Bruce ‘Why I Had To Leave’

Alex Bruce has spoken about his reasons for leaving Birmingham, having joined Ipswich on a free transfer over the summer.

‘I was being slaughtered by the press. I enjoyed working with my father Steve and his staff and the players were great, but I was put under so much extra pressure for being the manager’s son.

‘As a youngster trying to make his way in the game you expect a bit of slack, but the press were slaughtering me.

‘In one report in a Sunday national paper I was rated three out of 10 with the comment ‘If he ever plays a Premiership game for his father again it will be a disgrace.’ If it had carried on my career could have been finished.

‘The pressure was too much as I felt I was playing as well as anybody else. I had to get out – and I could not have wished to join a better club than Ipswich. Now I have settled in I am determined to prove the knockers wrong.’

Bruce will play for Ipswich tonight, but under the terms of his transfer ill be unavailable for the trip to St Andrews on Saturday.