Former Newcastle United midfielder John Barnes has jumped to the defence of manager Steve Bruce.
Barnes believes that fans don't like the Newcastle manager based on "the fact that he was appointed by Mike Ashley and he's seen as a Mike Ashley man".
He told BonusCodeBets: "If you win football matches you survive. They haven't started particularly well and the fans are on their back.
"If he doesn't turn it around there'll be calls for his head, as there always have been. But you know what football is like - you start to win matches and things can change.
"Unfortunately, because of the Mike Ashley situation, Newcastle will always have that. I always say to Newcastle fans, if you want the team to stay in the division you've got to support the team.
"I don't think it's necessarily Steve Bruce, it's the fact that he was appointed by Mike Ashley and he's seen as a Mike Ashley man.
"Unfortunately for the fans, the next person is going to be a Mike Ashley man as well. It's going to be a hard few months for Bruce.
"I think he's a scapegoat at Newcastle because the fans don't like Ashley. They'll say it's because of the football he's playing or whatever.
"Until the ownership situation is resolved, Newcastle are always going to be a club in a bit of disarray from the fans' perspective."
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