Newcastle have gambled on Bruce but shadow of Benítez looms large | Louise Taylor

Steve Bruce may be a geordie but that will not be enough to fill Rafael Benítez's sizeable shoes and a sceptical Gallowgate will need an awful lot of convincing Some years ago Steve Bruce wrote a trilogy of football-based thrillers. Their hero was Steve Barnes, the all-action macho manager of Leddersford Town who devoted his spare time to solving murders and taking out terrorists in a style sufficiently swashbuckling to make even Lee Child's creation Jack Reacher seem a bit of a wimp. These day...