BUST-UP A SIDESHOW
Defender Bruce laughs it off
HULL centre-half Alex Bruce has shrugged off dad Steve’s bust-up with rival boss Gus Poyet as entertainment for the KC Stadium crowd.
An hour after angry Tigers manager Steve Bruce had to be restrained from confronting his Sunderland counterpart, the pair made their peace over a glass of red wine.
And while the incident momentarily threatened to replicate the infamous spat between then Newcastle chief Alan Pardew and Hull’s David Meyler on virtually the same spot 12 months ago, Bruce junior dismissed it.
“It was just handbags,” he said, repeating his father’s comments at Tuesday’s post-match press conference.
“In games like that, there’s always going to be a bit of a hoo-ha. It was a big game that everyone wants to win.
“Temperatures were running high and I’m sure all the supporters enjoyed it.”
While Bruce senior admitted he was embarrassed, claiming the feuding pair had acted like kids, Poyet was unrepentant.
He was ordered off after he sent water bottles
flying when Jack Rodwell was booked for simulation and then approached Bruce before heading down the tunnel.
Neither were willing to divulge what the Uruguayan said to his rival to spark the Hull manager’s wrath.
But Starsport has been told Alex Bruce, who was the defender who challenged Rodwell, was not mentioned.
Bruce junior is adamant that Rodwell got it wrong on two counts in the 1-1 draw, first diving to win a free-kick and then, in the 77th minute, equalising with the ball going in off his arm.
On the first-half incident, he said: “I didn’t touch him. If that is what Gus was unhappy about, then he was wrong. Rodwell was too quick for me.”
And on the goal that rescued a point for Sunderland, he added: “I saw the handball and was claiming for it when he put it in. To be honest, I thought the ball was going in anyway.”
Sunderland players have been banned from talking to the press in the wake of Adam Johnson’s arrest for alleged sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. The club has suspended the winger pending the police
investigation.