Source: Team_Talk
Bruce: Players have all the power now
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce fears Wayne Rooney's stand-off with Manchester United is a sign of the times, in which players have all the power.[LNB] The former United defender believes the Bosman Ruling has fundamentally changed the emphasis in contract negotiations and left players with all the power.[LNB]His comments came at the end of an extraordinary week during which his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson lifted the lid on Rooney's desire to leave Old Trafford.[LNB]Bruce said: "That's the biggest part of all our jobs now. Tactics are only a little bit-part of what we face day in and day out.[LNB]"The biggest one is the man-management of the player now with the power they have since Bosman.[LNB]"The power is all with the players and that, for me, is sad because it is very, very difficult for any club, this just goes to prove, even Manchester United."[LNB]Bruce spent almost 10 years at United as Ferguson built a series of teams which took English football by the scruff of the neck.[LNB]But while he knows the game has changed markedly since he hung up his boots, he cannot accept Rooney questioning the club's ambition.[LNB]He said: "It just shows you, even the best manager in the world with arguably one of the best clubs in the world still has the problems we all face.[LNB]"It's not for me to question Wayne Rooney, but the only thing I find strange is, I played there for the best part of 10 years and to question their ambition, I find that unbelievable.[LNB]"I remember in '95 when Fergie sold Ince, Kanchelskis and Hughes, we all scratched our heads and thought, 'Wow, what's this?'.[LNB]"The introduction of Beckham and Scholes and the Nevilles and Butt produced a dynasty for 10, 15 years which hauled in trophy after trophy, so I would never, ever question their ambition, that's for certain.[LNB]"It's not often you get a player knocking on the door publicly to leave Manchester United.[LNB]"But there you go, even the biggest club and the best manager the world - as probably seen - has problems, so good luck Sir Alex."[LNB]Speculation is rife that 24-year-old Rooney will leave United in January with derby rivals Manchester City among those tipped to vie for his signature, and his departure could kick-start a flurry of transfer activity.[LNB]Asked if he would be interested in the England international, Bruce, with tongue firmly in cheek, replied: "We will make an inquiry to see if we can do a bit of back-up or a little bit of loan deal, maybe."[LNB]Sunderland already have one England striker on their books in the shape of Darren Bent.[LNB]The 26-year-old missed out on his country's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro earlier this month because of a groin injury, but played for his club at Blackburn on Monday night despite missing 10 days' training.[LNB]Bent has now returned injured from international duty three times - he reported with a knock on one of those occasions - prompting Bruce to ask his medical staff to contact their England counterparts in a bid to get to the bottom of the problem.[LNB]Those discussions have now taken place, and it appears that the player has simply been unfortunate.[LNB]Bruce said: "I said to the medical guys, 'Can it be a coincidence that he has been there three times and come away three times injured when he has played here for 18 months and never missed a training session? Is there something we can try to solve and improve?'.[LNB]"The last thing England want is to injure him, and the last thing we want is for him to come back here injured.[LNB]"We have had a conversation through the medical people. There is nothing sinister in that, we just obviously asked if there is anything they are doing which puts Darren in danger.[LNB]"But no, he did it shooting and there is nothing in there that we can try to address."
