Steve Bruce: I was a 'dead man walking' at Birmingham City
STEVE Bruce’s last Blues game as manager was the 2-1 defeat at home to Villa on November 11, 2007.After five years and 11 months in charge – making him the club’s longest-serving manager post-war – his win-loss-draw record from 269 games was 102 wins, 100 losses, 67 draws.Bruce joined Trevor Francis’ Blues as a player from Manchester United in 1996 and made 84 appearances, captaining the side and earning player-of-the-year honours, before taking the Sheffield United player-manager’s job in 1998.He returned to Blues as manager on December 12, 2001, following an extended period of ‘gardening leave’ after leaving Crystal Palace.On Saturday he brings his Sunderland team to St Andrew's, the first time he has been back since his departure to Wigan Athletic.In an exclusive interview, he talks to COLIN TATTUM about his exciting times at the helm and his exit, Carson Yeung and what Blues must do in the future.
STEVE Bruce had been at Birmingham City long enough to know that nothing was ever straightforward.
Yet even he didn’t expect it all to end in the chaotic manner it did.
“Dead man walking,” was how he described himself during the period between July-November 2007.
Bruce had got Blues back into the Premier League at the first attempt following relegation. He was homing in on six years’ service, more than any other post-war manager; he was in line for a new contract.
Carson Yeung arrived on the scene that summer and the upheaval proved seismic.
“One wanted to sell the club, one wanted to buy – you couldn’t get anything done,” he recalled. “Dead man walking, that was me.
“There were broken promises and for everyone it was very, very difficult to actually concentrate on what mattered: the football.
“There was takeover talk all the time and whether or not Carson Yeung could come up with the money.
“I was vulnerable and everything filtered through to the players.”
Blues lost six out of seven league games and Bruce left for Wigan Athletic who, to the board’s surprise and delight, paid a £3 million ‘transfer’ fee.
Bruce returns to St Andrew’s for the first time on Saturday since that messy departure. It’s also Yeung’s first home game since taking control from David Sullivan and the Golds.
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