Jamie O'Hara has criticised Newcastle boss Steve Bruce for publicly criticising Matt Ritchie in the aftermath of Saturday's 1-1 draw with Wolves.
The Magpies blew a 1-0 lead when tactical confusion after Ritchie was introduced as a substitute led to Wolves grabbing an equaliser to leave United just three points clear of the relegation zone.
Bruce is coming under increasing pressure after a run of just two wins in the last 17 matches left Newcastle in serious relegation trouble.
That was heightened on Wednesday evening when reports of a heated bust-up between Bruce and Ritchie on the training ground hit the national press.
It has thrown Newcastle's preparations for Sunday's vital trip to West Brom into disarray and O'Hara feels Bruce hasn't helped himself in the matter.
“I don’t think Steve Bruce should have come out and slaughtered him in the media,” he said on Thursday’s talkSPORT Breakfast.
“At the moment, where they’re at as a team and a club – and with Steve Bruce on thin ice as it is in terms of his job – you’ve got to be really careful with how to talk about your players in the press.
“When a player hasn’t been involved, he comes onto the pitch and he’s the one getting dug out for making a mistake.
“You’ve got to be really careful about singling out players in the press, I don’t really understand why managers do it.
“Slaughter him in the dressing room or on the transfer ground and say, ‘I’m not happy about it’, but you’ve always got to be very careful; players are quite sensitive now and he’ll have the hump with it.
“I think he made the right decision in saying, ‘I’ll speak to you on Monday’, because after a game emotions are high, so for Bruce to say, ‘I want to speak to you now, I’ll speak to you Monday about it’, I don’t think that’s a problem and Ritchie should respect that.
“Matt isn’t a bad egg; I played with Matt at Portsmouth when he was first starting out and he’s a great lad, he wants to work hard and he’s had a great career.
“I don’t think he’s someone who would come into the training ground and cause problems, he’s not that kind of player and he’s not that kind of man.
“So I’m surprised to read that he said he’s not going to see the manager, and then Bruce has had to come out and then they’ve had it off on the training pitch.
“That to me spells disaster. When you’re in a difficult period as a manager and results aren’t going your way, you need the dressing room.”
