Pundit hadn't done his homework on Owls boss' situation
Football pundit Danny Murphy has held his hands up for making comments about Steve Bruce's delayed start to his Sheffield Wednesday career during the BBC's live broadcast of the Owls cup tie at Chelsea on Sunday.
Former Liverpool midfielder Murphy had stated that Bruce 'had made a rod for his own back' by spending time in the West indies 'sunning himself for whatever reason' watching the England cricket team and delaying the start date of his tenure at Hillsborough. He also stated that Wednesday as a club should take some blame for facilitating the delayed start and that Owls fans would not be happy with this if his management of the club doesn't start well. Former Chelsea star Ruud Gullit supported Murphy's standpoint though ex-England womens international Alex Scott was more supportive of Bruce's position.
Murphy was the subject of backlash on social media from Wednesday fans while Bruce's son Alex also posted an emotional response in support of his father on twitter. Since the decision was taken to appoint Steve Bruce, the reasons for him not commencing work until February 1st has been widely reported. The former Manchester United defender lost his mum and dad who both passed away in 2018 and when he lost his job as Villa manager later that year he chose to take some time out having been in management for 20 years. He has also had some health issues of his own to deal with recently. Wednesday as a club and a fan base in general have been supportive of the situation and are looking forward to welcoming him this weekend when he takes charge of the Owls game at Ipswich Town.
On Talksport on Tuesday Murphy made the admission that his comments on Sunday had been made without knowing the full facts for which he took the blame, stating that he would never want to belittle anyone's grief or stress.
He did however also state that initially he didn't think it looked good that the cameras were picking him up at the cricket and ....'Sheffield Wednesday fans are thinking we're in a bit of a relegation scrap and he could be here'. As things stand the Owls are not having a great season by any means but they have only lost 1 of their last 6 league games since parting company with previous manager Jos Luhukay and are in 17th place in the Championship, 11 points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand on many teams below them and 11 points off a play-off place.