Friends of Hull City manager Steve Bruce have spoken of having to be constantly vigilant in case a drunk Bruce applies for a managerial position at Sunderland.
Despite being Newcastle born and bred, Bruce took charge of Sunderland in 2009 and enjoyed two fairly successful seasons before being axed after a poor start to the 2011/12 campaign.
Prior to Sunderland’s visit to the KC Stadium last weekend, Bruce admitted for the first time that he has no idea how he ended up managing a club he despises and whose fans largely despise him.
However, despite Bruce’s public statements, sources close to the functional manager have revealed that he has a complicated love-hate relationship with Sunderland.
“I’ve never understood it myself,” a friend of Bruce’s told FourFourTwo. “When he’s sober, Stevie [Steve Bruce] will tell you how much he can’t stand Sunderland.
“But get a couple of drinks in him and he immediately starts to change his tune. He’ll start going on about how their kit is actually pretty attractive and keep repeating ‘Stadium of Light, you would though, wouldn’t you?'
“You go off to get a round in and by the time you come back he’s sent off an application for the Sunderland manager’s job.
“To make matters worse he always attaches a well constructed cover letter citing past experience relevant to the role. It doesn’t help that he’s exactly the kind of manager that Sunderland would have.”
Bruce’s friends also spoke of having to forcibly delete Sunderland AFC’s number from his mobile phone after the former centre-back began leaving flirty messages on the club’s voicemail.
“It’s just so embarrassing,” Bruce’s drinking buddy cringed. “We all love Wor Brucie [Steve Bruce] but to hear him growling at the Sunderland AFC automated messaging system asking why it can’t admit it still wants him makes me feel pretty low.”
At the time of publishing, Bruce had de-tagged himself from all Facebook photos including Sunderland AFC, but had clicked on its LinkedIn profile several times, just so it knows he’s thinking of it.
