The curious case of Alex Bruce, the 'top Newcastle United source' and a contradiction

Bruce, son of United head coach Steve, has been busy in the media since leaving Kilmarnock in January.

The 35-year-old, in particular, has had a lot to say to one website. Bruce has spoken regularly, and “exclusively”, about Newcastle to Football Insider, most recently about Allan Saint-Maximin in the wake of Tuesday night’s FA Cup win over West Bromwich Albion.

Incidentally, that same website also has a “top Newcastle source”. This unnamed source, interestingly, told the website that the decision to leave Saint-Maximin out of the starting XI against Burnley last weekend was “purely tactical”.

This claim contradicted Bruce senior’s public statements after the game. He claimed that Saint-Maximin was left out because of a hamstring problem. Bruce, 59, said: “He was a little bit sore around the hamstring – it was an easy decision.”

Bruce, of course, reacted angrily to a report that there had been a “fallout” over this decision at The Hawthorns.

Anyway, back to Alex Bruce, who got into a Twitter argument with one Tyneside-based journalist early this season.

Bruce junior – who never played for Newcastle – speaks well, and has a lot of insight to offer the media, having had a long career as a player. He’s got some brilliant stories to tell.

However, his father’s job at St James’ Park is hard enough as it is, and he should probably think twice twice before saying too much about United.