Steve Bruce serves another reminder that loyalty is football's rarest commodity

When Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri opted to sack hapless Dutch coach Jos Luhukay in December last year, there was only one man he had in mind to reinvigorate the Owls.

Steve Bruce had been dismissed by Aston Villa earlier in the campaign just a few months after leading them to within 90 minutes of a Premier League return.

It made sense for all parties: Wednesday would get a vastly experienced Championship manager with a proven track record of promoting teams from the second tier.

Bruce would get a swift return to the dugout with one of English football’s perennial underachievers over the last two decades, but one with huge untapped potential.

The sticking point was Bruce’s understandable desire to honour a family commitment after the untimely death of both his parents in close proximity to each other during his time as Villa boss.

Bruce had promised a Caribbean getaway in January to watch England play cricket in the West Indies.

Wednesday announced his appointment on January 2, but confirmed he would not start the role until February 1, with his right-hand men Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence looking after first-team affairs in the meantime.

Such was Chansiri’s belief in Bruce, he was willing for the club to go without a manager for a full month at a critical point in the campaign in order to secure his man and give him a full pre-season to prepare for another tilt at promotion in 2019-20.

Fast forward six months and it would appear that belief, that trust, that loyalty was unfortunately misplaced.

After signing three players - despite Wednesday being under a ‘soft’ transfer embargo due to Financial Fair Play issues, constraints Bruce was well aware of and something they have moved to combat by selling the ground to Chansiri - he whisked the Owls squad off to Portugal for an intensive training camp.

A practice match against Shrewsbury followed, but rumours of Newcastle’s interest had already set in, despite Bruce insisting it was “news” to him.

Wednesday returned to British soil and almost imminently Bruce told the club of his desire to leave for Tyneside before meeting with Magpies chiefs for talks.

Bruce did manage Wednesday in a friendly at Lincoln in his final act as boss - giving a post-match interview that Owls fans will now find somewhat galling.

Before said interview, one supporter stormed the dugout to remonstrate with Bruce, but was roundly booed as he was escorted away by the majority of travelling fans who were desperate to give the 58-year-old the benefit of the doubt amid increasing speculation.

After the game, Bruce spoke of talking to Newcastle out of “respect”. That would be respect for the Premier League side courting him, not for his current employers that had bent over backwards to accommodate him, and certainly not for the fans on the Sincil Bank away terrace.

“For me, at this particular moment, there is nothing really to talk about until the two clubs reach some sort of compromise,” he added.

But that wasn’t quite true.

Wednesday owner Chansiri, who has developed a reputation as a tough negotiator since his arrival at Hillsborough in 2015, understandably held out for significant compensation for Bruce and his staff, given the new season was just three weeks away and he would need to find a new manager.

There was no suggestion the “compromise” Bruce spoke of had been reached when he tendered his resignation on Monday morning, along with Agnew and Clemence.

Indeed, 48 hours later, the Owls confirmed there were “outstanding legal issues” to be resolved despite Newcastle announcing Bruce as their new boss, without Wednesday’s knowledge.

But perhaps all this should come as no surprise.

When he was Crystal Palace boss in 2001, he resigned to force a move to Birmingham in eerily similar circumstances.

This is a manager that has taken charge of Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Sunderland and now Newcastle.

The pull and temptation of managing his boyhood club is understandable. The way Bruce has gone about his business is absolutely not.

When he was appointed boss of the Magpies’ fiercest rivals in 2009, Bruce said: “Managing Newcastle has never been my dream. This opportunity at Sunderland has everything I want.

“I don’t need anything else - I have everything here. Everything you look for as a manager is here at Sunderland.”

The whole episode is yet another reminder that loyalty remains the rarest of football commodities.

Bruce moves to an area where the supporters are more disenfranchised from their club than probably any other in the country.

He goes to work under an owner in Mike Ashley that is almost universally loathed on Tyneside, and to a fanbase that have been unequivocal in their discontent at his appointment on social media.

Good luck, Steve. Something tells me you might need it.

Source: Mirror

Powered by NewsAPI.org

Keywords:

Steve Bruce • Association football • Sheffield Wednesday F.C. • Dejphon Chansiri • Netherlands • Jos Luhukay • Sheffield Wednesday F.C. • Steve Bruce • Aston Villa F.C. • Premier League • Championship Manager • The Underachievers • Time • Caribbean • England cricket team • Cricket in the West Indies • Steve Agnew • Stephen Clemence • Critical point (thermodynamics) • The Amazing Race • UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations • Portugal • Shrewsbury • Newcastle upon Tyne • Tyneside • Lincoln City F.C. • Sheffield Wednesday F.C. • Newcastle upon Tyne • Premier League • Sincil Bank • Hillsborough Stadium • Newcastle upon Tyne • Sheffield Wednesday F.C. • Crystal Palace F.C. • Coach (sport) • Sheffield United F.C. • Sheffield Wednesday F.C. • Aston Villa F.C. • Birmingham City F.C. • Sunderland A.F.C. • Newcastle upon Tyne • Newcastle upon Tyne • Sunderland A.F.C. • Sandie Shaw • Sunderland A.F.C. • Association football • Mike Ashley (businessman) • Tyneside • Social media • Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight) •