Former Newcastle United boss emerges as shock contender for international job

Former Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has emerged as a contender to become the next Republic of Ireland manager. The Boys in Green currently have Stephen Kenny in charge but pressure is mounting on him.

The Toon Army turned to the Manchester United icon in July 2019 under the former ownership of Mike Ashley and left Sheffield Wednesday in the process. He went on to win 28.9% of games in charge before heading out the exit door.

Newcastle parted company with Bruce in October 2021 following the club’s takeover. He has since delved back into the dugout with a spell at West Brom but has been out of action for just under a year now.

Bruce has spoken out about his Newcastle departure earlier this year and said: “It’s the hardest thing I ever had to say, but I realised it was for the best for the club because everything was euphoric around it. The only negative was me.

“They even asked me, and I can say this on record, they even asked me who I would recommend. I did recommend Eddie [Howe] and I did recommend, I hope Steven doesn’t mind, but I recommended Steve Gerrard too.

“But somebody like Eddie or Steven, young, take it on. It was really, really difficult. And I’ve never done that before - it’s sort of giving up - but I realised it was best for the club.”

As per Paddy Power, Bruce is the 2/1 frontrunner to take over at the Aviva Stadium. Other names in the frame consist of Lee Carsley at 9/2, ex-Toon Army boss Chris Hughton, Neil Lennon, Anthony Barry and Kieran McKenna at 9/1 and Roy Keane at 10/1.

Bruce’s best spell as a boss arguably came at Hull City from 2012 to 2016 and he got the Tigers promoted to the Premier League twice and got them to an FA Cup. He has also had stints at Sheffield United, Wigan Athletic, Huddersfield Town, Crystal Palace, Birmingham City, Sunderland and Aston Villa in the past.