Blues Bruce Wades In

Steve Bruce has responded to the barbed comments by Kenny Cunningham fired towards the manager when the defender left Saint Andrews.

Bruce, who rang the player and had a 'blazing row' told the Birmingham Mail:

'When you get criticised, and heavily criticised, you have to have a thick skin. But certainly, I was disappointed to say the least that the captain of the club publicly lambasted me and slated everybody in the way he did. It smacked to me of sour grapes. I thought I had a relationship whereby if there was a problem or he had an opinion, he would come and seek me out and be a man.'

'A man, for me, is somebody who faces you head on and confronts you, not goes behind your back and calls newspaper guys for lunch and gives them his story. It upsets me that I made somebody like that captain of this club, and he probably had the best three or four years of his career here.

He also says that he doesn't know what Cunningham got out of going to the press like that but suggests the player was always awkward: 'Anyone who has come to know Kenny will tell you that if somebody says it's black, he will say it's white. That's his personality.'

Still not letting it lie he also said the former captain should have gone to him and spoken 'face to face'.

The former editor on Vital Birmingham, Big Andy, asked if Kenny was right. 93% said yes, 7% said no.

Hand bags at dawn? Bruce has answered the player now, for the good of the squad, he now has to move on and take the backing of the board as the vote of confidence to get us back into the Premiership. He's got a few bridges to mend to do that.

Full article by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail, Full article by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail, Click Here

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