"I am Bruce, I AM Bruce, I am BRUCE, I am Bruce!" Steve's tactical instructions from the Norwich game.
FWIW I think Bruce will be the last appointment of the Ashley regime. Number of reasons - Ashley tends to lie about more or less everything, I think the bloke is pathological. He recently said "he could be in charge forever". This makes me think he'll do the opposite. Every, single "interview" before that has been "I'm doing my best to sell, I won't be here much longer", etc. As I understand it, he was 'advised' to hold on to NUFC for one or two more years, which is why he shat on the BZG bid. Football is still seen as having another 5 years or so of gradual incline in cash, but many analysts feel there's a tipping point no more than 5 years away. I don't know the specifics, but it's linked to the fact clubs like Bolton, Bury, Notts County are effectively collapsing - the money is out of control to a point where it's going to decline in overall value. Mike only sees things monetarily. He buys businesses for both his ego, and their assets, to make quick profits. There's no rescue, he's no white knight, he's just another rich **** trying to get richer and he'd sell his own liver if the price was right. So back to the OP - Bruce is here until Ashley goes. I have a sneaky suspicion it's part of the plan. Cheap to pay, cheap to sack, easy to replace - part of the appeal. Rafa, in a way, may have been a millstone around the sale of the club. If we remove the rafa-tinted specs, he's been divisive everywhere, is hugely expensive and the football's ghastly. Made sense to let him go - may even have been an ounce of truth in the rumour the bidders wanted him gone. I just have this odd feeling we're going to wake up one day very soon to the news that Ashley is gone. Then Bruce will follow quite soon after. So my personal take on the OP is that If Bruce Went....we'd have new owners, and would all be knocking one out at the thought of who might come in.
I think it will be another has been - take your pick basically. What we need is a more modern manager. People always put the word young in but I'd steer away from that. Bielsa plays a modern brand (Poch, Martino and Simeone are disciples of his). I look at the Norwich manager, he plays a modern brand of football. If you want to get the best from modern high energy players like Joelinton or Almiron, give them a system and style to match their best characteristics.