"That is the only way we can play."
The words of Steve Bruce in 2019, on why his Newcastle squad could not play the attacking football fans craved, citing the work done by Rafa Benitez as too great to overturn in such a short space of time.
Bruce told supporters he would do it his way in the months that followed, but Newcastle fans were yet to see any consistent improvements. Fast forward to present day, Eddie Howe has all but rubbished that theory and is putting his own stamp on the Magpies squad.
Go here for all the latest Newcastle United news
Sure, Howe has more financial backing than his predecessor, but the Toon squad is not too dissimilar to that of the start of the season.
Under Bruce the Magpies were rotting in the relegation places with just three points to their name and were at serious risk of relegation. Since his arrival, Howe has orchestrated a revolution at St. James' Park with a staggeringly different approach, one that fans could not have imagined under Bruce.
The Newcastle boss has alleviated the defensive shackles imposed on the squad by their two previous managers and while the defence is still one of their weaker areas, the Toon have made progress in that department since Howe's arrival.
The six game unbeaten streak is a clear sign of how far Newcastle have come, but Bruce has had contrasting fortune in a similar time frame.
The former Magpies boss joined Championship side West Bromwich Albion, after they parted ways with Valerien Ismael as a result of growing unrest among the Baggies fanbase in relation to style of play.
Newcastle fans warned Albion supporters what to expect when it came to Bruce's tactics, and, with the former Magpies boss yet to win a game, he's rolling out a rhetoric that the Toon Army have heard all before.
“We will soon see. What happens in the dressing room stays there but we have to do more, and in particular you have to have the ability to roll up your sleeves a bit more and show something – especially when you go a goal behind,” Bruce told Birmingham Live.
“I have only been here two or three weeks. I saw things to be pleased about in the first-half, but the one thing I have learned from the second half is change - change is difficult for them.
“They have played a certain way and to try and implement change is something I will look at too. I probably took them out their comfort zone when we were chasing the game in the second half, but I wanted players on the pitch who could maybe score a goal."
Newcastle fans have been quick to point out the similarities between Bruce's most recent claim about his Baggies squad, and the one made back in 2019.
Bruce claimed the Magpies were so used to playing defensively under Benitez, that he would be forced to stick with that style of play. Prior to the visit of Manchester United, Bruce said: "Looking at the way the team is happiest, you'd say we'll play with five at the back, with two No 10s, and we'll sit deep and play on the counter-attack, which is exactly what we did when we played against Tottenham.
ChronicleLive are taking part in a nationwide conversation to learn about club rivalries, have your say below:
"We changed for that game because that is the way they had played for six months at the back end of last season when results were better.
"The two or three times I've tried to change us, it didn't really work. I quickly worked out at Norwich (3-1 defeat in August) that we didn't have the players with the capability to play the way I'd envisaged.
"In the Premier League you've got to be big and physical and have the ability to run. Unfortunately that is one thing here now, from the back to my midfield, we haven't got.
"And, ultimately, until we've got that, we're going to have to play in a certain way and the identity will be to sit deep and play on the counter-attack, because that is the only way we can play.
"That certain way has been drilled into them (by Benitez). We have to start with that again."
