Bruce believes Daily Mail journalist is trying to "derail" Newcastle's FA Cup run and claims there is no problem between him and Saint-Maximin
Wednesday 4 March 2020 11:34, UK
Steve Bruce reacted angrily to further questions from a newspaper reporter about whether he has had a bust-up with winger Allan Saint-Maximin.
The Newcastle boss was speaking after his side booked their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 3-2 win at Championship leaders West Brom.
While Bruce might have been happy with the performance and result, after the whistle he was still annoyed with an article published the day before by Craig Hope in the Daily Mail which suggested he had been involved in a falling-out with Saint-Maximin.
Bruce vehemently denied it was the case and reiterated his stance that he was merely looking out for his winger's fitness.
"It's total lies and nonsense," Bruce said. "I am glad your (Hope's) source is wrong. Are you calling me a liar?
"Your report is wrong - I had no row with Saint-Maximin - wrong."
Sky Sports' Keith Downie was at the Hawthorns on Tuesday night, and observed an angry Bruce confronting Hope...
"Steve Bruce lost his temper at Daily Mail's Craig Hope last night because he feels the reporter is going out of his way to 'derail' their FA Cup run. Newcastle are into the hat for the last eight for the first time in 14 years.
"Bruce refutes Hope's story that he's had a fallout with winger Allan Saint-Maximin in training, and called him out for it when the player was brought up in the post-match news conference.
"Hope argued that he didn't say there had been any fallout in his copy, however the word had in fact been used by the newspaper in its headline.
"Nevertheless it seemed odd that the Newcastle manager told us at his pre-match news conference on Monday that Saint-Maximin was a major doubt for the cup tie at The Hawthorns, only to find him in the starting line-up last night.
"Bruce argues that the player complained of hamstring and back pain over the weekend, then at training, just after the news conference on Monday, claimed he was fit to play. So the manager threw him into the line-up - he's arguably his best player.
"Bruce feels he was trying to look after the player's best interests, while Hope maintains there's more to the situation than meets the eye."
