"It's disrespectful": Son of Sheffield Wednesday manager Steve Bruce on 'Championship specialist' tag

The footballing son of Sheffield Wednesday manager Steve Bruce has described his father’s tag as ‘a Championship specialist’ as disrespectful.
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Kilmarnock defender Alex Bruce, who enjoyed a short-term loan spell with Wednesday in 2005, also spoke candidly about personal battles that delayed the start of his tenure at Hillsborough earlier this year, leading to criticism from some sections of the media.

Speaking to manutd.com on the ‘Championship specialist’ tag, he said: “He’s been around the block at that level, got a lot of experience managing in the Championship.

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“It annoys me that people think he’s a Championship specialist - he’s got four promotions and so on - but if you look at how he did in the Premier League with Sunderland, Birmingham and Wigan, compared to where they are now, he’s proven himself as a top-level manager. Championship specialist is a bit disrespectful.”

Bruce snr has been promoted to the Premier League more than any other manager - twice each with Birmingham City (01/02, 06/07) and Hull City (12/13, 15/16) - and has managed in the Premier League with four different clubs.

His task now is to make it five and steer Wednesday towards the big time. His last job - at Aston Villa - ended in turbulent circumstances shortly after the death of both his parents, which coupled with health issues meant he decided to delay his start date in Sheffield earlier this year.

Alex, who took to social media to explain the reasons behind his father’s decision, said he was grateful for the understanding of Wednesday fans and the wider football public.

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He said: “Dad’s quite a private person and probably wouldn’t have told people the real reasons, but when he was getting so much stick for not going straight into another job, I thought it was important for people to know the real reasons.

“Once they were out there, people took a step back and eased off a bit, which I was pleased about. It was uplifting to see the reaction and the goodwill for him.”

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