Bruce Excuse

It is a week since the 7-0 drubbing in the FA Cup (which I was unfortunate enough to witness) and I'm not sure I've recovered yet. David Sullivan has been highly critical of the players, claiming he is sick of footballers. Steve Bruce on the other hand has been a bit too keen in defending them, publicly criticizing Sullivan's statements on more than one occasion.

Now if your the manager, and you don't like what the owner is saying, surely you do what the captain Kenny Cunningham did and ask to have a meeting with him in private? Is Bruce looking for a way out of Blues, preferably with a lucrative pay-off and without having the criticism leveled at him that he has walked out of another club?

The question is where does he go. Newcastle, who he has been linked with in the past, will not want him after this season's performance, and the same goes for the England job. Surely the best thing he can do for his career is to keep quiet and keep Blues up, or at the very least bring them back up from the Championship next season.

And who would replace Bruce. I can think of no-one except for coach Eric Black - but does he have enough experience. This season truly has profited no-one.