THE HOWAY IT IS

Bruce happy with role in Toon story

- MIKE WALTERS

FOOTBALL is a fickle mistress - and Steve Bruce found out the hard way that the paradoxes of today are the prejudices of tomorrow.

When Bruce took 44 and 45 points from his two full seasons in charge of Newcastle, he was derided by elements of the Toon fanbase as a flop.

When his predecessor Rafa Benitez took 44 and 45 points from his two full Premier League seasons at St James' Park, he was acclaimed as a genius.

In a week of celebration on Tyneside after the Carabao Cup triumph ended one of sport's longest barren runs, Bruce is too diplomatic to reconstruct a strident defence of his reign in the Geordie nation.

So let's say it for him: Bruce was not a failure as Newcastle manager. He held the fort where others had toppled into the moat.

The evidence was there when the final whistle blew at Wembley last Sunday.