Friday 19 September 2014 15:05, UK
Hull City boss Steve Bruce has hit out at the speculation surrounding the future of Newcastle counterpart Alan Pardew.
Pressure is mounting on Pardew after his side collected just two points from the opening four games of the season, having lost seven of their final eight fixtures last season.
Bruce condemned some of the newspaper reports earlier in the week suggesting he would be one of the front runners for the Newcastle job should Pardew be sacked.
The fans continue to vent their anger over Pardew, whose team entertain Hull on Saturday, and Bruce remains unhappy with the recent media coverage.
Speaking on Friday morning, he said: "It’s hugely disrespectful, not only to the people who employ me here and the supporters of this club, but also to Alan himself.
“I know how hard it is, I’ve witnessed it myself. We’ve all been there and I was appalled when I read all that nonsense.
“I’ve tried to calm the situation down but there’s nothing I can do about it. It seems to be, because I’m a Geordie, I’ve been linked to it since 2002 and because it’s the team I’ve supported since I was a boy.
“The north east is not an easy place to manage and especially managers in the Premier League, you know anything can happen around the corner and you genuinely feel for the manager in charge.
“It’s only four games but it seems to be worse in this region.”
Pardew has admitted that calls for him to resign or be dismissed 'has reached levels of mass hysteria.’
