On-loan Newcastle left-back Danny Rose has opened up on the “shock to the system” that has hit him since he moved to the club.
Speaking to the Lockdown Tactics podcast, Rose talked about how his time at Newcastle has differed from day-to-day life at Spurs.
Rose joined the club in January having fallen out of favour under Jose Mourinho at Tottenham. He’s been a big part of Spurs’ team for years under Mauricio Pochettino and, while Rose respects Pochettino, he doesn’t seem to be a big fan of the Argentine’s training methods.
While Bruce does work the players hard in training, as Jonjo Shelvey mentioned recently, he is also very keen to award the players with time off – especially when they win. Pochettino wasn’t too keen to do that and Rose even said they weren’t allowed to have a celebratory drink after their incredible win against Ajax last year in the UCL.
“I do fully respect what he’s done but, at the same time, we had been together since we were 23 so, for me, that’s all I had known for the last five or six years,” said Rose.
“We play, we get one day off if we’re lucky and that’s it. You’re grafting throughout the week.
“Now, I’m at Newcastle, you’re getting two or three days off a week if you win. I’m just like, ‘What’s going on here?’ It’s a shock to the system.”
Rose was also asked about his perfect manager, for which he took traits from both Steve Bruce and Pochettino. He said he’d take the work ethic of Poch but, as far as man-management goes, he’d much prefer to tap into what Bruce offers.
“We’d only get one day off if we were lucky under Poch,” he added. “Even international breaks, he would see the ones going away that they’re having a holiday because training’s not as hard with the national team.
“So if you’re never in your national team, you were getting beasted at the training ground and you’d only get Saturday and Sunday off. Someone like Liverpool, they’re getting seven – 10 days off.
“We’ve been programmed a certain way for the last five or six years and now, going to Newcastle, is obviously different and I’ve missed playing for a British manager and I’m getting used to it again.”
It seems very notable to me from all these public appearances the players have been doing recently that their manager is very popular in the dressing room. Rose, Shelvey, Matt Ritchie and more have all been full of praise for Steve Bruce – which is interesting to hear.
Bruce, for all his flaws, has always been a popular figure within the game. He and Alan Shearer consider one another friends and, from reading reports and speaking to people, not many have a bad word to say on Bruce.
I think, when the (potential) new owners come in, they might need to be a little delicate with how they handle the managerial situation. If Bruce is as popular as it seems he is, then immediately replacing him won’t go down well in the dressing room and could have a serious impact on squad morale – making the job of Bruce’s successor that much tougher.
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