Chapter 11 Steve Bruce
1121 Words
Rudy went back into the living room carrying two glasses of water, he stopped in surprise when he saw Curtis with an apron tied around his waist cleaning the mess. Rudy felt ashamed, what was this kid doing? Rudy berated himself for laziness and untidiness and gave an awkward laugh.
“Well, I didn’t expect you to come in here and start cleaning! I thought kids hated doing chores!” Rudy tried to make a joke.
Curtis looked at him deadpan,
“I always keep my things tidy.”
Rudy didn’t say anything but started to clean up as well, he couldn’t let Curtis clean by himself, after all it was his mess, Rudy felt humiliated by a thirteen year old. Most of the mess revolved around football. Countless magazines and newspapers, along with some news clippings, photos and files.
After going and putting a load of laundry on, Rudy came back into the lounge room and turned the TV on, he only did it out of habit, for background noise.
“Wow, the first channel is football news, do you watch it every day?” Curtis asked.
Rudy nodded as he gave his attention to the TV, a news broadcast was about to start.
‘In the latest news, Steve Bruce legendary center of Manchester United, has held a press conference today to officially announce that he will not be renewing his contract with League One Birmingham Club.’
‘The former Manchester United captain is now 38 years old, he has made over 72 appearances, he was the clubs core defense and contributed to keeping Birmingham out of trouble. But now he has come out and said that it time for him to retire.’
‘Birmingham Football Club is sad at his departure and when reporters asked Bruce whether he would stay in football he replied that he would like to stay in football in another capacity but everything was still under consideration and anything was possible. Birmingham Football Club released a statement saying that although they are reluctant to let him go, they respect his decision and hope that one day Bruce will be able to work with the club in another role.’
Both Rudy and Curtis had stopped cleaning and were watching the news cast with interest, they both loved football and any news was of interest to them.
“But… he was one of my idols!” Curtis cried out in dismay.
Rudy was not as fond of Bruce as Curtis was, he remembered all to well what had happened when he had left Birmingham. Bruce had been with Manchester United for 9 years before leaving to join Birmingham in league one.
After two years at Birmingham, he was unhappy and decided to leave. It had caused a few problems within the club. A little while later he had been spotted playing with Sheffield United, then went on to become a coach. The circumstances at Sheffield United was not ideal for Bruce however, again he found that he was not happy and for a little while he bounced back and forth between several different minor league teams.
Bruce had been forced to leave after a minor confrontation with some fans, then in 2001 he returned to Birmingham and took the team all the way to the premier league. Eventually he found his way back to coaching.
He led Wigan, Sunderland and quite a few other teams, he developed a reputation for himself as one of the best coaches in England. Fans began saying that he would be the next Ferguson and Rudy burst out laughing.
“One of the best coaches around is free and here! There is no way that I can pass up this opportunity!” Rudy crowed with delight.
Curtis had no idea what was going on, he thought maybe Rudy had finally lost his mind from the stress.
Curtis felt a little bit freaked out.
“Can I know what is so funny?” Curtis asked.
“No, it’s none of your business! I want you to go and take a shower while I make some pasta for dinner.” Rudy answered.
As soon as Curtis had locked himself in the bathroom, Rudy rang Wolf. He didn’t even bother to say hello but cut to the chase immediately;
“I think I have an idea about a suitable coach for us. He is extremely skilled, he has good strong connections with Manchester United and he is highly respected in the football community.” Rudy said excitedly.
“Ha! Someone like that actually exists? I’m not sure…” Wolf replied hesitantly.
“Of course there is!...” Rudy started but before he could finish explaining Wolf interrupted him.
“I hope you aren’t talking about Sir Alexi Ferguson!” Wolf teased Rudy.
“Please!! No, no of course I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about Steve Bruce, the former captain of Manchester United. You know who I’m talking about, right?” Rudy asked.
“Him? Really?” Wolf knew exactly who Rudy was talking about, although he hadn’t seen the news yet.
“Look, I just saw the news, Bruce is not continuing his contract with Birmingham. I know he is getting older, but he might be looking at going into coaching again, this could be our chance at the big time!” Rudy exclaimed.
“That would be incredible of course! But the thing is, would he agree to it? We are only a newly established, amateur team. I don’t know…” Wolf sounded unsure.
Wolf would be ecstatic if they could get Bruce to coach their team.
“Well, how do we know if we don’t try? I heard he is staying at his place in Manchester, is there anyway you could get the address? I want to go and talk to him face to face and the sooner the better. I do not want to miss out on this opportunity!” Rudy said excitedly.
For a new football club, getting a former Manchester United star to coach them would be a huge godsend. No doubt that it would attract more people to the club, it would also give them credibility and Rudy knew that he was an excellent manager, he could take them places.
“Ha! I don’t have to waste any time then, I will take you to meet him tonight.” Wolf exclaimed mysteriously.
Rudy was stunned into silence for a second, he took a deep breath;
“You know him?” Rudy exhaled.
- Writer
