Steve Bruce will go from one storm to another when he arrives in Shanghai for his first day in the job as Newcastle United head coach.
Thunderstorms are forecast in the most populous city in China – but there will be no hiding place for Bruce after taking on one of the biggest jobs in football.
Newcastle’s trip to China started with confusion as players demanded answers behind the scenes and privately branded the situation shambolic.
Big questions needed answers – and Bruce will have to step up and communicate.
As a former Manchester United captain and manager with 904 games under his belt, he probably already knows that.
But United’s messy trip to China has suddenly started to get very interesting indeed.
Bruce arrives in Shanghai after a 5,624-mile trip knowing the biggest battle of his career lies ahead of him.
Newcastle appoint Steve Bruce as manager
The newly-appointed head coach will check in to the Pudong Shangri-La and meet his players for the first time.
Bruce already knows his arrival has been met by fierce opposition and negativity throughout the media.
He will be paid a third of what Rafa Benitez picked up but unlike the Spaniard he won’t be idolised every time he ventures out of the dugout.
Bruce has a PR war to win, but it looks like the odds are stacked against him – even without taking charge of a single game.
He is now 1/4 NOT to be in charge at the start of the 2021/2022 Premier League season! Within hours of Bruce being confirmed furious Sheff Wed officials released a stinging statement claiming the deal was not done properly and announced without their knowledge.
Then bookmaker Betway got in the act and cut Newcastle’s odds on being relegated to 9/4 from 11/4.
Lee Ryder reacts to NUFC's 4-0 defeat in Nanjing
On an energy-sapping day in Nanjing, Newcastle players were hammered fairly and squarely by Wolverhampton Wanderers in 31 degree heat.
A clutch of small mini buses then moved them from the Nanjing Olympic Centre to Nanjing station where they took a high-speed train to Shanghai. The three-hour journey would have been interesting as Toon players digested a 4-0 defeat.
However, the players are more than receptive to Bruce coming in.
As they filed out the stadium last night they welcomed the idea and were just glad to finally have a manager at the helm.
Some of them have worked with him before, others will back up the reputation he is one of the game’s good guys.
Without meeting Bruce I wouldn’t know either way but you take people as you find them. Yet the players are well aware Bruce’s arrival hasn’t exactly been celebrated.
In the aftermath of the defeat against Wolves, Fede Fernandez, who didn’t agree with Benitez’s exit, said: “I understand the fans and the situation.
“But for us we want to work and be better as a team. Of course the fans want a different manager or different players.
“As players we have to show up on the pitch that we are ready for the Premier League.”
The season hasn’t even started yet and the fan-base seem exhausted.
Can things get better soon or is Newcastle a club that will always seem on the brink of collapse under Mike Ashley due to unpopular decision-making?
