SOCCER: Steve Bruce has achieved much with Birmingham City but he still looks up to 'Mr Wenger', he tells Michael Walker.
Eight-thirty a.m., Birmingham City's training ground and Steve Bruce is about to be unimpressed. "This is our time," Bruce says of the staff gathering to have tea and discuss the previous night's reserve match, "before the animals come in."
Over in the far corner one of them is in already, however, and Kenny Cunningham roars. Bruce gives a long suffering, see-what-I've-got-to-deal-with kind of look but is still jovial until entering the boot room.
"Bloody youngsters, when I was at Gillingham I had to clean all the boots and scrub the toilets. Look at these, look at the dirt." A few minutes on and the young men of Birmingham's academy are lined up in a corridor standing opposite each other, Bruce is lecturing.
Rebuke delivered, he returns to his tea and reminisces about the shipyard and the Turbinia pub of the Walker district of Newcastle where he grew up. Happy again. He has come a long way from Walker and Gillingham and his mix seems to be working. Today Birmingham sit fifth in the Premiership and host leaders Arsenal.
"It's a great test for us and for me it'll be great to see how far we've come," Bruce says of this afternoon. "They gave us a nice introduction (2-0) when we first arrived in the Premiership and then at Christmas, when they turned us over 4-0 at St Andrews. I hope, well I know, that we are far better now, even if we are still expected to struggle against a fantastic team. They have proved that they are a top team with great resilience, and I think they are better away from home. On the counter-attack they are something special."
Bruce has no doubts that this is down to a special manager, Arsene Wenger, into his eighth year at Highbury. In around half that time Bruce has been at five clubs - Sheffield United, Huddersfield Town, Wigan Athletic, Crystal Palace and Birmingham.
But next month sees his second anniversary at St Andrews, as well as his 43rd birthday, and continuity is a quality he now appreciates.
"Stability. I knew when I left Crystal Palace that there had to be some stability. I couldn't be seen to be having any more (clubs), especially with the profile I'd got. When you consider I had four clubs in 20 years as a player, I'd more in two or three years (as a manager). I needed stability and I knew if I didn't make a fist of it here then I might be in serious trouble."
Following nearly a decade at Old Trafford Bruce had two years at Birmingham as a player before setting out as player-manager at Sheffield United. But it was a spell at the Blues that left a mark.
"Professionally and personally I wanted to come back here because you knew you had a chance. You look at the board, three managers in 10 years - who can boast that? And I was always intrigued by what this club would be like in the Premier League. I have enjoyed it. I have put down roots. I signed a new five-year contract in the summer and I was delighted to do so. It's been great, two years ago we were 13th in the First Division. Long may it continue."
Birmingham are on an upward curve. Much will be made of his second anniversary but January will offer a reminder of another landmark. City were 16th a year ago, in the midst of a run of one win in 12 league games. Fulham also knocked them out of the FA Cup in the third round. Worried, Bruce was given funding for four new signings.
"When you're in management you need a hand. I went to the board, Mr (David) Sullivan, Mr (David) Gold and his brother (Ralph Gold), and I said: 'We're struggling with injuries. Geoff Horsfield is at centre-half, Paul Devlin is at right-back.' This was at Man U. We had to accept that unless we did something about it we'd get relegated, simple as that. Thankfully, they said 'OK Steve, we agree with you, who have you got in mind?' And the likes of (Matthew) Upson, (Christophe) Dugarry, (Stephen) Clemence, (Jamie) Clapham, they've all been regulars in the team since the day they arrived. Without that influx I'm sure we'd have been relegated. Added to that we've signed (David) Dunn, (Mikael) Forssell and (Maik) Taylor, so we've signed seven players since last January. That makes us a better squad."
In turn the board will be pleased that after years of Barry Fry, Bruce shows circumspection when it comes to spending.
When talking about Wenger's attributes Bruce made a point: "The one outstanding thing is that he can pick a player, can't he? For me Thierry Henry is as good a player as any in the world. Then there's (Patrick) Vieira. He (Wenger) has proved that he's exceptional in the transfer market, probably better than anybody. (Robert) Pires, (Freddie) Ljungberg is another one, it's one of the ways you are judged and rightly so, you're responsible.
"You're intrigued by him, aren't you? I think we're all intrigued by Mr Wenger. All we managers look at him, how he does it. But the one thing in management is that you have to be yourself and do it your way. I don't think I could ever be as cool, if that's the right word. Another thing I admire him for is that publicly he never criticises his players, that's how he's pulled the group together."
Today offers a measurement, of Birmingham and himself.
"We've had a great start but the expectation has grown and grown. We've got to have a reality check. Look at the bottom of the table and who'd have thought Everton, Blackburn, Leeds would be in the bottom four. But apart from the top five I think the rest of us are much of a muchness. You used to have a clutch of four or five who would always be competing for the European spots but this year I detect that there are 15 clubs who could go into Europe or the relegation zone."
Looked at optimistically that means Birmingham could be heading into Europe? "Of course."
Guardian Service
