ALAN SHEARER says Newcastle United chief executive Lee Charnley has questions to answer as the pressure continues to mount on embattled Magpies manager Steve Bruce.

Bruce has faced calls for his head in the wake of Tuesday's embarrassing 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United.

However, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley remains determined to stand by his manager, with Bruce's position not understood to be under immediate threat.

Shearer labelled Tuesday's defeat at Bramall Lane as "bloody awful" in his column for the Athletic, having also been extremely critical of the Magpies' performance in last month's Carabao Cup defeat at Brentford.

He admits Bruce, who remains a good friend, is under 'massive pressure', but feels there are others in the St James' Park hierarchy who are equally to blame.

Writing for The Athletic, Shearer said: "There should be some mitigation - COVID-19, the number of games, the lack of pre-season - and what really irks me is how little protection Steve has received from the people above him.

"Where is Lee Charnley? What happened to that statement of his where he admitted the error of not communicating with fans?

"Where is his backing for the manager? Where is the strategy? Come on Lee, where are you?

"Where is anyone, aside from Steve?"