Bizarre Steve Bruce photo goes viral after Carabao Cup exit - "This just isn't normal..."
An alarming picture from St James' Park shows Steve Bruce left outside the Newcastle team talk as we prepared for the penalty shootout against Burnley last night.
Instead, it's Graeme Jones who took centre stage, appearing to hand out instructions and motivate players after the 0-0 draw went to spot kicks.
Toon fans have praised Jones for the impact he has had on our team since arriving in January, with some sceptics believing he is effectively managing our team over Bruce.
Bruce himself has admitted in the past that he “doesn’t really do tactics", however these images have spread like wildfire across social media, with one fan stating "this just isn't normal."
See the first photo for yourself below, which gained responses from thousands of baffled Toon fans on Twitter:
Why is our manager not geeing up his players ahead of a penalty shoot-out? Did he say anything to the players? Did he have any say as to who will take our opening five spot kicks?
Most importantly… is this what really happens behind closed doors on a regular basis?
Other images captured by fans in the Milburn Stand show a despondent Bruce standing alone during the shoot-out; a stark contrast to the Burnley bench, who stood arm-in-arm and in unison with manager Sean Dyche.
Hopefully he is quizzed on these worrying images ahead of our relegation six-pointer with Southampton this weekend, as the fans deserve to know what exactly is going on at our club.
