BBC pundits Danny Murphy and Ruud Gullit criticise Steve Bruce for taking break despite recent death of both parents, prompting anger from son

Alex Bruce has hit out at both Danny Murphy and Ruud Gullit after they criticised his father, Steve, for his decision not to take the Sheffield Wednesday manager’s job until the start of February.

Steve Bruce is currently in the Caribbean with his wife Janet after watching the first cricket Test between the West Indies and England in what is understood to have been a promise he made to both her and his family following a tragic 2018.

Bruce lost both his mother and father and was also sacked by Aston Villa towards the end of the year, while in his tweet son Alex revealed that Steve also had his own health scare that resulted in him making a promise to take some time out of football to be with his family, including ticking off a bucket-list objective in watching the cricket in the Caribbean with his wife and family.

Bruce is due to take charge of Wednesday for their next match against Ipswich Town on Saturday as he starts the job on 1 February, but he was criticised by both Murphy and Gullit on Sunday during the 3-0 FA Cup defeat by Chelsea, which saw assistant Steve Agnew take charge of the Championship side.

“I think the big problem is he's making a rod for his own back,” Murphy said during the BBC’s coverage of the match. “He managed Sheffield United and now he said he would take this job.

“The club have to take some blame for allowing him to say 'I'll take it but not until then'.

“They facilitated that which is wrong. If he starts poorly do you think the Sheffield Wednesday fans are not going to bring this up?

“You're sunning yourself watching the cricket for whatever reason. It's not something any manager I've played under would have done.”

Gullit added: “If it was Manchester United do you think he would have done the same?”

Their comments provoked a stern response from Hull City defender Alex Bruce, who explained the reason for his father’s trip to the Caribbean after his difficult 2018.

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“Maybe if Ruud and Danny had been managing since 1998, lost a father, a mother, a job, had health issues of his own too to cope with all in the space of around six months they and others would understand why he needed a short break from football,” Alex Bruce wrote on Twitter in a response to a Match of the Day video post that was subsequently deleted.

Former England Women international Alex Scott appeared to try and convey that reason during the BBC’s coverage, saying “I'm just thinking about the year he's had off the field,” but she was abruptly cut off by Gullit who continued to lay into Bruce.

“No, no, no, no, no. If it was Man Utd in the same moment, would he then do the same thing?” Gullit added.

Both Murphy and Gullit have been roundly criticised for their remarks and an obvious failure to research into the reasons why Bruce is not currently in charge of Wednesday.

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Fellow BBC pundit Ian Wright backed the former Villa boss, writing on Twitter in response to Alex Bruce’s post: “Can’t imagine how that would have felt to have to listen to that when you know exactly what’s happened. Family and health is and always should come before football.”

Former Blackburn Rovers footballer David Dunn added: “Totally agree Al sometimes family and more importantly yourself comes first ! Your Dad’s a successful manager and knows what he needs before he goes in again! Good luck to him he’s one of the good ones.”