Whatever one might think of Steve Bruce, he’s a decent, straightforward chap, and the one time Manchester United player understands football; he knows how it works. Today the Toon have benefited, but next week, it could well be their turn to deal with the pedantic nonsense from Premier League referees.
Nobody in their right mind wants games destroyed with this sort of appalling, Stasi like observance of rules. It leaves the actual game in tatters and is guaranteed to alienate fans – who are currently living on scraps as it is.