Steve Bruce Newcastle
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink admits that Burton Albion went the extra mile to ensure they could welcome Newcastle United fans back to the Pirelli Stadium. The former Leeds United star wanted his players to experience a big-game atmosphere and felt that the travelling Toon Army would provide the perfect occasion for the Brewers. United supporters will head back to the venue they enjoyed so much during their short stay in the Sky Bet Championship back in 2016/17.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink told Chronicle Live: “First and foremost this is only our second game back with the fans, we had the first one on Saturday against Leicester and that was great to have them back. Now we are really looking forward to seeing the Newcastle fans. I hope they turn up in a lot of numbers. We know they always bring a big atmosphere to the games, so hopefully they replicate that on Friday. I think it can be a nice celebration of fans getting back to stadiums. We all know football is about fans and it has been a really difficult time, a difficult 18 months for everybody, so we are really looking ahead to the Newcastle game. We chose Newcastle and asked Newcastle to come and play us because of the fanbase. And the club history, and all that type of stuff, it’s a big club.”
Hasselbaink needs no reminder about the passion of the fans heading south to Burton for Friday night’s game. The former Dutch international, who spent two years in the North-East with Middlesbrough,
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said: “The fans in Newcastle and the North-East, in general, love their football and their clubs. Newcastle, Sunderland and Boro the fans are so proud of their teams. It’s great to have one of them coming to us and play at our stadium.”
Burton have been handed odds of 10/1 to win promotion back to the Championship under the Holland star. And he sees the clash with Newcastle as the perfect test.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink reflected: “We’ve already played Leicester and it was a good test. We enjoyed it and did quite well. Newcastle will also be a big test, I am sure it will be a strong side and that’s what we want. We want to be tested and look at what we can do and whether we can play against them. We are just happy the fans are back to see it so we can give them something back.”
Steve Bruce heads to Burton on the back of a 1-1 draw with the Brewers’ League One rivals Rotherham, but Hasselbaink feels that the job the ex-Manchester United captain has done is admirable.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said: “Whoever is Newcastle manager knows what will come. Like any job there is pressure but I think Steve Bruce has done really well. Obviously, it takes time to improve a squad every year, it’s never easy, step by step. I think he is going in the right direction with what he has. And with what he can get. He has made the club stable, and that is the most important thing in the Premier League.”
The ongoing takeover saga going on above Bruce’s head has hardly helped the Magpies and Hasselbaink feels that makes the job done by the former Aston Villa boss all the more impressive in his opinion. When asked about the takeover and how it affects players and staff,
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said: “It’s been going on for a long time now. As a manager, you can’t really focus on that because it’s out of your hands. All he can do is focus on what he can control. At the moment he can only control his squad and his staff. He is working really hard to improve that day in, day out. That’s what he is doing, Steve can’t control anything else and it’s up to other people to deal with takeover stuff.”
