Steve Bruce has openly discussed the 'hurt' of the 'very personal' criticism he suffered as Newcastle manager.
The former Magpies boss suffered vitriolic abuse while at St James' Park and was quickly replaced by Eddie Howe once the new Saudi regime was installed.
And Bruce told FourFourTwo that some of the ridicule and mockery 'crossed a line', having claimed fans had called him a 'tactically inept cabbage head'.
He said: 'I was under no illusions whatsoever when I arrived at Newcastle. I was becoming part of an unpopular regime and knew I'd be associated with Mike Ashley from day one. And I was replacing Rafael Benitez, who was loved by the fans.
'So I expected criticism and yes, some of it was justified. We weren't pleasing on the eye a lot of the time and there were periods when we really struggled. But the ridicule and the mockery crossed a line. It did hurt me and it upset my family, too.
'After my first match, I was accused of throwing on a sub and telling him to play where he wanted. I was even accused of giving the squad too much time off so I could go off on holiday! Criticism is one thing, but on occasions it got very personal and showed a basic lack of respect.'
And the 61-year-old revealed his thoughts on his successor at St James' Park, Howe, who lifted the side to 11th in the Premier League after a lavish spending spree in January.
He added: 'Eddie has had a lot more money to spend than I ever did, but he's brought in some good players and improved the team. I'm very happy to acknowledge that, because Newcastle and the fans deserve the success'.
Bruce's West Brom finished 10th in the Championship table, eight points off the play-offs, and released 12 players at the end of the season, including England international Sam Johnstone and former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll.