Soccer

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta shows support for Steve Bruce after Newcastle sacking


‘It will get worse if we don’t do anything about it’: Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta warns personal attacks are putting managers off from taking jobs – as he admits to feeling ‘really sad’ over abuse suffered by Steve Bruce

  • Mikel Arteta has expressed sadness for sacked Newcastle boss Steve Bruce 
  • The 60-year-old opened up on the toll that strong personal abuse has taken 
  • Arsenal boss Arteta launched a passionate plea for things to ‘change’ in football 
  • The Spaniard said football must ‘reflect’ and learn from Bruce’s experience 











Mikel Arteta says football bosses are being put off taking jobs by fear of the personal abuse that comes with being a manager.

The Arsenal boss called for change in the wake of Steve Bruce’s admission that he is considering giving up management due to the criticism he received at Newcastle and the strain that placed on him and his family.

Arteta said he was ‘really sad’ to discover the extent to which Bruce, who left Newcastle on Wednesday, had suffered during his reign on Tyneside and praised him for speaking out. 

Mikel Arteta has called for 'change' after reflecting on Steve Bruce's experience at Newcastle

Mikel Arteta has called for ‘change’ after reflecting on Steve Bruce’s experience at Newcastle

He added: ‘I heard a lot, and I have a lot of friends who are doing the courses, who doubted whether they want to take the hot seat, or whether it is better to be an assistant or something else.

‘Yes (people call me). And people who have been managers already, experienced managers, and they are thinking about not doing it again. For me, this cannot be the barrier – because you have fear about the treatment that you are going to receive.

‘The enjoyment as well is that big that it should not stop you. But it is important that we take care of the environment and putting things in place. It will get worse if we don’t do anything about it.’

Asked for a message for those having second thoughts, Arteta said: ‘That you cannot lose the focus, the passion and the love; the reason why you made the decision in the first place. 

Bruce, 60, opened up on his anguish after receiving relentless personal abuse while in the job

Bruce, 60, opened up on his anguish after receiving relentless personal abuse while in the job

Arteta says he is astonished to see how Bruce has been abused given his standing in the game

Arteta says he is astonished to see how Bruce has been abused given his standing in the game

‘If you are affected by every single opinion in life nowadays, with how easy you can read stuff about yourself, you are not going to be happy with whatever you do.

‘You have to be able to deal with that. But obviously we can help.’

Arteta, whose side host Aston Villa in the Premier League on Friday night, is no stranger to the criticism that comes with management less than two years into the job. He said: ‘You adapt, you learn and you try to take things into perspective. You agree or disagree.

‘Criticism and opinions can make you better and you have to listen to that when it comes from the right place. You need the right people as well. The key is where you put your focus. If you put your focus there, you are going to be unhappy.’ 

The Spaniard says that football must 'reflect' on Bruce's experience and change is needed

The Spaniard says that football must ‘reflect’ on Bruce’s experience and change is needed

Meanwhile, Villa boss Dean Smith has compared midfielder John McGinn to former England captain Bryan Robson following his excellent recent form.

McGinn has been back to his best for Villa and Scotland this term and Smith said: ‘He’s a proper box-to-box midfielder who can do anything on the ball, in terms of switching the play, playing short stuff. He’s got good awareness of what’s about him.

‘He’s a throwback to a player like Bryan Robson, although maybe not as good in the air.

‘He uses his body well. That was what players from a different era used to do and John’s very good at that.’





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