Martin Keown has insisted that there is not a “campaign” against Steve Bruce and he has advised the Newcastle United boss to focus on his job.
The Magpies have only won two of their previous 15 Premier League games. This form has dragged them into a fight to avoid relegation.
They are now only three points clear of Fulham, but Scott Parker’s side have played a game more.
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There appears to be growing unrest at Newcastle. It has been confirmed that Bruce and Matt Ritchie have had a bust-up at the training ground.
Newcastle travel to the Hawthorns to face relegation rivals West Brom on Sunday. Speaking to talkSPORT, as cited by The Chronicle, Keown claimed that Bruce should be focused on that game over troubles off the pitch:
“What he needs to make sure of is that none of this unhinges the team. This is a massive game this weekend at West Bromwich Albion. It is worrying.
“You don’t need to go into detail, you need to fix the problem that is in the dressing room. At the end of the day, you need that trust with the players and respect and that seems to have gone missing at the moment.
“My energies would be going into how he will get those players back on board again. There is no campaign. He may feel that but there is no campaign against Steve Bruce or Newcastle but he believes there is.
Keown added: “Now he is pointing to things. Is he paranoid? He should be paranoid about staying up. That is what he needs to be looking at.
“Fulham have made it very difficult for him. They have gone through a very difficult period.
“Yes, they have improved. Graeme Jones, the coach, has come in and I saw them against Everton and thought they did excellently well.
“He has got three key players out and he has got to try and fix the team and get Ritchie onside.
“They will only make these noises if there is something that is wrong on the inside and that is something that has been growing now for weeks.
“I don’t think he did himself any favours after 18 months by saying he was going to do things my way from now on. That looked like he was leaping from any blame over where they found themselves and that is maybe where the players felt they were going to dig him out a little bit.
“The gloves have come off and it has gone very public but they have got to come back together as a group because Newcastle are being represented in all of this.
“They have only got themselves to blame if they allow this situation to overwhelm them going into the biggest game of their lives.”
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