Newcastle United: Steve Bruce takes training with future unclear after £305m takeover

  • By Dan Roan and Alistair Magowan
  • BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Steve Bruce (right) met with new part-owner Amanda Staveley at the club's training ground on Monday

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce took training on Tuesday with his future still unclear after the £305m takeover.

Bruce had met new part-owner Amanda Staveley at the club's training ground on Monday.

Staveley, who owns 10% of the club, and partner Mehrdad Ghodoussi also met players as the squad began preparations for Newcastle's game against Tottenham at St James' Park on Sunday.

A large proportion of fans want Bruce to leave the club.

Newcastle are winless and second from bottom in the Premier League.

The new owners, who took over the club in a £305m deal on Thursday, have been linked with former Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre, Steven Gerrard and former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard as potential replacements.

Bruce's assistant Graeme Jones could also be a temporary stand-in for the under-fire manager, who is set for his 1,000th game in management against Spurs.

Jones, 51, joined the club midway through last season from Bournemouth and is a Newcastle fan.

Meanwhile, Premier League chiefs held a special meeting on Tuesday with the 19 other clubs in a bid to explain how and why they approved the Newcastle sale.

The clubs were addressed by chief executive Richard Masters and chairman Gary Hoffman, who attempted to explain more about how they and their lawyers distinguished between the Saudi state and the sovereign wealth fund the PIF, as well as what assurances they had received to give them confidence the government would not try to control club affairs.

Premier League bosses are understood to have been told that, from a legal perspective, the Saudi state and the PIF are separate entities - and that meant they had no grounds to block the takeover.

The meeting was a clear attempt to appease some clubs who have complained about the way the deal passed the owners and directors test, and what they saw as a failure to keep them informed.

Last week, Staveley told the BBC that "our partner is not the Saudi state, our partner is PIF…the control issue has been resolved".

Skip Twitter content, 1
Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter cookie policy and privacy policy before accepting. To view this content choose 'accept and continue'.

End of Twitter content, 1

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport