Why the sight of Steve Bruce rowing with his Sunderland players is a good thing for the club
The sight of a couple of Sunderland players giving boss Steve Bruce some back-chat during Saturday’s win against Blackburn might have been worrying at any other club.
It could have suggested indiscipline, a lack of respect, and a hint that behind the scenes a new regime was struggling to make an impact.
But Bruce is an expert communicator. Strong-minded, but open to a player having his say. Opinionated, but a listener.
Roy Keane used to lock the door to his managerial office and often refuse to see his players. Bruce is always open to dialogue and his door is always open.
He came up with the perfect response to Danny Collins’ finger pointing discussion in the dying minutes.
Bruce told him: “You’ve done it your way for a couple of years and it hasn’t been very good, has it?“
For Collins and the Sunderland players who only just scraped away from relegation last season, there’s no clever dick response to that.
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