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da winzada777： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Newcastle have confirmed the appointment of Steve Bruce as their new head coach, replacing Rafael Benitez.
What’s the story?
When Benitez left at the expiry of his contract, some of the Toon Army may have been holding on to the faint hope that a takeover would arrive and Rafa’s replacement would be someone of his calibre or higher.
Instead, the Magpies have signed Bruce, despite Sheffield Wednesday’s insistence that there are still legal issues that need to be resolved.
The 58 year-old has joined on a three-year deal, and will be joined by Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence.
A Newcastle fan shares his most gutting moment of the last 10 years supporting the Magpies in the video below…
The Elo system
When it comes to tactical expertise, attracting top players, winning major honours and pretty much everything else, Benitez would appear to be the far superior manager to his replacement.
However, stats website clubelo.com has an extremely interesting rating system, which evaluates clubs, players and managers based on a variety of factors.
Variables in the system include goal difference, strength of competition or league, home field advantage and expected goals, amongst others, from which an Elo rating is awarded to clubs and individuals.
And rather unbelievably, Bruce’s best head-to-head Elo rating comes against none other than Benitez, at a positive rating of 62.6, while Benitez’s worst opponent is Bruce, with a negative rating of the same value.
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According to the system, Neil Warnock is Bruce’s next best opponent, while the manager he struggles most against is David Moyes, whose teams have scored 26 goals to the 14 of Bruce’s.
You only need to read through the replies of Newcastle’s announcement tweet to see how the Toon Army feels about Bruce, but according to the Elo ranking system, he could be one of the few men on the planet who knows how to get one over on Benitez.
Whether that translates into positive performances and results for the Magpies is yet to be seen, but maybe there is a little bit of method behind the club’s madness.