Newcastle United - The Beginning of a Torturous Season?

Steve Bruce always had a mountain to climb at Newcastle United. Replacing Rafael Benitez is no easy task, this is Bruce's Everest and he hasn't even conquered base camp yet.

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Embarrassed and outclassed by a Norwich City side who are tasting their first experience of Premier League football in over three years.

The team isn't well balanced, confused, unsure and uncomfortable in the formation Bruce wants to play. When players are saying "We have to look at ourselves in the mirror" after two games, that spells danger.

Newcastle may have taken ten games to get their first win of the season last year, however, the majority of those games were close contests. At Carrow Road, Newcastle were taught a lesson.

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Newcastle arguably have a worse team than last season, can Bruce produce similar tactical masterclasses to Benitez, to keep the club in the Premier League? Judging on the first two games - The answer is a definitive no.

For Bruce's sake, a win has to come quickly. He simply cannot go through a long run of games without picking up his first victory. Benitez was given time by the supporters, Bruce will certainly not be granted the time to turn things around. The former Sheffield Wednesday manager's appointment was greeted with outrage on Tyneside. Bruce hasn't shown anything that will instill confidence in the supporters.

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Two games into a season and supporters are already fed up. They saw the storm coming but weren't quite ready for the devastating effects.

Should Bruce turn this around, it will be his greatest achievement as a manager. Though, at this stage that seems highly unlikely.

Bruce acknowledged that he knew what he was walking in to, when he took the reigns at Newcastle. Many will believe otherwise, if he knew just what a mess his boyhood club were and are in, surely he wouldn't have taken the position?

How can Bruce lift a set of supporters who have been consistently let down for twelve years? It's the impossible job. Of course, it is not the fault of Bruce for thinking he could be the one to change the fortunes of such a great club. You do however, have to question just what Bruce was thinking when he handed in his resignation at Sheffield Wednesday, a club with great potential and ambition. The former is there for all to see ( apart from the club's hierarchy) at Newcastle, the latter, ambition, that's not even in the vocabulary of Newcastle's owner.

This is a rocky road for Bruce and it's only going to get bumpier if he goes on a long winless run.