Willems, signed on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt during the summer window, came off the bench to replace the injured Jonjo Shelvey in the 54th minute.
Bruce was then left bewildered as the debutant wandered into central midfield and played there for two minutes.
Willems was eventually shifted to left-wing-back, with Matt Ritchie moving in-field, after the Magpies boss reportedly screamed, ‘What the f*** is happening?’
“It was just a lack of communication with him,” Bruce said after the game.