Football
ESPN staff 9y

Steve Bruce 'fortunate' not to be sacked after Hull relegation

Steve Bruce has admitted he was lucky not to be sacked by Hull City after their relegation from the Premier League.

Hull suffered demotion from the top flight to the Championship, finishing in 18th with their 0-0 draw against Manchester United not enough to save them.

Bruce, who has been in charge of Hull since 2012, said in the Daily Mail: "I am fortunate because I am sure most managers would have paid the penalty after relegation. That is how football is nowadays.

"I had a chat with the owner Assem Allam and of course I wanted to know if he still wanted me to carry on. But there was another question too -- whether I had the enthusiasm to fight in the Championship again against all the big clubs there.

"In the end, I thought to myself, why not if the owner still wants me to carry on, which he does. He is a very good man. I enjoy working for him so I am going to try and take him back to the Premier League.

"We've won promotion together before and reached an FA Cup final but this will be like starting all over again."

Bruce accepts that Hull will likely lose a number of their star players during the summer as they prepare for life in the second tier.

He said: "We are going to lose players because Premier League teams will want them. That is a big thing we have to deal with.

"We are in a healthy position financially because of being in the Premier League and reaching the FA Cup final but everybody has their price.

"I am sure Nikica Jelavic will go, Dame N'Doye, Mo Diame if he's fit. Tom Ince is free to talk to Derby at an agreed price."

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