Steve Bruce in real danger of losing West Brom dressing amid proposed changes
Steve Bruce recently said that all West Brom players must live within an hour from the training ground from next season.
He also stated this and suggested that the same rules would not apply to him as he’ll continue to commute from Cheshire.
With him not being able to turn the Baggies into promotion contenders, he believes that certain things need to change.
He said, “We have too many people travelling and that cannot be good for you. That is not good for you as a professional. I’ve pointed that out. And going forward that is the way we will look at it.”
He also added that having “eight, nine, 10 travelling away” does not help team spirit and that spending a lot of time in a car “catches up with you and probably takes a little bit of your career.”
While one can see the merits in it, it’s unlikely that the players will be too keen on playing ball.
Former Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino also had tried to implement something similar in 2014 but it did not work out.
Bruce must understand that before footballers, they are humans with families they enjoy being with more than they do on the training pitch.
Rather than doing whatever he can to keep them happy, he’s asking them to relocate and bringing their families along may not always be an option.
If there are players who are fatigued or don’t show up in time for training, then that’s fine and they must be punished.
But forcing these things when he’s already not delivering the results could go a long way towards isolating the players and it could result in him losing the dressing room as well.
He must be careful about what sort of changes he really wants to implement at the club.
In other West Brom news, an English club is increasingly confident of beating their rivals to sign a Baggies player this summer.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Baggies and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.