Steve Bruce reveals surprising call from Premier League owner after thinking he was getting sacked

Steve Bruce feared he would be sacked by one of his old clubs after the owner rang him the morning after a heavy defeat.

However, the former Premier League manager instead received a surprise message as he was handed a vote of confidence.

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Bruce has taken charge of five different clubs in the top flight during his managerial career.

As well as winning promotion with Birmingham and Hull, he also had spells with Wigan and Sunderland.

Meanwhile, his last Premier League stint came with Newcastle United, the club he supported growing up.

Appointed by Mike Ashley in the summer of 2019, Bruce spent over two years in charge at St. James’ Park.

The 65-year-old has now revealed he feared he would lose his job five months before he ultimately left the club.

It followed a 3-0 defeat at Brighton in March 2021, which saw Newcastle extend their winless run to six matches.

Bruce’s side sat 17th in the Premier League, just two points above the relegation zone.

Bruce shocked by owner’s call

However, Ashley had a very different message for his manager when he rang him the following morning.

Recalling the phone call, Bruce told SACKED!: “I remember when I was at Newcastle and we were playing Brighton away and we were poor on the night we got beaten badly.

“I got a phone call off Mike Ashley and I thought: ‘oh, here we go’.

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“We’re playing poorly, we’ve just been beaten badly by Brighton and the phone rang at quarter to eight on a Sunday morning and said: ‘Hello Steve, good morning. It’s Mike’.

“I just said: ‘I’m not good enough and I apologise. We’ve got to be better than what we were last night.’

“He said: ‘Listen, don’t listen and don’t read the newspapers, you are my man, and I’ll back you as best I can and if there’s anything I can do to help you, I’ll try and help you get on with it. Make sure you win next Saturday and keep your chin up’.

“Phone went down, I didn’t expect it.”

Newcastle would go on to win five of their remaining nine matches, losing just twice more to pull clear of the drop zone.

Bruce ended the campaign with his side in 12th place and 17 points clear of the bottom three.

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It followed a 13th place finish in his maiden campaign in the dugout.

However, he would be dismissed in October 2021 just one match after the Saudi-led takeover of the Magpies.

Over the course of his time at the club, Bruce won 23 of his 84 Premier League matches.

Things did turn toxic over his reign in Newcastle and he revealed he also got death threats.

He added: “Towards the end it became a little bit toxic and by the way, this is only a tiny minority when they’re threatening you and you have to get the police involved – and we had to do that. We had to do that in the end where you knew that this is bordering on being ridiculous.

“I’m one of them. I’m a Newcastle fan and I could understand that frustration. They didn’t want to be a team that’s aspiration was to just stay in the Premier League and that was my job. That was my remit. I wouldn’t change it. I’ve managed Newcastle, my hometown club, which I thought in the circumstances I did okay with.

“However, there’s no doubt it was difficult. But then again, so was Villa, so was Sunderland, so were they all.

“I needed a bit of protection on the house and it was something which I don’t really judge that on the support of Newcastle. The supporters of Newcastle are a magnificent lot.  We see it now and we’ve seen it for years.

“I believe it is all fed by social media in the hatred that brews up and was something that we had to call the police. When they are threatening to kill you and all the rest of it then it is ridiculous and it did border on being ridiculous at times.

“I managed through COVID too so towards the end my wife went back to Cheshire where she could breathe a little bit.

“It was pretty normal for everybody because football carried on during the COVID time so we handled it like that but it wasn’t easy for any of the family at all. Thankfully my mum and dad weren’t alive to see it but it was certainly difficult, difficult times.”

He has since had spells in charge of West Brom and Blackpool prior to being sacked by the latter in October.