Former Republic of Ireland international Stephen Kelly recalls how Steve Bruce bluntly dealt with a player who didn't impress him at Birmingham City.
- Originally published 8/8/19
Speaking to Off The Ball on our Deadline Day Special, Kelly told the story of a player that stepped out of line and felt the full wrath of Steve Bruce when he was at Birmingham City.
"It was a transfer window and we had signed Hossam Ghaly from Tottenham," he recalled. "I don't think the ink was wet so to speak so it wasn't official.
"He came in and he trained with us and he was completely overweight."
The Egyptian player wasn't too impressed with the training session and was beginning to rethink the move.
"We had been running all morning and it was pretty grueling," Kelly recalled, "and then we did a keep-ball session. We were all wrecked from it and it wasn’t a good session.
"After the session, Ghaly left and called his agent and told him, 'I don’t want to be here these players aren’t good enough for me."
Man-manager
Stephen Kelly said he gained a lot of respect for Steve Bruce after what he did next.
"This is why I love him," he explained. "I was in the changing with a teammate of mine and Steve Bruce storms into the changing room.
"I can’t say exactly what he said on live air but basically he berates him, tells him he’s fat and he’s not good enough to play with these players and he should count himself lucky to be able to train with these players for one day.
"Then he said "Your contract hasn’t been submitted” I don’t think what he had in his hands was actually his contract, but he ripped it up and said, 'You can get the f*ck out of my club.'"
Bruce is more known as a man-manager than a master tactician and as Kelly explained he develops a strong bond with his players.
"He had taken such offense to what he said about his group of players," he said, "and we had been promoted that season, he was really insulted by what he said.
"That was it though and he was gone."
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