Newcastle United appointed Steve Bruce to succeed Rafa Benitez during the summer after the Spaniard left, and that decision hasn’t particularly gone down well with a lot of fans.
The former Sunderland boss isn’t popular with the Saint James’ Park faithful, but he is hoping to convince them in the long-run.
Bruce has led Newcastle to two wins and two draws in nine league games, and it will be interesting to see if he can help keep them up.
Had the Toons board had their way, though, Feyenoord boss Jaap Stam would have been appointed instead of the former Aston Villa boss.
“Newcastle United applied a few days after I signed my signature at Feyenoord. So it was not an option right away. I am a man of my word. It was beautiful and honorable, because the people in England apparently know what I stand for as a trainer,” the former Reading boss told Dutch newspaper Voetbal International.
Stam was once linked with the Newcastle job during his days at Reading, but nothing materialized with Benitez remaining in charge.
With Feyenoord in the Europa League and with a strong chance of winning domestic silverware, turning them down for Newcastle will definitely not have been an attractive option for the former centre-back.
While working in the Premier League remains attractive, the fact that Newcastle will have to battle relegation all campaign would have made Stam think twice about working for Mike Ashley.
He replaced Giovanni van Bronckhorst at the Dutch side in March and led them to six victories in their final seven games to secure a third-placed finish.
As a result, he was handed a summer contract extension, and there was no way he was going to renege on that decision to join Newcastle.
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