EXCLUSIVE: Newcastle Co-owner Amanda Staveley issues apology for comments she made about former Toon headcoach Steve Bruce
When speaking at a Bloomberg Power Players event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last week, Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley made a comment that made a large number of supporters smirk.
When the PIF-backed takeover led by Amanda Staveley finally went through back in 2021 Newcastle were relegation dead certs and had one of the most inept managers in the Premier League at the helm in Steve Bruce.
The former Manchester United defender had his supporters, but they were mostly people not associated with Newcastle United and the compliments were never football-related. It was always “he’s such a nice guy” and “he’s a family man”.
So when regaling the takeover story to the gathered masses in Jeddah, Amanda Staveley mentioned the club having a manager who didn’t want to show up for work. Obviously, she was talking about Steve Bruce.
Since that quote unsurprisingly gained a lot of traction in the media and online, Amanda Staveley has seen fit to issue an explanation/apology to Steve Bruce via her Instagram as shared by Keith Downie on X.
“I would like to clarify a comment I made during a recent speaking engagement. While commenting on Newcastle United at the time of the club’s change in ownership, I suggested the club had a coach who did not want to come to work. This suggestion was not correct; Steve Bruce was fully committed to his role at the club and always came to work during this period. I would like to make clear that it was not my intention to question or undermine the professionalism of Steve, who was always professional throughout my dealings with him and committed to achieving the best for Newcastle United. I am happy to clarify my comments and I offer an apology to Steve for my comments and any unintended consequences.”
This may well have been a genuine apology by Staveley after feeling guilty for a poor choice of words at a live speaking event but we suspect it has come about because Steve Bruce’s bacon sandwiches were getting soggy from all his tears and Staveley was forced to make a statement.
Whatever the truth, we don’t even think an apology was owed. It’s not as if her words are going to harm his career. Bruce has been out of a job since he botched things up for West Brom after leaving Newcastle taking them from sixth in the Championship to 22nd in just eight months.
He’s since spent his time appearing on any podcast that will have him and talking absolute faeces about his time at Newcastle.
As for the suggestions that he didn’t want to come to work – they’re hardly inaccurate are they? He may well have been showing up for the new owners during the transition, but he sure as hell wasn’t before that. Brucey spent more time in Portugal than he did at Benton. The difference in work ethic between Steve Bruce and his successor, Eddie Howe is enormous.
