaign had him axed, and he’s lasted less than 40 days at the City Ground.
Bruce knows what it’s like to be up against it after coming in at Newcastle United following Rafa Benitez having a successful reign. Having watched his Celtic teams, he is surprised to see some of the stick Postecoglou has been hit with in England.
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Steve Bruce Celtic statement on Ange Postecoglou
He told The Good, the Bad and the Football: “For some strange reason with Ange, it didn't seem to be a good fit. I'm looking from afar thinking, I like Ange. He's always won a trophy, even at Spurs where people doubted him and questioned him. When he first went into Tottenham... absolutely adored at Celtic the way they played. Tottenham the way they played, he's the one. This is the Tottenham way when he first went in after a year.
“Then he doesn't have a plan B in all this nonsense and he still wins a trophy, goes into Forrest. All of a sudden they aren't quite... from day one it seemed. You talk about Newcastle, when I went into Newcastle, the headlines in the paper was surely not. Is this how far, how low we've stooped? I was in China, thank the Lord. I just got the job and this is how low we've stooped and all of this.
“So we knew from, and as I was telling before, we played West Ham out in China. We win the game one nil and I sort of leant over to Steve Agnew and said, this is as good as it gets, we may as well call it a day now, eh? They lip read what I'd said to Aggers and all of a sudden blew that up. So before I'd started, I knew I was up against it, you know? Preseason? Yeah, preseason, just in the middle of preseason. Of course, Rafa Benitez was adored by the supporters, so I knew I had to fill his shoes in.”
How does Ange Postecoglou feel about Nottingham Forest sacking?
Another ex-Newcastle boss in Alan Pardew reckons the Celtic hero will have mixed emotions on his sacking. He said: “It is a weird feeling. Firstly, you’re smarting, because I don’t think any manager feels that they deserve to [be sacked.] When I got sacked at Crystal Palace I thought it was incorrect, and when I got sacked at West Ham I thought it was incorrect as well. They were both paydays for me, in terms that my contract was terminated and I got my pay.
“But my reputation was damaged. So you’re split. Half of you says ‘that’s a nice cushion’, and the other half says ‘where does that leave me?’ And this will be the problem for Ange. Because for the next two days, Notts Forest PR machine will kick in. We’ve seen a little bit of it today in the press, kicking him to death.
“And as a manager, you’ve got nowhere to go, because you’ve had to sign the contract to get your money, you can’t answer any of those questions. You can’t defend yourself. That’s why Ange got his defence in early, because he knew it was coming. And it bothers me about the LMA (League Managers’ Association), who are my union. They don’t defend managers well enough who get sacked. At least offer me to say more than just ‘thanks for my time there, thanks to the fans’… to say something a bit more defensive.”
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