Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce hits back at 'mass hysteria' over club's poor form

After 2-0 defeat at Manchester City, Magpies boss insists his remit is simply 'to make sure we stay and remain a Premier League outfit'

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  MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson 6 – A wet and cold evening for the Brazilian, who had very little to do. He made his first save in the second half, a comfortable low dive to his right to deny Jacob Murphy. He denied Murphy again 12 minutes from time with another impressive stop. EPA

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  Joao Cancelo 8 – His attacking play and passing in the final third was impressive. Playing at right-back, he seemed to have a lot of freedom and was often found in the No 10 role. One of his driving runs led to City’s second goal. AFP

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  John Stones 7 – Another fine performance from Stones who continues to impress. Was solid at the back, but probably should have done better when gifted with a free header from a De Bruyne free-kick. Reuters

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  Ruben Dias 7 – A comfortable night for Dias, who continues to look class alongside Stones and who seems to have transformed City’s defence. Reuters

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  Nathan Ake 7 – Played in a makeshift left-back role and looked solid, if not a little shaky in possession. Won everything in the air. Reuters

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  Ilkay Gundogan 8 – Netted his second goal of the season with a simple tap-in following neat work from Raheem Sterling, and then continued to dominate the midfield. AFP

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  Rodri 6 – Played in front of the defence and his passing tempo was too slow. He was booked in the first half and was on the end of one or two big challenges, so was replaced by Fernandinho. AFP

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  Bernardo Silva 5 – A quiet game for Silva, who hit the post in the second half with 30 minutes left on the clock after Sterling should have scored from close range. Reuters

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  Kevin De Bruyne 7 – De Bruyne was heavily involved in City’s attacks and he twice came close to scoring in the first half, first with what looked like a mishit cross that almost caught out Karl Darlow, and again when one-on-one with Darlow. Reuters

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  Raheem Sterling 6 – Showed great composure for the opening goal. He dummied the goalkeeper and two defenders before unselfishly setting up Ilkay Gundogan to tap in. It was his fifth assist of the season. However, he later missed a sitter and was generally guilty of taking too many touches in the opposing box. EPA

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  Ferran Torres 7 – Always threatened. He had a tame shot saved in the first half and then set up De Bruyne before half time, but later got his second goal of the season with a simple tap-in in the second half. EPA

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  SUB: Fernandinho (Rodri, 57) 7 – His introduction brought a lot of energy to the team. City started moving the ball quicker and they looked a lot more comfortable with him in the XI. AFP

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  SUB: Sergio Aguero (Torres, 77) N/A – Almost scored with his first touch when set up by Cancelo, but was denied by a superb save from Karl Darlow. EPA

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  SUB: Phil Foden (Gundogan) N/A – Came on at the final whistle, which seemed strange given City have another game inside 48 hours. Reuters

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  NEWCASTLE UNITED RATINGS: Karl Darlow 8 – Made a number of key saves to keep the score down and had it not been for him, Newcastle’s evening would have been a lot more ugly. Newcastle’s best performer by some distance. EPA

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  DeAndre Yedlin 5 – Got himself into decent crossing positions but was guilty of taking too many touches or failing to deliver with his final ball. Was lucky not to concede a penalty when it looked like he’d made a rash challenge on Sterling. EPA

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  Fabian Schar 5 – Schar had a tough evening. He was arguably at fault for City’s first goal when he failed to get closer to Sterling. EPA

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  Federico Fernandez 6 – Played well but was unlucky when his block from Cancelo’s cross fell to Torres for City’s second. He made several last-gasp clearances during the game. EPA

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  Ciaran Clark 7 – One of Newcastle’s brightest players, he lead by example and made some dynamic runs into the City half. AFP

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  Matt Ritchie 5 – A natural left winger, he played in a makeshift wing-back role and it didn’t suit him. He made some decent challenges, but his final ball often let him down. Reuters

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  Jacob Murphy 6 – Made a lot of runs into the City half and even had a couple of shots on goal, but didn’t trouble Ederson. EPA

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  Isaac Hayden 7 – Was extremely busy in the middle and was excellent up against De Bruyne and Gundogan. He made a crucial intervention to deny Sterling in the second half. AFP

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  Matty Longstaff 7 – He impressed in the middle for the visitors and worked tirelessly, even getting ahead of Joelinton to press the City defenders. A neat and tidy performance. EPA

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  Miguel Almiron 5 – Another square peg played in a round hole, Almiron did his best from a wide position but was unable to create much of note. Reuters

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  Joelinton 5 – Was played out of position as a lone target man and was isolated for much of the game. A poor performance, but too much was asked of him. EPA

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  SUB: Andy Carroll (Joelinton) N/A – Caused a fair bot of havoc when he came on but was as isolated as Joelinton before him, and found it hard to get into scoring positions. Reuters

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  SUB: Jamal Lewis (Ritchie, 66) 5 – Came on when Newcastle needed a goal and couldn’t provide the spark they needed, instead playing too many safe and sideways passes. AFP

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  SUB: Dwight Gayle (Almiron, 82), N/A – A quiet cameo from Gayle, who couldn’t get into the game. Reuters

Steve Bruce has hit back at the "unjust and unfair" criticism his Newcastle United side has received after recent disappointing results.

And the Magpies manager has called on supporters to be more realistic about what the club is expected to achieve in the Premier League.

Bruce and his players have come under fire after some bad results in the past fortnight, most notably their League Cup quarter-final loss to Championship club Brentford last Tuesday.

In all competitions, Newcastle have now gone four games without a win after they were also beaten 2-0 at Manchester City in the Premier League on Boxing Day.

Bruce said: "We had a bad week and some of the mass hysteria was, in my opinion, unjust and unfair. A lot of it was not right. I'm probably going to say that but it's my opinion.

"All the fans are like we are, we have to accept where we are. It is as pretty straightforward as that.

"My remit is to make sure we stay and remain a Premier League outfit. That is what I will try to achieve. That is where we have been for the last three or four years.

"Of course, for Newcastle, in a lot of people's eyes, that isn't going to be enough but that is where we are at the moment. We have to accept it and keep, as I have said many times, trying to move it forward."

Despite the result, Bruce felt Newcastle deserved credit for their performance on a wet and windy night at the Etihad Stadium.

Newcastle have been one of the clubs hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and they were without key pair Allan Saint-Maximin and Jamaal Lascelles due to the virus.

In addition Jonjo Shelvey and Ryan Fraser were missing through injury while Fabian Schar and Federico Fernandez were returning after illness and fatigue.

City dominated possession but Newcastle remained in the game after Ilkay Gundogan's 14th-minute opener until Ferran Torres added the hosts' second on 55 minutes.

Bruce said: "There are plenty of positives to take out in terms of the attitude and application of the teams, which has been questioned over the last couple of weeks.

"When I see people like Fab Schar who has trained twice in five weeks because of the problems we have had, with Feddy alongside him, and they show the resilience they showed - we were beaten by a better team but the effort and the endeavour, work rate and attitude of the players was there for everybody to see.

"Yes, we weren't good enough and we can improve. We gave away a poor goal at the wrong time but we made a fist of it and gave as good as we've got.

"That's all you can ask when you come to a big team like Man City. You have to try to have a game plan and stay in the game, and see if we could cause them a few problems. For large parts it worked."

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Player ratings for Newcastle's League Cup exit at Brentford

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  BRENTFORD RATINGS: Luke Daniels - 7: Solid saves from Wilson and Fraser in first half and showed good decision-making when the former attempted to round him just before the break but stayed on his feet as chance fizzled out. Reuters

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  Tarique Fosu - 8: Looked to get forward when possible and produced a couple of impressive diagonal balls. Should have done better when one Darlow punch fell straight to his feet after half an hour but blazed well over. Turned Lewis inside out 10 minutes into second half but cross was blocked. Reuters

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  Ethan Pinnock - 7: Headed chance just over from corner after six. Another header across box from corner 20 minutes later should have been finished by Canos. PA

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  Mads Bech Sorensen - 7: Rescued by Daniels early on when Wilson escaped his clutches to almost open scoring. A vital touch diverted a Fraser cross away from Wilson’s feet soon after. Stuck to his task up against a dangerous striker. Reuters

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  Dominic Thompson - 7: Showed great composure under pressure from Murphy in first half when Newcastle were hoping to launch counter-attack. Never allowed the winger to make an impact. Reuters

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  Vitaly Janelt - 6: German midfielder did OK but was outshone buy some of his teammates and was hooked after an hour. Reuters

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  Josh Dasilva - 9: Excellent ball across penalty area handed glorious chance to Ghoddos who hit the bar when he should have scored. Calm finish to score only goal of game with first-time shot. Former Arsenal academy player looked a class-act against top-flight opposition. Easily the man of the match. PA

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  Emiliano Marcondos - 7: Played his part as the Bees claimed another Premier League scalp in the competition. Reuters

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  Saman Ghoddos - 7: Iran winger caused Newcaastle problems in opening 45 minutes. Found some space on edge of box in first couple of minutes but curled shot wide and then produced fine cross into middle that forced a corner. Hit the bar when really should have scored after scuffing shot midway through first half. AP

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  Sergi Canos 6: Left with head in his hands after missing absolute sitter with header after 25 minutes when he failed to even hit the target. Good ball into box set-up Dasilva goal. PA

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  Marcus Forss 6: Put in a shift up front without ever looking like scoring. AP

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  SUBS: Christian Norgaard – (On for Janelt 60’) 7: Saw toe poke at goal saved well by Darlow. Reuters

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  Ivan Toney – (On for Canos 69’) 7: Top scorer surprisingly left on the bench against his former club and nearly scored in injury-time. AP

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  Mathias Jensen – (On for Dasilva 81’) N/A. Reuters

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  NEWCASTLE RATINGS: Karl Darlow - 7: Lucky to escape when one poor punch in first half fell straight at Fosu’s feet but the defender smashed high and wide. Vital point-blank save to deny Norgaard with 13 minutes left and another fingertip stop wide in injury-time. Reuters

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  DeAndre Yedlin - 6: American full-back back found himself called in from the cold due to injuries and illness and did okay. Getty

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  Ciaran Clark - 7: Continues to be Newcastle’s main man at the back with Jamaal Lascelles out. Plenty of important blocks and tackles. The problem wasn’t Newcastle’s centre-backs here. AP

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  Isaac Hayden - 7: Midfielder back in his emergency centre-half role, let no one down and was certainly not to blame for the defeat. Getty

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  Jamal Lewis - 5: Former Norwich man is going through a sticky spell for the Magpies and found Dasilva a tricky opponent. Good ball into box found Wilson at start of second half but generally struggled. AFP

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  Jacob Murphy - 4: Contributed nothing in first half then did find himself in good attacking position with surge down right after break but delayed crossing before miss-controlling out for goal-kick. The Magpies needed balls in the box from their wide man but he failed to provide them. Reuters

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  Jonjo Shelvey 5: Found his range after 35 minutes with one super pass to set up chance for Fraser in but generally looked slow and off the pace. Nice footwork and switch of play to Fraser after break. Booked in second half which would have ruled him out of the semi-final but that was never a concern judging by this team performance. Reuters

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  Sean Longstaff 4: Was made to look silly by one Dasilva turn and drag-back in first half. An awful night in midfield for player who looked such a good prospect when he first burst onto the scene a couple of seasons ago but now looks a shadow of that player. AFP

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  Ryan Fraser 6: Perfect curling ball into middle from left wing nearly found former Bournemouth teammate Wilson after 20 minutes. Fine control and shot after Shelvey cross-field pass but powerful strike too close to Daniels who palmed over. Had another good chance blocked in front of goal just before half-time. At least offered a bit of attacking threat. AP

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  Miguel Almiron 3: Did not look like he was fancied tricky conditions on a wet night at Brentford and contributed absolutely nothing going forward. Another player who has gone backwards under manager Steve Bruce. PA

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  Callum Wilson 6: Almost broke deadlock early on when took advantage of Sorensen error to hammer shot from tight angle that Daniels blocked well. Tried to commit the Bees goalkeeper with charge across six-yard box just before break but Daniels stayed tall and striker didn’t get his shot away. Headed Lewis cross wide just after half-time. Newcastle are in trouble when he doesn't score. Reuters

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  SUBS: Dwight Gayle – (On for Almiron 65’) 4: One half-chance to grab a goal but control let him down. AFP

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  Joelinton – (On for Fraser 65’) 4: Never looked like scoring. As usual. AP

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  Andy Carroll – (On for Lewis 79’) N/A. Put himself about and had a couple of half-chances.