He was perhaps the finest centre-half never to play for England. The Geordie who was always destined to manage Newcastle United but turned them down in their hour of need.
Steve Bruce: a career of broken dreams, broken promises and broken noses. And after Tuesday’s unacceptable 7-0 defeat against Liverpool at a stunned St Andrews, the Birmingham manager is now the unwanted owner of a shattered reputation.
With the Blues embroiled in a Premiership survival fight, Bruce — who has spent millions trying to create a side worthy of England’s second city — admitted after the quarterfinal hammering: ”This is possibly the worst night I have ever had in football. It was men against boys. As a manager, I have to accept responsibility and I’ll have a long, hard look at myself.”
And well he might. Bruce was one of the mainstays of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United revival, shoring up the first Premiership-winning defence next to Gary Pallister in 1992.
But with Mark Wright, Terry Butcher and Tony Adams towering above him, Bruce never gained the international recognition some thought he deserved.
Axed in typical unsentimental Fergie style to make way for fresh blood at Old Trafford, Bruce’s first managerial stint at Huddersfield was unspectacular but provided a stepping stone to Crystal Palace. A broken promise and a few mediocre months later he was on his way to Birmingham, where porn-baron owner David Sullivan was hoping to forge a side that would finally emerge from the shadow of European Cup-winning neighbours Aston Villa.
Bruce looked the perfect candidate. Well-connected, a fine talker, good playing CV, Fergie-reared and hungry. But generally, Bruce the Boss has done little to convince, particularly as the Brum cup dream shattered into seven fragments.
The tie was shown on the BBC, so everyone was able to see the Birmingham fan who confronted Bruce after the game and tore up his ticket in a fury. With club owners Sullivan and David Gold looking less than happy, Bruce said: ”We were humiliated in front of the nation. It would have been easy for me not to come out and speak to the cameras after that but I have. Now I don’t know what to say.”
Still, with 20 years as a pro and another decade as a manager behind him, Bruce never needs to worry about a job. And with Glenn Roeder’s dream start as Newcastle caretaker fading, he can always go home and take over the Toon.
I suspect that’s where he’ll end up, after Birmingham are relegated this season. Up at St James’s Park, pretending not to be another Graeme Souness, telling another bunch of devoted fans: ”We are at our lowest ebb and have a very hard task now. But I am determined to see it through.”