Bruce was a good fit for them - an obese Geordie with remarkably thin skin, who's spent decades managing in the Premier League without pulling up any trees, and he's had the odd cup run. That's all the mags could really ask for, and all NUFC could expect to be, and Bruce did well enough and delivered a couple of years that were on a par with the mighty Rafa.
He got the best out of their best players - he had Wilson as a 1 goal in 2 games striker, which he never has been before and hasn't been in the last few months. And he got Saint Maximin playing really well. Tactically he isn't the best - but the rest of the squad is shite, so he didn't ask too much of them. He'd let the opposition win the possession stats and got everyone else pulling together behind their 2 best players.
Obviously that is never going to be enough for supporters like the mags. But they had an owner who understood them as well. I remember after Brighton beat them last season they had one of their meltdowns and demanded Bruce was sacked. Chronicle poll showed 97% thought they were going down if Ashley didn't pull the trigger. But by that point Ashley had been around long enough to know to ignore them, and they stayed up easily by 17 points.
When Ashley first took over he hadn't found out about them. He was enjoying all the goodwill, like the headchoppers are now, and he went and sacked Allardyce and gave them Keegan to appease them. A huge error - and they imploded shortly after. Ashley has said he regretted doing that to Sam. He should never have listened to the idiotic supporters and he didn't make that mistake again. Even when they launched a campaign against Pardew, their best manager of the last 20 years, he stood firm. When Pardew did walk out on them for a better offer, they plummeted to the bottom of the league and nearly got relegated, then actually did get relegated the following year, and have never been as good since. That's what can happen when you indulge the mags delusions.
Their new owners haven't realised any of this. They've appeased the fans by going ahead and sacking Bruce straightaway, but for whatever reason, weren't able to get anyone decent in, and have ended up appointing Howe who is a mate of one of the directors. They haven't appointed a director of football, and have only made one signing - someone who used to play for the new manager. They don't understand the mags the way we do - if they did they'd realise the first meltdown is potentially only 7 days away. Fail to sign any players this week and then lose to Watford and the mags supporters will implode. It will be interesting to see how the new owners react. From what I understand they don't really get much dissent in their home country, and when they do they don't respond very well. They were always going to find out what the mags are like eventually though.