A number of Newcastle United supporters have been urging Steve Bruce to drop Jeff Hendrick from his starting line-up when the Premier League resumes after the international break.
The midfielder, once praised for being ‘tenacious’ whilst at Burnley, has established himself as a fixed member of Bruce’s starting line-up since he arrived at St James’ Park in the summer on a free transfer from the Clarets. Hendrick has started all of the Magpies’ first eight league matches of the season (Sofascore).
The 28-year-old got off to a strong start to his Newcastle career, netting in the opening day win at West Ham, but since then he has gone on to average just 0.6 shots and 0.1 key passes per game, while he has also won only 0.5 tackles per match for Bruce’s side (Sofascore).
Hendrick is also a key player for his native Republic of Ireland and the midfielder produced an underwhelming performance out on international duty in a 1-0 defeat at Wales in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday. The midfielder was shown a red card for a poor challenge late on in the game, while he also lost possession 11 times throughout his time on the pitch (Sofascore).
Newcastle fans react to latest display from Hendrick
Many Newcastle fans were all saying the same following Hendrick’s “hopeless” performance against Wales and urging Bruce to drop him from their starting line-up, with some saying that he should not be first choice when players like Isaac Hayden are available.
The fact that anyone in this squad was starting ahead of Isaac Hayden says all you need to know about Bruce as a manager.
— Josh (@NotSoLocalHero) November 15, 2020
Doubt it he’s a Bruce signing and will have to underperform for quite a few games more before he’s dropped,that’s not a poke at Bruce but managers find it difficult to drop their own
— paul (@who_knows_where) November 15, 2020
Nope, guarentee he starts again. Offers absolutley nothing to the team.
— Jon (@jonboy789) November 15, 2020
Has too, but bruce will pick the same team and then complain we look tired or not at it, dinosaur management
— Steven Gill (@The_Bort) November 15, 2020
Should have done a while ago. Been poor since his first game and we have better players in the squad
— DaveC1992 (@DaveC1992) November 15, 2020
He’s hopeless, but guarantee he starts next game.
— Scott Gibbons (@Scott_Gibbons89) November 15, 2020
Needs to be dropped, just hoping Hayden is fit to play
— dunntoon (@dunntoon) November 15, 2020
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