Steve Bruce could not quite decide. When he looked ahead to Newcastle United’s home fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion, the manager spoke about magnitude, calling it one of those big little games: monstrous if you’re involved in it, irrelevant if you’re not — “a bit of a cup final.” That was Thursday and this is Tyneside, where mood can peak and plummet in an instant. By Friday morning, Bruce’s had shifted. “It’s ridiculous to be talking about cup finals,” he said.



Whenever Newcastle turn a corner, they immediately confront another; turning point after turning point, until they return to where they started, feeling nothing but disorientation. “They’re like a jigsaw puzzle,” a man who, through bitter experience, understands the club’s set-up and limitations, told The Athletic. “All the pieces are in the box but there’s no picture on the lid, so you’ve got no idea what...