Simon Jordan shares text message Steve Bruce sent him about West Brom job
Steve Bruce has told Simon Jordan he’s mad to be returning to management amid strong speculation linking him with the job at West Brom.
The Athletic journalist David Ornstein reported on Thursday [2 February] that Bruce, 61, is in the final stages of contract negotiations with the Baggies, who sacked Valerien Ismael on Wednesday.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Thursday morning, ex-Crystal Palace owner Jordan, who had Bruce in charge at Selhurst Park for a brief period in 2001, revealed a text message conversation he had with the former Aston Villa and Newcastle boss about his return to management.
“I sent him a text this morning saying, ‘are you bloody mad?’. He said, ‘yes, I think I am’. Not in terms of taking the job at West Bromwich Albion but in terms of getting back into the mix after such a difficult time at Newcastle,” said Jordan on talkSPORT [10:35am, 2 February]
“I think he’ll get them into a situation where they’re far more competitive.
“I like Valerien Ismael, I’m surprised it went the way it did but it has gone that way.
“I think [Bruce] will be a decent appointment for them. I think he will get them closer to where they need to be than the current situation because I think Valerien Ismael, despite my support of him, appeared to have completely lost the way, which is a disappointment.”
Time to move on from Valball
It’s crazy to think about how it all started for Ismael and how it all ended.
When he first arrived at The Hawthorns, we bamboozled teams with our constant press, our strength at set-pieces and our never-say-die attitude.
However, as the season wore on, the squad, which was already light of quality outside the starting line-up, got hit by predictable injuries and predictable suspensions while Ismael continued to play the same predictable formation, making the same predictable substitutions and oversaw the same predictable results.
If you haven’t already noticed, the one word we’d use to sum up Ismael’s reign is predictable. However, you could also make a case for the word boring.
Bruce is a manager who many feel they know what they’re going to get from but he has won promotions in the past, he has tried to play attacking football in the past and he has been a success in the past.
The fanbases at Villa and Newcastle were already quite toxic before they hired Bruce. Albion’s is in a similar state but perhaps nowhere near to the degree of that at Villa Park and St James’ Park.
He won’t be under as much pressure here with many fans already given up hope of getting a top-two finish.
Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and see how he gets on.
In other West Brom news, an ex-Albion midfielder instantly reacted to the news of Ismael’s dismissal on Wednesday.