Bent: Bruce should quit for his health

STEVE Bruce should consider resigning as Newcastle United manager for health reasons.

That is the view of former England forward Darren Bent, who believes some Magpies players are no longer playing for their head coach.

Bruce’s side are currently sitting in 17th place, just two points above the drop zone after losing 3-0 to Brighton at the weekend.

A large number of Magpies supporters want their manager to be sacked, or to leave the club, with an overriding feeling that the team have massively underperformed this season.

Recent reports are suggesting that Bruce has given his Newcastle players six days off from nine despite the side’s recent woes.

Former Sunderland striker Bent said he believes the Magpies boss would have received criticism regardless how much time off he gave his players.

“The biggest word is unity. There’s so many whispers coming out of that dressing room, so that just tells you there are players that aren’t playing for Steve,” he said on talkSPORT. “For Steve himself, what he’s had to endure in terms of the people hammering him from outside, if it was me, I’d have to resign just for health reasons.

“I’ve lived up there, it’s 24 hours a day: football, football, football. In Newcastle, they love that football club more than anything, that is their life up there.

“The fact he’s taken so much stick, it’s difficult. For me, he’s done an OK job.

“What Newcastle fans have a problem with, the ones I certainly speak to, is the way they’re playing the game, they think they’ve got players that are good enough to play a more expansive game.

“They’re not doing that, it’s reserved, it’s a bit flat and a bit one-dimensional. He can’t win – he’s given them six days off, if he hadn’t have given them that time off, people would’ve asked why he wasn’t giving them off. He’s given them six days off and now he’s being hammered for that.”

Bent also said getting Callum Wilson back to fitness as soon as possible will be crucial.

Wilson has been sidelined since injuring his hamstring last month and Bent thinks his return could define whether Newcastle stay in the Premier League.

“When you’re down at the bottom, you need someone to put the ball in the back of the net and he is someone that was doing that very, very well,” he added.

“The quicker he comes back, the more it’s going to help Newcastle.”