According to The Times Wigan boss Steve Bruce is already reading the Riot Act to his new players, after being at the helm for barely a fortnight.
After Wigan’s 1-1 home draw with Man City, Paul Scharner criticized Brucie for his long ball hoof-obsession and tactics of hoofing “long, 50-50 balls” up to the strikers and said that Wigan will struggle this season.
Bruce though hit back, saying:
“Despite what was said by a certain individual, there is no way I’m a long-ball merchant…We tried to have a positive attitude all week. We had a fantastic few days on the training pitch and then fought like tigers against a team who are fifth in the Premier League to claim our first point for two months.However, it can become a bit of a negative when something like that develops in the newspapers and I was disappointed. Certainly I’ll have a team that is highly competitive, but never a long-ball side.I want my players to express themselves and enjoy playing.”
So is Bruce going to adopt some flowing footie on the deck, or is he just arguing for arguments sake?