It was another abject performance from Newcastle United at Brighton and Hove Albion this past weekend.
Steve Bruce’s side can’t buy a win and look every inch the relegation candidates they’ve become over the past few weeks.
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Had Fulham beaten Leeds United at home, then the Magpies would’ve ended the weekend in the bottom three.
Despite such appalling showings week in and week out, it’s believed that Mike Ashley is prepared to stick with Bruce in the hope that he can keep the side out of trouble.
However, according to Chronicle Live, some players were under the impression that the manager had actually been sacked in the immediate aftermath of the Brighton defeat.
The outlet note that, bizarrely, there was a full 15 minutes of speculation that Bruce had fallen on his sword with nine games of the Premier League season still to play.
That was soon found to not be the case, and with a two-week international break to ease the pressure a little, the hope will be that Bruce can get to the bottom of his side’s malaise before facing the final stretch of the season head on.