What started as a routine podcast appearance for former Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle has evolved into a war of words with maligned manager Steve Bruce – and Gabriel Agbonlahor has now weighed in.
Gayle, in an interview released last week, bashed Bruce for his tactics and managerial skills as the Magpies boss, which Bruce fired back saying Gayle had no right to critique him after the respective careers both had.
And now TalkSport pundit Agbonlahor, who played under Bruce at Aston Villa, leapt to the 64-year-old’s defence, and labelled Gayle as a ‘failure’ who should respect Bruce.
Gayle and Bruce’s war of words
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Whilst it was often alluded to that many players in Steve Bruce’s Newcastle sides weren’t overly fond of the manager and his tactics, Dwight Gayle’s comments last week truly felt like the most damning claims yet, over three years since the former Sunderland manager departed.
“Me and Matt Ritchie were asking for tactical improvements for weeks, months. We came in at half-time and we were two or three down, and he was like, ‘Boys, you keep asking for tactics, I don’t do tactics; just put your boots on and work hard’.”
Bruce fired back over the weekend after his Blackpool side’s 2-0 win over Northampton town. “I’ve been around the block a long, long time. I’ve only managed 1,050 games but according to Dwight, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ll let other people make their minds up who are a bit more established than Dwight ever was.”
Agbolahor: “Put respect on his name”
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Gabriel Agbonlahor, who played 20 times under Bruce during his own injury-blighted career at Aston Villa, has now jumped to the defence of the former Manchester United defender following Gayle’s criticism.
Speaking on TalkSport, Agbonlahor insisted that Bruce is a “top manager” and slated Gayle over his Premier League career:
> _“Steve Bruce, when he sees that, probably thinks about Dwight Gayle ‘You were the nearly man in the Premier League’. He wasn’t good enough for the Premier League and had to go down to the Championship. Now he’s playing in Scotland”_
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> _“I thought it was disrespectful and spiteful. Steve Bruce wouldn’t have wanted to have a bite back but sometimes you have to when someone’s speaking like that. Fair play to Steve Bruce. He was a top manager that I worked under.”_
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> _“I can’t imagine many players coming out and speaking like that about Steve Bruce. He’s very well respected in the game and still managing today at Blackpool._
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> _“Put some respect on his name. As Brucey said, maybe if it were someone who had a proper career, he’d have listened to them. Not someone who failed in the Premier League.”_
Who’s right? Gayle or Agbonlahor?
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The answer to just how positive, successful and influential Steve Bruce was a manager will depend on who you ask.
For Agbonlahor, as well as many other of his media mates, Bruce is brilliant. Over 1,000 games managed, an FA Cup final appearance, and promotions with Birmingham and Hull paint the picture that Bruce enjoyed a moderate level of success during his managerial heyday.
But for Gayle, football fans and anyone associated with Newcastle who witnessed the non-existent ‘tactics’ that Gayle talked about, and it’s not hard to see how Bruce has accumulated the second lowest % win rate out of all Premier League managers to manage at least 200 games in the competition!