Bruce made me scapegoat but I am not a bad influence & I’m out to prove myself all over again at Well
Loan star McCormack opens up on rammy with his ex-Villa gaffer
ROSS McCORMACK last night accused Steve Bruce of making him a scapegoat by blasting the striker for being late for training due to his faulty electric gates.
The frontman was furious with his former boss at Aston Villa after Bruce launched a blistering attacking on him two years ago over the episode.
Bruce challenged McCormack to jump his fence and phone a taxi to reach the club’s training ground but the Scotland striker responded by saying his gates would be fixed in time for him to make the start of the session.
The gaffer then drove to McCormack’s house and photographed the 4ft 6in wall to prove the player could have left the property and arranged alternative transport.
McCormack believes Bruce tried to use the story to deflect from Villa blowing a two-goal lead against Preston with his old boss revealing the details in his post-match press conference.
The Scotland striker admitted the story hurt his reputation but is now looking to rebuild his career after returning to former club Motherwell on loan.
The 32-year-old believes he made the wrong move by joining Villa in a £12million switch in 2016 – insisting he should have stayed at Fulham.
And he rejected claims he’s a bad influence in the dressing room, pointing to his spell as skipper at both Leeds and Craven Cottage.
McCormack believes a problem between him and Bruce led to a breakdown in their relationship prior to the incident with the gates but the player refused to go into details. He said: “There was something massive that happened before that but there’s no two ways about it, he hung me out to dry with that. “I’d have been in on time. Everyone at the club knows that. “The gate problem is real. I never said I wasn’t coming in. I just said I’m running a bit late. “Next thing there was the headlines. It came because Villa were 2-0 up at home to Preston and lost two late goals. Being clever, he tried to shift the blame on me. That’s fine but something big happened before. “Going down that route publicly wasn’t helpful. It was personal with Steve. “A lot of things I’ll keep to myself. But I started his first game so he didn’t come in and say, ‘I don’t fancy Ross.’ To people who don’t know me and listen to those who say I’m a bad egg or whatever, I was captain at Fulham and Leeds.
“That was about four years in a row. Have you ever heard of a captain who’s a bad egg? Me neither. The stats back it up.
“Until I went to Villa I was scoring ‘X’ amount. It just didn’t happen there. I have seen it happen with loads of players.
“They get frozen out and leave. It just feels there was a little more needle in mine. I’ve got a lot to prove to myself because confidence has been on the floor in the last few years.
“I was maybe too quick to leave Fulham. I’m not just saying that because they’re in the Premier League now and I might have been captain – I could have finished my career there. There were a lots of good people at the club.
“As a family we were settled in London. I was too eager to move. The last few years at Fulham, we were flirting with relegation.
“Villa were signing this and that player and I was thinking, ‘This is my chance to get to the Premier League.’ I was over eager to join them.
“Coming to Motherwell is a good chance for me. The kids will get to see me play. My focus now is the next five months. It’s about building up confidence and proving I can do it again.”
McCormack – 10 days away from full training due to an ankle injury – is in his fourth loan spell from Aston Villa.
He headed to Australia twice and played alongside Usain Bolt at Central Coast Mariners. Despite the Jamaican bagging two goals in a trial, the sprint legend failed to win a deal.
McCormack said: “He could have sat on the beach chilling but he had a go.”