The image Steve Bruce conjured was far removed from the reality of a bleak afternoon on Merseyside but his enthusiasm was understandable.
‘If you saw the dressing room, you would think we had just won the European Cup,’ Bruce enthused. Relief was written all over the Newcastle manager’s face. No wonder.
He has spent two months in football’s equivalent of the stocks, being lampooned after every bad result. But at exactly the right moment, here was a performance as bright and bold as the team’s striking yellow kit.
Steve Bruce congratulated his team after a superb performance earned victory at Everton
This 2-0 victory over Everton — more commanding than the score suggests — was richly celebrated by the players and Bruce, along with owner Mike Ashley’s lieutenants Justin Barnes and Keith Bishop at Goodison Park.