West Brom boss Steve Bruce says he is still hurt by the abuse he suffered from Newcastle United fans.
Bruce endured vitriolic abuse while at St James’ Park and was quickly replaced by Eddie Howe once the new Saudi regime was installed.
And Bruce told FourFourTwo that some of the ridicule and mockery “crossed a line”, having claimed fans had called him a “tactically inept cabbage head”.
He said: “I was under no illusions whatsoever when I arrived at Newcastle. I was becoming part of an unpopular regime and knew I’d be associated with Mike Ashley from day one. And I was replacing Rafael Benitez, who was loved by the fans.
“So I expected criticism and yes, some of it was justified. We weren’t pleasing on the eye a lot of the time and there were periods when we really struggled. But the ridicule and the mockery crossed a line. It did hurt me and it upset my family, too.
“After my first match, I was accused of throwing on a sub and telling him to play where he wanted. I was even accused of giving the squad too much time off so I could go off on holiday! Criticism is one thing, but on occasions it got very personal and showed a basic lack of respect.”
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