Alex Bruce has tweeted in defence of his father’s decision to take a break from football, after Danny Murphy and Ruud Gullit questioned his decision to delay becoming manager of Sheffield Wednesday.
Steve Bruce was confirmed as the new Wednesday boss at the start of the new year, but he will officially take over the reins on February 1.
This led to some criticism from Murphy and Gullit during BBC’s coverage of the Owl’s fourth-round FA Cup tie at Chelsea, despite Alex Scott, who was also on punditry duty at the game, defending Bruce’s decision.
His son Alex, who plays for Wigan Athletic, responded on Twitter, saying: “Maybe if Ruud and Danny had been managing since 1998, lost a father, a mother, a job, had health issues of his own to cope with all in the space of around six months they and others would understand why he needed a short break from football.”
After losing his mother and father in a short space of time last year, Bruce was relieved of his duties of Aston Villa boss after a run of one win in 10 games.
His sacking came just five months after he guided the Villains to the Championship Play-off Final, where they lost 1-0 to Fulham.
Bruce decided to take a break from Football after this tough period in his life, taking his wife, Janet, to the Caribbean, where they watched England’s first Test match against the West Indies in Barbados.
Bruce takes over a Wednesday team who currently sit 17th in the Championship table after sacking Jos Luhukay before the Christmas period.
