Steve Bruce has said he is determined to shed his tag as a firefighter after returning to management at West Brom following a draining spell in the north-east.
Bruce believes Newcastle supporters may look back on mid-table finishes during his reign differently in time, but after signing an 18-month contract at the Hawthorns his priority is to help a flailing team conquer the Championship by winning his fifth promotion from the division.
Bruce said a four-month break from the game allowed for a much-needed rest. He spent some time watching cricket in Dubai and was due to attend England’s three Test matches in the Caribbean next month, as well as go on safari in the Serengeti, but has cancelled those plans to return to the dugout.
“There is going to be a lot written about the Newcastle thing but as far as I’m concerned it’s gone,” Bruce said. “It was tough, don’t get me wrong, but it’s an experience that I’m still glad I had and finishing 12th and 13th in the Premier League, maybe in 10 years’ time they’ll think: ‘Maybe you didn’t do that bad a job.’ I was waiting for the right opportunity. The break has recharged the batteries again.”
Bruce was sacked by Newcastle in October after the Saudi Arabian-led takeover and revealed he has since turned down jobs in England and abroad. The 61-year-old said a return to the second tier, from which he has twice won promotion with both Birmingham and Hull, appealed because it is a “fair race” compared with the predictable nature of the Premier League.
“Usually you get a team at the bottom,” he said of being appointed midway through the season. “I always seem to be firefighting. This is a different opportunity for me. I’ve come in, the team are in the top six, so I don’t think that has ever happened to me before. I usually get a job when a team is in crisis. We’re not in crisis. We’ve had a bad run, and the club has decided to change. I’m here to try and give the whole place a lift and win some matches and see if we can get in the Premier League.”
Bruce took charge of his first training session on Friday and has named his son, Alex, who joined Macclesfield as a player in August, on his coaching staff, alongside Steve Agnew, his assistant manager, and Stephen Clemence. “My son is young, hungry and desperate to do well,” said Bruce, who started his managerial career at Sheffield United in 1998. “He has taken his badges. It is a bit like when I took Stephen Clemence, when he was finished [from playing] at 32, I always think when you’ve got a grey top that you need a bit of youth around you at times as well.”
West Brom are sixth, eight points off the automatic promotion places after winning three of their past 13 matches. Bruce said he thought West Brom were a “knock-in bet” to be promoted after watching their opening game of the season at Bournemouth but acknowledged he needs to galvanise the club after a frustrating couple of months that ultimately led to Valérien Ismaël being sacked as manager less than 12 months into a four-year contract.
The newly appointed chief executive, Ron Gourlay, formerly a consultant who worked a couple of days per week at the club, admitted “underlying issues have been coming to the surface”.
“We both know there is disgruntlement among the fan base and we want to repair that if we can,” added Bruce. “I can do that by results, Ron can do that with his communications skills. We want to see if we can lift the doom and gloom a little bit and get the club back in the Premier League.”
