Bundesliga Coach Adi Hütter 'Turned Newcastle Down' Last Season Prior to Steve Bruce Appointment

Successful Eintracht Frankfurt coach turned down the Newcastle job last summer, according to a report from Germany.

Despite having the sheer audacity to not be Rafa Benitez, Steve Bruce has made a half-decent fist of leading the Magpies this season.

His side sit a comfortable eight points above the drop zone, and are in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since Pluto lost its planet status (2006), beating the mighty Rochdale and Oxford en route to a place in the last eight.

However, the former Sunderland boss has not been without his critics since he took the St James' Park hot seat, with his style of football topping a lengthy list of complaints.

Bruce has faced an uphill battle to endear himself to the ​Newcastle faithful, who made it perfectly clear that he was not their first choice to take over from the much loved Rafa Benitez.

The popular Spaniard departed the club in June 2019 after three years in charge.

Turns out, Bruce wasn't owner Mike Ashley's first choice for the top job either.

According to SportBild, Newcastle made an approach for Frankfurt coach Hütter last summer, but the Austrian turned them down.

The German news outlet states Hütter can ‘imagine a job in England’, but he was not keen on a move to St James' Park as Eintracht were his priority at the time.

Hütter enjoyed a successful first season with the ​Bundesliga side, with the German union of professional footballers voting him as manager of the season after he guided the club to seventh.

However, his future now appears less certain, with his contract expiring in 2021. Hütter's representatives are expecting a fresh contract offer from the club before the end of the campaign, but should this be delayed, then he would ‘carefully consider' whether or not to remain with Eintracht next season.

This could be of interest to Newcastle, however Bruce will still have two years left to run on his deal at St James' Park this summer.

Bruce's main objective when he took the reins was to avoid relegation, and Mike Ashley would be unlikely to part ways with his manager should Newcastle survive the drop. 

However, the 2010 sacking of Chris Hughton suggests the popularity of a coach among fans does little to determine the length of their managerial tenure under Ashley.