Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has been backed into favouritism to be the next Premier League manager to be sacked, despite the public backing of owner Mike Ashley.
It has been reported that Bruce remains safe in his job amid a tide of calls for him to go in the wake of an abject defeat at Brighton.
Ashley's support has not stopped Paddy Power pricing the Newcastle boss at 8/11 to be the next manager to leave his post.
The Magpies are now in a desperate fight for survival, with a terrible run of results seeing them plummet down the Premier League table.
They are now just a place and two points above the bottom three.
Next Premier League manager to leave (odds via Paddy Power)
- Steve Bruce - 8/11
- No Manager to Leave - 3/1
- Jose Mourinho - 5/1
- Sam Allardyce - 6/1
- Paul Heckingbottom - 14/1
Odds correct at 13:13 (21/03/21)
Saturday evening’s 3-0 defeat at the AMEX Stadium proved the final straw for many angry supporters, with a run of only two wins in 18 league games putting Newcastle in serious danger of dropping to the Championship.
Social media was awash with condemnation of Bruce’s reign, and the Magpies’ prospects of avoiding the drop.
Even his friend and former skipper Alan Shearer describing the display on the South Coast as “abysmal” on Twitter.
Infogol calculated that the expected goals (xG) for the match was 0.92 - 0.09 in Brighton's favour, with Newcastle's paltry 0.09 xG their worst attacking performance of the season so far.
What is expected goals (xG)?
- Expected goals (xG) is a metric that measures the quality of any given scoring opportunity
- Expected goals for (xGF) is the xG created by a team
- Expected goals against (xGA) is xG conceded by a team
Poor results had been coming under Bruce
While they may be hampered by injuries to key attacking players, their attacking numbers even with the likes of Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin in the team were still well below par.
And in fact, while Bruce was gaining plaudits for the job he did last season when steering Newcastle to 13th, the Magpies were extremely fortunate to finish so high in the table, as they actually propped up Infogol's expected goals table.
That suggested a downturn in results was likely unless the process was improved. Unfortunately for Toon fans, it hasn't, and they are now looking over their shoulders extremely nervously.
A third relegation of the Mike Ashley era is highly possible, especially considering that they must play Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal, Leicester and Manchester City in their remaining games.
This vote of confidence in Bruce is interesting, as all the numbers suggest that if Newcastle continue in the same manner they will be relegated.
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