Sheffield Wednesday might have already made their most important signing of the summer
David Bruce has brought fresh ideas and vast level of experience to his role at Sheffield Wednesday, meaning he already feels like a significant coup for the club.
“I cannot stress enough how excellent David Bruce was for Sunderland. He will totally transform your club and always put the fans first.”
That was what Sunderland fan and YouTuber Eddy Bamber commented when Sheffield Wednesday uploaded a first interview with their new chief executive to their YouTube channel on Monday night.
Unveiled on the pitch alongside new Owls chairman David Storch and his Arise Capital Partners colleagues, Michael Storch and Tom Costin, ahead of the final day win over West Bromwich Albion earlier this month, Bruce, in his maiden interview as Owls chief executive, was asked to introduce himself to Wednesday’s supporters, tell everyone a little bit about himself, his family and his history in football.
He was then quizzed about his and Arise’s plans to try and take Wednesday forward as they attempt to clear up the mess left behind by former owner and chairman Dejphon Chansiri.
Arriving at Hillsborough with a glowing references from those at the Stadium of Light, it quickly became easy to understand why. He is an excellent communicator, speaking at great lengths to outline the new ownership’s groups plans for the short, medium and long-term.
Wednesdayites, who have been starved of a plan for their football club for far too long, were impressed. Very impressed. They were arguably even more impressed when he appeared at Tuesday night’s Sheffield Wednesday Supporters' Trust AGM.
On some of the previous occasions Wednesdayites had gathered inside the 1867 Lounge to hear from the club’s hierarchy, they had been told to sell their houses or go out and search for a buyer as the pressure increased on Chansiri’s shoulders. It was little wonder so many people described Tuesday evening’s AGM as a ‘breath of fresh air’.
Bruce’s address to the supporters certainly was a breath of fresh air. He had supporters clinging onto every word, going into detail about plans to try and take the Owls forward both on and off the pitch.
Repeatedly insisting that Wednesday’s supporters will be at the heart of the new regime’s plans to take the club forward, it was impossible not to be encouraged.
Bruce has arrived at Hillsborough with a wealth of experience under his belt from his time in the United States with the MLS and at Sunderland. In the US, Bruce led MLS' brand evolution and was part of the team that helped launch Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami.
At Sunderland, he served as chief brand and commercial officer and then chief business officer. His background in those particular areas will bring skills and qualities that have been absent from Hillsborough for far too long.
Bruce has a reputation for excelling on the commercial side of the operation, and that is a department Wednesday have been left behind in over recent years with club staff often hamstrung by the former owner.
Bruce, who will lead the operation at Hillsborough as the man on the ground, evidently has the full support of the ownership group, and it also appears he has built a very strong relationship with David Storch in next to no time.
“We will be very aligned,” Bruce told Wednesday’s YouTube channel. “We will build plans together, we will sign off on plans together. I will openly execute them on the ground. I will be in Sheffield.”
He added: “I speak to them [the owners] all the time. If David has an idea, he doesn’t let it sit in his head; he calls me immediately. There were multiple times over the weekend when David was calling me with a different idea or different thought that he’s got, and I love that.
“I love that in an owner because this is a live entertainment business. We will have plans, we will have long-range plans, we’ll have short, medium plans.
“But for us, if there is something coming up in the here and the now, he knows with me on the ground he can call me at any time, likewise I can call him and I have got someone I can rely on for counsel and if I am going through a difficult moment, he will partner with me on that, and I think we are going to have a brilliant relationship moving forward.”
Storch’s eagerness to delegate and lean on a more experienced football figure is a massive step forward for Wednesday. Under the previous regime, Chansiri wanted full control of just about every decision that needed to be made.
In Bruce, Wednesday have appointed a more than capable operator, who has the skill set to take the club forward and deliver improvements across the board.
Actions will, of course, speak louder than words over the coming weeks and months, but it is impossible not be enthused by Bruce’s appointment. He might have the biggest impact of any new face that arrives in S6 this summer.