Former Magpies forward has criticised Steve Bruce over the manager’s disastrous tactics and attitude towards players during his time at the club.
Bruce, who’s currently managing at Blackpool in League 1, has yet to return to Premier League management since his departure from Tyneside in late 2021.
From threatening his team with a lack of minutes to openly declaring “I don’t do tactics”, Gayle has shed some serious light on what was a comically-dark time for Newcastle fans…
As much of the mainstream media (and even Pep Guardiola) would have you believe, Steve Bruce’s tactics and style of play left much to be desired.
Gayle recalls one game under Bruce against Guardiola’s formidable Man City side where the former Manchester United defender looked truly hopeless.
“I remember some of the boys got chucked into the Man City shift.. Basically we had a three game week, gaffer just chucked a few of the boys under the bus in terms of who had to play against Man City away.”
“Me and Matt Ritchie were asking for tactical improvements for weeks or months or whatever, and we came in at half time, and it was two or three nil, and said “Boys, you keep asking for tactics, I don’t do tactics. Just put your boots on and work hard.”
“And we’re like ‘Mate, it’s Man City, that’s not good enough.” That was one I was in shock about, but yeah that’s what he said.”
😳 The bit at the end from Dwight Gayle on Steve Bruce is absolutely damning:
“You keep asking for tactics, I don’t do tactics. Just put your boots on and work hard! That’s what he said.”
Awful, yet unsurprising! #NUFC (Via @opengoalsport)
pic.twitter.com/2gvJMx64K3
— NUFCBlog.co.uk (@NUFCblogcouk) March 21, 2025
Right away, Gayle gives the impression that Bruce’s effort and long term planning at Newcastle paled in comparison to predecessor Rafa Benitez.
“Again it’s one of those things where you just get on with it. I’m sure a lot of players would’ve liked Rafa’s approach, but as soon as someone new comes in, you adapt to it and try to get on with it.”
“It was okay, I felt like he didn’t spend enough time working on a lot of things with us. He would try to go game by game rather than perhaps developing us as a team. I just feel like he could’ve improved with a lot of things.”
But Gayle points out that Bruce undertook a full 180 in regards to his approach once the Saudi takeover occurred, acting like a man who truly feared his days at the club were, perhaps rightfully, numbered.
“Obviously you say, he didn’t do much on the training pitch. When the Saudi owners came in, he slug his boots on and a whistle.”
“ ‘If I’m going, I’m going to run you into the ground.’ so we were doing some running drills, and he’s blowing his whistle, making it into a little bit of a joke ‘They’re over there watching!’”
Where Eddie Howe is widely lauded for his close bond with both his colleagues and his players, it seems that the same can’t be said for Bruce during his own tenure at Newcastle.
Graeme Jones was one figure who there’s always been much speculation on if there was discontent between Bruce and the club’s current assistant coach.
Gayle speculates: “I think something happened because obviously he (Jones) got called up to England, and then from the following season they stopped him from going. Signed a new contract then they didn’t let him go, which upset him I think.”
Another memorable saga off the pitch, Bruce’s tempestuous relationship with The Mail’s Craig Hope is nothing short of amazing.
With Hope’s reporting late night leaks about poor team morale, to Bruce accusing the journalist of calling him a liar, fans could only despair at the manager lashing out the media in such a way.
“Craig Hope: this guy, a journalist, absolutely hated him. We’d have meetings about him, because someone was leaking something from the club, and Brucey obviously used to hate it.”
It culminated in Bruce threatening his players over any future leaks. “Whoever’s talking to this Craig Hope, you’ll never play football again. Not just for me, I’ll make sure you never play a game again. It was so funny.”
Sometimes, Newcastle’s football under Bruce was the laughing stock of the league: truly night and day when compared to the recent Carabao Cup winning heroics and style of play.
But off the pitch, Gayle remarks that Bruce was often unintentionally funny with his media quips and attitude.
“He had some classics. In football you forget a lot of things, but he used to say some crackers in interviews. How’s the bacon was so funny, we just used to giggle about it me and Karl Darlow, we’d just used to be dying.”