Steve Bruce escapes sack (for now) after first meeting with Amanda Staveley - Sky Sports

It doesn't look like Steve Bruce is going to be sacked today.

Sky Sports have revealed that Amanda Staveley has now left the training ground after a 90-minute visit, which saw her hold face-to-face meetings with Steve Bruce and the players for the first time since the Saudi-backed takeover went through last Thursday.

North-East reporter Keith Downie says this is as far as the meeting went, suggesting, along with The Chronicle's Mark Douglas, that no announcement on Steve Bruce's future is expected today as a result.

You have to wonder why the consortium are delaying the inevitable here, with just about every journalist in the country reporting that Bruce WILL be sacked this week.

Shouldn't we be putting him out of his misery at the earliest opportunity (today) and leaving Graeme Jones to take first-team training given he's expected to be the caretaker manager for this Sunday's huge clash with Spurs at St James' Park?

Things could change - he'll be sacked tonight for all we know - but it sounds like we may have to wait another day or two, with him currently taking a training session as we speak.

Here's what Keith Downie's had to say in his latest update for Sky Sports News: