Gabby Agbonlahor slams Dwight Gayle for Steve Bruce interview claims

Ex-Aston Villa star, and talkSPORT host, Gabby Agbonlahor leapt to the defence of his old manager.

Gayle recently appeared on the Open Goal podcast and delivered a damning admission of his experience with the ex-Manchester United captain.

The striker joined the Magpies in 2016 and played under Bruce during his near one-and-a-half year managerial stint at St James' Park.

"He was okay. I felt that he didn't perhaps spend enough time on working on a lot of things with us," Gayle said on Bruce.

"I think he was trying to go game by game, rather than perhaps developing us as a team. I just feel like we could've improved with a lot of things."

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"I remember some of the boys got chucked into the Manchester City shift," Gayle added. "We had like a three-game week.

"I think the gaffer sort of chucked a few of the boys under the bus in terms of who had to play against Man City away. Me and Matt Ritchie were asking for tactical improvements for weeks or months.

"We came in at half time, I think we were like two or 3-0, or something down, and he's like, 'Boys, you keep asking for tactics, I don't do tactics. Just put your boots on and work hard.'"

Gayle also claimed that Bruce could've done more himself in training sessions before the Saudi takeover of Newcastle was completed in 2021.

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"He didn't really do much on the training pitch," Gayle added. But then, obviously, when the Saudi owners came in, he stuck his boots on and the whistle and was like, 'If I'm going, then I'm going to run you into the ground', or something like that.

"So, we're doing some running drills and he's just running us and he's blowing his whistle and it's just, like, making it into a little bit of a joke and stuff. He's like, 'They're over there watching you'.

"[Training] was okay. I felt that he didn't perhaps spend enough time on working on a lot of things with us.

"I think he was trying to go game by game rather than perhaps develop us as a team. I just felt like we could have improved with a lot of things."

Bruce, who manages League One side Blackpool, was asked about the comments from Gayle and issued a strong response to him.

"Is that the legendary Dwight Gayle, who missed a chance in the quarter-final against Manchester City?" he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"Is that the same Dwight Gayle? Interesting. I've been around the block a long, long time, I've only managed 1,050 games.

"But according to Dwight, I don't know what I'm doing. So I'll let other people make their mind up. I'm a bit more established than what Dwight ever was."

Agbonlahor did not take too kindly to Gayle's harsh comments, and lent on his own experiences with Bruce.

He told talkSPORT Breakfast: "I was with Steve Bruce at Aston Villa. He was amazing to me and he did get involved in training. He did put on sessions.

"I don't know where that's coming from. I think when Steve Bruce sees that, he's probably thinking, Dwight Gayle you were the nearly man in the Premier League. You weren't good enough for the Premier League. You had to go down to the Championship. Now he's playing in Scotland.

"You weren't good enough for the Premier League. So don't be speaking bad on a manager who's managed over a thousand games.

"You're telling me in the thousand games he's managed, Steve Bruce has never put on a session properly.

"Of course he has. I didn't like that interview from Dwight Gayle. I thought it was disrespectful. Disrespectful and spiteful.

"I just didn't like it and Steve Bruce wouldn't have wanted to have a bite back, but sometimes you have to when someone's speaking like that on your name. So fair play to Steve Bruce and a top manager that I worked under."

Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan, who hired Bruce at the south London club in 2001, had his say on the matter.

"I think Steve should have risen above it," he told talkSPORT on Monday. "That was a laddy environment with two mates sitting beside him.

"Bruce managed for me and the one thing he did was get on the training ground.

"Dwight Gayle was an average player when he played at Palace."

After previously managing clubs including Hull City and Aston Villa, Bruce joined Newcastle at the beginning of the 2019/20 season.

Steve Bruce's managerial record

He was in charge for 97 matches across all competitions but won just 27 of those before leaving in October 2021.

Bruce then joined West Brom before a surprise switch to Blackpool, who he has sitting tenth in the League One table.

Gayle made 45 appearances for Bruce at Newcastle, scoring five goals and assisting another three.

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