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Steve Bruce has been in managerial employment during every calendar year since his first job with Sheffield United in 1998

Having started his managerial career in July 1998, Steve Bruce has finally arrived at his hometown club after being appointed head coach of Newcastle.

This is his 11th club spanning the top three tiers of English football and completes an unlikely treble for the 58-year-old.

Bruce has now managed three sets of derby rivals - Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City and Aston Villa and now Sunderland and Newcastle.

Wednesday said they were "disappointed" Bruce is joining Newcastle two days after leaving the Championship club, and they are taking legal advice.

And a joint statement attributed to several Newcastle supporters groups described the appointment as "unambitious".

So, are Newcastle getting a manager who will stick it out for the long haul? And how successful has the former Manchester United defender been during his time as a manager?

BBC Sport has looked at the numbers.

Never far from a job

Kenny Dalglish was manager of Newcastle, while both Wimbledon and Coventry City were Premier League clubs, when Bruce was handed his first managerial job at the age of 37 at second-tier Sheffield United.

He was in the role for one season before resigning. One week later Bruce was unveiled as the new boss of Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield.

Since then he has barely been out of work - during his 21-year career, Bruce has been jobless for less than two years in total.

His longest spell without employment is 191 days, the length of time between being sacked by Sunderland, then a Premier League club, in November 2011 and his appointment by Championship Hull in June 2012.

Historically, Bruce is more likely to quit a job than be fired, with his exit from the Black Cats one of only three times he has experienced the sack - the other two occasions being at Huddersfield, his second club, in October 2000 and, 18 years later, Aston Villa.

He resigned at seven of his other clubs and on four of those occasions Bruce was named manager of another team within a week of leaving his previous employment.

Does Bruce stick it out at clubs?

Steve Bruce has won promotion to the Premier League four times - twice with Birmingham City and twice with Hull City

Ask fans of Sheffield Wednesday whether Bruce sticks it out and many are likely to reply "no".

After taking charge at Hillsborough on 1 February, Bruce handed in his resignation on 15 July. He was in charge of the Owls for 18 league games - less than half a Championship season.

That is by no means his shortest spell at one club. In his early days, Bruce accepted three different jobs in 2001.

The first of his two stints at Wigan, and his only spell in the third tier, lasted eight league games before he resigned and joined Crystal Palace. Bruce had been in charge of Palace for 15 league games when Birmingham came calling, leading to his longest spell at one club, stretching almost six years.

Of Bruce's 790 league games as a manager, Birmingham (235) and Hull (168) represent more than half of his tally. They are the only two clubs where he has lasted 100-plus league games.

Bruce has signed a three-year contract at Newcastle. He has an average stay of 79 league games - two seasons and three games in Premier League terms.

February 2019: 'Other things are more important' - Bruce on his break from football

Will Bruce be a success?

Newcastle are the fifth club Bruce has managed in the Premier League after Birmingham, Wigan, Sunderland and Hull.

The Toon Army craves success but is Bruce capable of delivering it?

While Bruce's record of four promotions from the second tier of English football - 2001-02 and 2006-07 with Birmingham and 2012-13 and 2015-16 with Hull - is the joint most in history along with Neil Warnock, his record in the Premier League is less convincing.

His CV boasts 392 games as a Premier League manager - only Arsene Wenger (828), Sir Alex Ferguson (810), Harry Redknapp (639), David Moyes (526), Sam Allardyce (512) and Mark Hughes (466) have overseen more.

And Bruce has delivered two top-10 Premier League finishes, with Birmingham in 2003-04 and Sunderland in 2010-11.

However, of the 33 managers to have managed 200 or more Premier League games, Bruce's win percentage of 28.1% (110 in 392 games) is the second lowest, ahead only of his former Manchester United team-mate Bryan Robson (26.8%).

And Bruce will be brushing off the cobwebs on his top-flight career, returning to the Premier League after a four-year absence, when his Hull City team were relegated in 2015.