I've written quite a lot about Bruno Guimaraes both in this column and in general (diaries, group chats, graffiti), and I'm simply not going to stop.
Newcastle lost this weekend. You probably already know that. The next layer of that is that Newcastle lost without Bruno in the side, after he suffered an injury midweek against PSV. Since he joined us, Bruno has missed 11 league games. We didn't win any of them.
I am not a superstitious person. A friend will only go into St James' Park through one specific turnstile; she won't sit down until the stadium announcer says 'enjoy the game!'. That's not me. But it is getting harder and harder to deny the effect Bruno has on this squad, not just from a technical footballing perspective but from a mentality point of view also.
Many times this season, I've seen him pull the team up by their bootstraps and get us back into games. Winning seems to deeply matter to him. After a League Cup win in 2022 against Crystal Palace, he refused to smile in the team photo because he’d missed his penalty.
But! We have to find a way to win without him, because the longer this goes on, the more the Bruno Effect will snowball. It will get under the skin of the players and the fans. Maybe it already has.
Much could be written about the coaching staff and their role in this. The lack of plan. The predictable substitutions. Much will be written about that! Likely by me (diaries, group chats, graffiti). For now, we have to hope he comes back into the side soon, because we have a tough run of away games coming up, starting with European champions PSG on Wednesday. I don't want to rush a player back from injury, but I do want to compete. I know Bruno wants that too.
Find more from Charlotte Robson at the True Faith: Newcastle United Podcast
