Bruce lashes out at players - and former boss

Oct 25 2009 by James Hunter, Sunday Sun

Sunderland had drawn at Man U and beaten Liverpool in their previous two games and Bruce was unhappy that his team did not perform to the same standard at St Andrew’s.

“We played very well against Man U and then Liverpool, so I tried to do everything I could to make sure we didn’t let our standards slip today,” added Bruce.

“We’ve seen ‘after the Lord Mayor’s Show’ displays too many times.

“I’d been trying to guard against it all week.

“We set ourselves high standards over the last few weeks but, basically, today we were poor.”

Bruce also took a swipe at former Birmingham managing director Karren Brady after she gave a sugary interview praising him yesterday morning.

Bruce accused Brady of selling players against his wishes and backtracking over the offer of a new contract before he left Birmingham in acrimonious circumstances in 2007.

Bruce said: “I was there for nearly eight years as player and manager so it was nice to get a good reception.

“But the patronising stuff from Karren Brady this morning I found galling, to be honest.

“When I was here she sold players such as Matt Upson from under me – and shafted me on a new contract.

“Then, all of a sudden, it is all nicey-nicey. I find that a bit strange.”

Meanwhile, Bruce’s opposite number Alex McLeish was delighted with his side’s win.

He said: “I thought we deserved to win. I thought the players gave everything.”