Steve Bruce steered Birmingham back into the Premier League last season, although he didn’t stick around very long at St Andrews this campaign. Instead, the uncertainty over the club’s ownership saw the former Manchester United player leave the Midlands and take charge at Wigan, whom he’s managed to keep afloat with games to spare.

Not that it was a clean break between Bruce and his former club last autumn. Far from it, there’s been a spat between the two parties which have run over the past few months, becoming increasingly bitter in the process. The Wigan manager was forced to pay back some of the upfront cash he received from City for image rights, something that clearly rankles with him when asked about his former employers and their current predicament at the foot of the table.

Bruce said: “I will be sorry for the players, staff and fans if they go down. Anyone else at the club? No, that’s it.”

Miaow! Sky Sports report that Brum’s co-owner David Gold is not taking these comments lying down, snapping back in customary fashion. Do you think he and David Sullivan take turns to verbally volley with their former employee?

When quizzed recently “Steve has consistently made attacks on the board. Does he hold all seven of us responsible including Jack Wiseman, who is 90, or just some of us?

“At the moment an old man thinks he is responsible along with the rest of us and he’s not.

“So come on Steve, show some courage. Name names. Anything else is cowardly.

“It’s time he told everybody what it is we’ve done wrong. The truth is we have done nothing to be ashamed of. We treated him generously and acted more than properly.

“He should sit down with people other than ‘yes men’ and take proper counsel and he will then learn that we have acted more than fairly.

“We reduced substantially what we were owed on his image rights and told him to pay £300,000 over three years because we have shareholders to think about. There’s about £30,000 left to pay which shouldn’t make too much of a dent in the huge bonus he’ll get for keeping Wigan up.”

Indeed, there’ll be a Brucie bonus and a half coming from Dave Whelan after the Latics manager kept them in the Premier League for the third season running. However, you might not be able to put a price on watching Birmingham get relegated for their ex-gaffer, especially as he won’t have to visit St Andrews next season!

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