Danny Murphy ‘stands by’ Steve Bruce comments but admits he did not know reasons for Sheffield Wednesday delay

Bruce promised to go on holiday with his wife and family after a tragic 2018 in which both his parents passed away while Aston Villa sacked him as manager and he underwent two operations

Danny Murphy has admitted that he made comments regarding Steve Bruce’s delay in taking the Sheffield Wednesday manager’s job “without knowing all the information”, but has refused to take back that Bruce should not have gone to the Caribbean to watch England’s first cricket Test against the West Indies with his family following a tragic 2018.

Bruce suffered the loss of both parents last year and underwent two operations himself, which he revealed on Monday in response to comments made by Murphy and former Chelsea star Ruud Gullit, while he was also sacked as manager of Aston Villa.

Both had criticised Bruce for choosing to delay his start date at Sheffield Wednesday until 1 February in order to go on a holiday that he had promised his wife, Janet, and her family. Murphy was particularly scathing as he suggested Bruce’s past relationship with Sheffield United – who he played for and managed 20 years ago – would lead to Wednesday fans turning on him much sooner than normally expected if things don’t go to plan this season.

Bruce issued a response to defend himself, with son Alex also posting a message on Twitter hitting out at Murphy and Gullit for their uninformed comments. Bruce also received support from BBC pundit Ian Wright, while former England international Alex Scott attempted to explain the situation surrounding Bruce’s absence, only to be cut-off by Gullit.

Speaking after a public backlash to his comments, Murphy has addressed the situation and said that he made the remarks without finding out the reasons behind Bruce’s decision.

“I have to hold my hands up because I gave an answer without knowing all the information, which is my fault,” Murphy said on Talksport. “I would never want to belittle anyone’s grief or stress, because I’ve experienced that myself in losing my father.

“This isn’t personal about Steve Bruce, I like Steve Bruce, I’ve met him and he’s a good guy.

“I actually told Fulham when they initially went down that if they want to get back up straight away, he’s your man.”

However, Murphy did not apologise for the comments and, if anything, doubled down on his opinion by claiming “I do still think and stand by it”.

“Let me make that clear, this is not a slant against Steve Bruce’s capabilities, he’s a super manager and Sheffield Wednesday have done well to get him,” he added. “The point I made, without having that knowledge, and I do still think and stand by it, is that the perception unfortunately with football supporters is if he comes in and doesn’t start too well, because he’s managed Sheffield United, it doesn’t look great.

“We all say things sometimes and look back and think I wish I dealt with that differently, and I do.

Bruce is currently on holiday with his family in Barbados (Getty)

“If it’s more a contractual thing in terms of what happened when he left Aston Villa, which I don’t know the all the details about, and he actually can’t do it even if he wanted to, that’s very different. That’s fair enough and I accept that.

“From a football perspective there are a lot of tragic events that have happened recently and it’s horrible, but football supporters love their team more than anything else in the world, and they just want everyone within that club to be as committed as they are.”

The comments drew an immediate reaction from Murphy’s former Liverpool teammate Robbie Fowler, who questioned how he can still think that Bruce is in the wrong since learning the reasons behind his decision.

“How can you stand by your comments when you now know the reason?” questioned Fowler, who played alongside Murphy at Liverpool from 1997 to 2001 as well as with England.

Bruce is due to take charge of Wednesday for their next match against Ipswich Town on Saturday as he starts the job on 1 February, but he was criticised by both Murphy and Gullit on Sunday during the 3-0 FA Cup defeat by Chelsea, which saw assistant Steve Agnew take charge of the Championship side.

“I think the big problem is he's making a rod for his own back,” Murphy said during the BBC’s coverage of the match. “He managed Sheffield United and now he said he would take this job.

“The club have to take some blame for allowing him to say 'I'll take it but not until then'.

Murphy criticised Bruce for not taking the Sheffield Wednesday job sooner (BBC)

“They facilitated that which is wrong. If he starts poorly do you think the Sheffield Wednesday fans are not going to bring this up?

“You're sunning yourself watching the cricket for whatever reason. It's not something any manager I've played under would have done.”

Gullit added: “If it was Manchester United do you think he would have done the same?”

Ex-England striker Scott, who was also on the BBC’s panel of analysts, appeared to try and convey that reason for Bruce’s decision, adding “I'm just thinking about the year he's had off the field,” but she was abruptly cut off by Gullit who continued to lay into Bruce.

“No, no, no, no, no. If it was Man Utd in the same moment, would he then do the same thing?” Gullit added.