High ambition for Bruce

In terms of cutting his managerial teeth, however, Yorkshire was where it all began for the the affable 51-year-old so it seems entirely fitting that he should be back in the county at the helm of Hull City.

He arrived in the East Riding a little over two months ago with an enviable reputation and a clear mandate to win promotion within three years.

Bruce is the first to admit that those early days in charge of, first, Sheffield United and then Huddersfield Town were far from easy but he is also adamant that the experience helped turn him into the manager he is today.

“I think it is fair to say both jobs were very difficult,” says Bruce to the Yorkshire Post in his newly-painted office at City’s Cottingham training base.

“I went to Sheffield first and, in those 12 months, I realised exactly what is required if a club is to do well. I learned very quickly that management is not a bed of roses and that was an important lesson. Just because I had been captain of Manchester United, that didn’t mean anything.

“It was almost a ‘welcome to the real world’ moment and a big learning curve, as was my second job at Huddersfield.”

Bruce’s stint at the McAlpine Stadium started well in 1999 and, for a time, Town topped the First Division playing some of the best football seen in Huddersfield for a long time.

However, a slump in form and the sale of Marcus Stewart, then the Championship’s top scorer, meant the Terriers finished eighth. Bruce, sacked the following season, has since become a figure who Town fans love to hate.

“I seem to be remembered as the one who sold Marcus Stewart,” says Bruce today. “But, hang on a minute, am I really going to do that with 12 games to go and give him to Ipswich, one of our rivals?

“I don’t think so. But, of course, as manager, you take the brunt off some people. They don’t see the bigger picture.

“I still get stick and am pilloried when I go back. I don’t know why because where they finished was probably their best finish in a long time. After Huddersfield, the question was whether I really, really wanted it (management). I had a big offer from television and thought, ‘Do I go down this route or do I stick with management?’

“But when football is in you, it is in you. So, I decided to give it another go and, thankfully, Dave Whelan gave me a chance (at Wigan). He reinvigorated me and showed me how a chairman should be and how a club should be.

“The reason Wigan have had the success is Dave being at the top. He is always right behind his manager. When he employs you, he gives you every opportunity to succeed.

“That taught me that management is not only doom and gloom. It can be good if done right. I was off and running after that.”

Hull are hoping to be the chief beneficiary of that early experience in Yorkshire together with the managerial know-how that has seen Bruce spend nine of the last 10 years in the Premier League.

It is a record the Tigers chief is rightly proudly of, not least because it has come with a variety of clubs – a boast that very few, if any, British managers are able to lay claim to.

No wonder, therefore, that Bruce is itching to get back to the Premier League with Hull.

He said: “I am desperate to get back in the big league because, if there is anything about you, that is where you want to be, whether you are following the team or working for the club.

“I am also sure all you reporters had some good times covering Hull City in the Premier League. I’d imagine you want to work for the Yorkshire Post at Old Trafford and White Hart Lane, instead of Oakwell on a Tuesday night – with all respect to Barnsley.

“That spreads from journalists to everyone.”

City, of course, have recent experience of the Premier League after two years among the elite.

Bruce was, ironically, in the away dugout when Hull’s relegation was all but confirmed by a 1-0 defeat to his Sunderland side in April, 2010.

The new Tigers chief was sent off that day following his protests at a Jozy Altidore headbutt on Black Cats defender Alan Hutton that led to both players being shown a red card.

Asked about the fiery afternoon that left Hull six points adrift of safety with two games to go and a vastly inferior goal difference, Bruce said: “Did I get sent off? Christ, I don’t remember that. But I do remember coming to the KC with Wigan and putting five past Hull. (Amr) Zaki had a great afternoon.

“What we have to do as a club is try to get back there because the divide is growing. Look at the next TV deal, that will make the revenue mindblowing.

“We are all trying to get there but we also have to be careful as a club. We can’t just expect the owner (Assem Allam) to keep funding it.

“Let’s be fair about that. They have spent a hell of a lot of money and proved their ambition when selling the club to me. I could see straight away the genuine affinity the chairman and his son (Ehab) have. Hull means a lot to them and Dr Allam wants to give something back.

“The bottom line is that without him, there wouldn’t be a club.

“He didn’t even want to let it go into administration, which is quite remarkable.”

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