Steve Bruce sought the advice of his former Manchester boss Sir Alex Ferguson before leading his Newcastle side to a shock 1-0 win at Tottenham on Sunday, according to reports.
Bruce, 58, provided the perfect response to his critics after the morale-boosting victory at White Hart Lane with record signing Joelinton’s first goal in English football the difference between the two sides.
And ahead of that crunch encounter, The Athletic claim the former United defender picked up the phone to ask his former mentor how to deal with the sticky situation.
After overseeing two straight defeats in the early weeks of his tenure as Toon boss, Bruce acknowledged he needed to turn the corner sooner rather than later, thus went to the legendary Scot for advice.
Ferguson, who successfully recovered from brain surgery earlier this year, is reported to have told Bruce to ‘keep his head down and get on with it’ after his position as manager was heavily scrutinised.
Together the pair won nine major honours at Old Trafford between 1987 and 1996 – underlying the close bond they have.
They still speak regularly now, with Bruce a close confidante of Ferguson’s.
The former Sheffield Wednesday boss took aim at his critics after securing his first victory as Newcastle boss on the road.
“Hopefully that will shut a few people up for a bit,” he said.
“The only way we can respond to criticism is like that.
“We have had a tough week so we have had to respond in the right way and thankfully the players have.”
