The Robson Report: Hull hath no fury like Steve Bruce scorned

By now, you would think, any football reporter who rushed excitedly up to the sports editor and exclaimed ‘I have a great interview with Steve Bruce about how unfair life is’ would be demoted to covering junior rounders. Not so. Jeremy Robson notes that Bruce’s mantra, ‘how I was sacked for being a Geordie’ with a re-run of that other whopper that ignorance of the world of the web also did for him, is bizarrely still seen as news …

Just who is Steve Bruce trying to kid now?

The former Sunderland manager has launched another stinging tirade against SAFC fans.

This time it was in the Daily Star. Mrs Doubtfire claims the “stigma” of his departure cost him the chance of jobs at other clubs in the PL, when they came up – including the managerships of WBA and Wolves – as well as some in the Championship. He is also saying that he was sacked because he “wasn’t internet savvy”.

Whatever view is taken of the chanting which began towards the end of the home defeat by Wigan, it is true most of us were mightily relieved when he was gone.

But very few football observers will see any causal link between cries of “Fat Geordie Bastard! Get out of our club” and his failure to land another job in the top flight, which simply reflected the deplorable record that had ultimately resulted in his dismissal by SAFC.

Had he really been perceived widely as the victim in this “abuse”, as he constantly refers to it, then his candidacy for other management vacancies would presumably have been greeted more sympathetically at the Hawthorns and Molyneux.

It must have been hard to take for a manager with considerable experience to be overlooked in favour of Terry Connor and then ultimately an unknown Norwegian. But the fact that both of these options were more attractive than you tells a sorry tale.

Your record is very poor indeed, Steve, and you have been seen through as clearly as the window in Doggarts in which I will happily display my not inconsiderable behind should you get Hull City promoted this season.

'They hated me for being a Geordie ... but not him behind me'

Bruce’s bitterness towards the Sunderland faithful is extraordinary. Given the results he obtained, the supporters actually showed remarkable resilience and patience with him. The wonder is that the hostile chanting didn’t start much earlier.

But this unsavoury situation makes you wonder whether Bruce had a problem himself as a Geordie managing Sunderland, rather than the other way around. Indeed Mrs Doubtfire does protest a little too loudly. Someone should really take him to one side and tell him that he is missing a great chance to just keep his mouth shut.

Whether such advice comes from Mrs Bruce, Bryan Robson or the bloke that sells the pies, he really does need a sharp nudge and to be told to “give it a rest”.

Bruce’s litany of excuses for his dismal failure continues unabated some eight months after he left. He is clearly a bitter man, who has made far more of his Geordie roots than any Sunderland fans ever did.

We didn’t want him as our boss because he’s a Geordie? That ignores the glaring fact that Bob Stokoe was a Geordie who remains immortal as a legend. Now it’s because he doesn’t know how to use the internet.

His Wallsend shipbuilding connections will hopefully put him in good stead at Hull where there are also nautical traditions. It is to be hoped that Mrs Doubtfire can at least do some rudimentary welding because history shows that the City ship will soon be sinking. I like Hull City and the people of that city too. They deserve better.

15 thoughts on “The Robson Report: Hull hath no fury like Steve Bruce scorned”

  1. I think that some of Bruce’s apparent paranoia is fuelled by supportive comments from his numerous friends in the media – in particular ex-players. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard some of the morons that Talk Sport repeatedly wheel on saying how unlucky he was, and that he should have been given more time. The fact is that he got more time at SAFC than he would have been given almost anywhere else. To mis-quote Bill Clinton, ” Its results stupid! “

  2. You are making some grand assumptions there Pete. He doesn’t know how to use the net, and it’s even money that he would struggle to use a phone given his other technical limitations The microwave in his kitchen only gets used by his wife and kids. The only time he’s managed to use the phone he was asking Alex how to switch the dishwasher on. Bruce and his boy remind me of that Dick Emery skin head character with Roy Kinnear with the roles reversed. “i got it wrong again son!”

  3. It was in the Daily Star on Sunday, a paper so bad and under produced that I almost feel sorry for the poor buggers who work on it. At least if they are talking to pathetic, shambling figures like Bruce they are not hacking anyones phones – allegedly.

  4. This sad little man is becoming really tiresome now. I can’t believe he is so deluded!

    On a different subject, I see Andy Carroll has got a £2M loan move to West Ham with a view to a permanent deal. We really need to get moving with regards to bringing in a striker or 2. This fletcher saga is really dragging its feet. It feels like everyone else is signing up players and we’re getting left behind. I’m sure i’m wrong and some deals will come through soon but its getting close to the start of the season and our friendlies so far have really highlighted our inability to score goals.

  5. Some harsh criticism here lads, don’t forget we did finish 10th, the players were just about to gel, O’Neil stole his thunder, he needed more time, he had Bents replacement lined up, the good times were just about to role…………. and they did role cos we relieved ourselfs of him.

    I actually thought it was impossible for him to sink any further in my estimation, I was wrong as I underestimated just how sad and pathetic he could become.

    Move on Stevie boy cos we all have.

  6. Signing his son Alex Bruce looks like an interesting move.At least he didn’t have to use the internet I suppose.

  7. All of your comments have got me thinking a little differently about this now. In response to Phil, at the bottom of him, Bruce knows that his record was awful but he hasn’t got the sense to keeps schtum. He keeps maintaining that he became unemployable in the PL because our fans got on his back (and unfairly at that).

    His constant whingeing and over stating his value (as you say Goldy) can be doing hm any good at Hull. He creates the impression that he’s “slumming it” at Championship level. Hull City are a smashing club. He ought to remember that his predecessor Nicky Barmby was sacked for comments he made in the media and not for footall performances. It will be interesting to see whether it’s results of his stupid mouth that gets Bruce the boot. He is their third manager in 12 months. His outbursts must have made a lot of chairmen realise that Bruce just wasn’t worth the bother.

    Im surprised that Hull fans haven’t had anything to say on this thread. If I was a TIger I’d be less than impressed by his constant moaning.

    • “His outbursts must have made a lot of chairmen realise that Bruce just wasn’t worth the bother.”

      That was what I was attempting to say:

      Maybe, Steve, it was not only the reason for your sacking (results) that made you “damaged goods” but, more pertinently, your lack of dignity & objectivity since?

      Club chairmen must have been thinking “what happens if I have to fire the guy”?

  8. “You are waiting for the call and unfortunately, I didn’t get one from Premier League clubs.”

    Great way to bond with the Hull City faithful.

  9. Jeremy, I could not agree more with the sentiments in your article.

    However, did you pick up on something that was tucked away at the bottom of the DS piece?

    To highlight what I’m referring to I’ve changed into capitals the important words.

    “THE ONE THING YOU GET THE SACK FOR IS BECA– — USE YOU DON’T WIN ENOUGH ON A SATURDAY”.

    “IT’S RESULTS. So does the internet get you a result on a Saturday? No.”

    It seems, to me, that he is still struggling, though, to come to terms with those words!

    3 home wins in 2012, on ANY day of the week would seem to justify his dismissal (using his words) BUT he then seems to have difficulty accepting that his results were NOT good enough and reverted to type, with the following:

    “If you get sacked there’s a stigma that goes with it. You are waiting for the call and unfortunately, I didn’t get one from Premier League clubs.”

    “When that doesn’t happen you think to yourself, ‘Why?’ Probably the reason is that I got the sack from Sunderland – and that really disappoints me.”

    EH!!!

    Maybe, Steve, it was not only the reason for your sacking (results) that made you “damaged goods” but, more pertinently, your lack of dignity & objectivity since?

    Club chairmen must have been thinking “what happens if I have to fire the guy”?

    • Not enough wins on a Saturday? Nor on a Sunday, a Monday, a Tuesday or a Wednesday. Don’t think we played any Thursday or Friday games or I could have added that to the list.

      From February up until his sacking his record was P 28 W 5 D 6 L 17

      As Phil says Bruce uses the words “The one thing you get the sack for is because you don’t win enough.”

      I hope that his new bosses agree with him that a win record of less than 18% is acceptable.

  10. I can just see him in 20 years time collecting his pension “hurry up, pet – is it my Geordie roots?”

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