Hull City paper talk: Should Steve Bruce have been considered for the Manchester United job in the summer?
Bruce should have been contender for Manchester United job
Steve Bruce should have rivalled Louis van Gaal for the Manchester United job during the summer, according to fellow Premier League boss Harry Redknapp.
United picked van Gaal to replace the departed David Moyes, but Redknapp feels the Hull City boss deserved to be in the reckoning too. The QPR manager praised Bruce for his work at City last season and added van Gaal "couldn't have done a better job".
“Louis van Gaal couldn’t have done a better job with Hull City than Steve Bruce did last year," Redknapp told the Manchester Evening News.
“Yet did his heroics in the League and FA Cup create even a ripple at Old Trafford? Was Steve, a great competitor and wonderful player for United, even considered for the Manchester United job?
“OK, a few times in his career it hasn’t worked out but that would be true of Van Gaal, too, if he had spent his managerial life at clubs like Sheffield United, Huddersfield Town or Hull.”
Van Gaal's United are currently fourth in the league after seven games. Would they be higher had Steve Bruce taken the reins?
Chester and Ince in actionAnother City man with former links to the Red Devils, James Chester, played the full 90 minutes for Wales last night in their 0-0 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Chester put in an assured performance at the heart of the defence as Chris Coleman's men continued their unbeaten start to their Euro 2016 qualification campaign.
Wales rode their luck at times but earned a fully deserved point. It could have been three had Chester's fellow defender, Ashley Williams, not headed over from point-blank range, while Gareth Bale also came close late on. Wales now face Cyprus in Cardiff on Monday night, where a win would put them in a healthy position ahead of next month's tough-looking trip to Belgium.
Tom Ince was also on international duty last night, helping England's under-21s overturn a one-goal deficit to defeat Croatia at Molineux. With Gareth Southgate's Three Lions 1-0 down after 56 minutes, Ince came on as a substitute and contributed to a stirring comeback.
England now head to Croatia next Tuesday for the second leg of their European Championships play-off with a lead to defend, and Ince will be hoping he did enough last night to earn a start.
Snodgrass still a part of Scotland's plans One man who unfortunately won't be representing his country this week is Robert Snodgrass. The City winger looks to be ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a serious knee injury on the opening day at QPR. He will only have a watching brief as Scotland take on Georgia later this evening, but he is still very much a part of manager Gordon Strachan's plans.
So much so that Strachan has invited the former Norwich star along to his team talks this week.
“Every one of the lads in the squad has wished me all the best since my injury,” Snodgrass told The Scotsman. “Most of them have been through something similar and the manager has also been on the phone, trying to get me to the team hotel and to sit in on the meetings.
“That shows the character of the man. He wants us all to feel part of it and I take my hat off to him. It feels like a club whenever we meet up and that bodes well for the future."
Central role for Sagbo at Wolves?
Yannick Sagbo is looking to use the international break to grow accustomed to his new surroundings at Wolves.
Sagbo joined the Championship outfit last month but has struggled to make an impact in his two games so far. And his new boss Kenny Jackett is hoping to use the two-week break to experiment using Sagbo as a central striker.
He told the Birmingham Mail: “On Tuesday morning in training I put in him in there, really experimenting and moving it around because he’s got some physical strength and he can be a handful. So it will be interesting now over the international break how he gets on in training.
“He needs plenty of 11-a-side work every day to make sure he gets to know our system and how we play.
“We’re going to try to get him to play right him up there, running in behind to stretch the back four. I don’t think he’s for the wide areas, but I see him in one of the two central positions in the striking department.”
Young Tigers to face Sheffield Wednesday
And finally, Hull City's development squad have been drawn against Sheffield Wednesday in the next round of the Under-21 Cup. Stephen Clemence's side will travel to Hillsborough on Monday 20 October.
