Early loser: Bruce avoids ignominy but Toon Army turn

Newcastle claimed their first point but the St James’ Park faithful made theirs loud and clear and Steve Bruce can’t sway them…

Newcastle’s draw with Southampton prevented Steve Bruce from overseeing Newcastle’s worst start since 1934. Not that a point will offer any relief to the beleaguered Toon boss.

And it certainly won’t provide any consolation for the home supporters at St James’ Park, who watched their side claim their first point of the season while simultaneously chucking away two more. Twice.

During the early weeks, the Geordies have so far stuck by Bruce and his team. Dissent was clear during some of Newcastle’s pre-season friendlies but once the campaign kicked off, the Toon Army toiled to give the players and their manager the backing they need, if not deserve.

Even during the opening weekend loss to West Ham and last week’s defeat at Aston Villa, the Toon Army kept it positive. Throughout the 0-0 draw with Burnley in the Carabao Cup and after the penalty shoot-out defeat, home supporters stayed with the Magpies. Indeed, a young crowd, as a consequence of the summer holidays and reduced ticket prices, sought a wave or two off Bruce.

That demographic in the stands changed today and so too did the sentiment. The only wave the regulars demanded from Bruce was one of goodbye.

Patience, understandably, was in short supply and the relinquishing of the initiative after another bright start fizzled out was all it took for the supporters to express their frustration at Bruce.

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With Saints dominant, the first chants of ‘we want Brucey out’ were audible before the half-hour mark. A brief rally before the break wasn’t enough to quieten the boos at half-time, but a second-half improvement offered some fleeting respite for the manager who once again cut a lonely figure on the touchline.

Whatever Bruce said at half-time, it seemed to have the desired effect. It is unlikely to have been anything sophisticated – something along the lines of ‘stop sitting so deep’. Regardless, many Newcastle fans will have you believe that whatever words of wisdom may have been uttered probably came from the mouth of Graeme Jones anyway.

Whatever, the break prompted an upturn in Newcastle’s performance, which was rewarded with Callum Wilson’s fine opening goal. For the first time all afternoon, the Magpies showed some quality, with Fabian Schar’s cross-field pass finding Jacob Murphy. His cushioned header was nodded rather more powerfully by Wilson beyond Alex McCarthy.

The goal gave Newcastle a shot in the arm, albeit too brief. As Saints regathered themselves, so too did the hosts on the edge of their own box. Their ascendancy was too willingly offered up and Mohamed Elyounoussi’s first league goal for Saints felt inevitable by the time it arrived with just over a quarter of an hour to go.

Saints’ leveller saw the mood turn once more. Perhaps we have seen St James’ Park more mutinous than today’s demonstrations protestations, but the sentiment was clear. As the clock ticked down, the volume of dissent went up a few notches.

The noise – and bemusement – was ramped up even more when Newcastle scored in added time. Having thought he had scored a last-gasp winner, Allan Saint-Maximin celebrated in appropriately wild fashion.

It would have been a conflicting win. Not a victory that would have silenced the doubters, but at least one that might have bought Bruce some breathing space over the international break.

Instead, Bruce will spend the next fortnight rueing his club’s incurable habit of shooting themselves in the foot. James Ward-Prowse’s 96th-minute penalty was initially met with perplexed silence before the boos rang out once more when the final whistle followed.

Sadly for Newcastle supporters, they know the resistance is futile. Mike Ashley and his cronies have no desire to make the type of decisive change that saw Ruud Gullit and Kenny Dalglish sacked before the end of August, back when they at least showed an intention to compete. On Ashley’s watch, Alan Pardew lost the supporters long, long before his lost his job. Steve McClaren too.

And that will almost certainly be the way once more. If Bruce survived the international break post-Brighton in March, when Newcastle appeared destined for the drop, he surely will survive this one too, especially with a point on the board.

But the owner’s inertia is all the insulation Bruce has now the home faithful have audibly turned on the manager. Bruce has never sat snugly in the St James’ Park hot-seat, but the squirming sure to follow will be even more uncomfortable for all concerned.