Blackpool sack veteran boss Bruce after poor start

After a disappointing League One season, Blackpool fired veteran manager Steve Bruce.

In September 2024, the 64-year-old replaced Neil Critchley at Bloomfield Road, managing over 1, 000 games.

He helped them to a ninth-place finish last year, and he had high hopes for a promotion push this time around.

Additionally, interim coaches Stephen Dobbie and Steve Banks have left the club, with assistant head coach Steve Agnew and first-team coach Stephen Clemence serving there until a replacement is found.

Following their 2-0 home defeat by AFC Wimbledon, Bruce claimed his team “were nowhere near what’s needed.”

He told Bruce on BBC Radio Lancashire, “I can try to make as many excuses as I want, but it’s not in my nature to do it.”

The former Manchester United defender had been out of the game for almost two years before taking over at the Seasiders after being fired as West Brom manager in October 2022.

He started his managerial career at Sheffield United in 1998, where he led Sunderland, Wigan, and Newcastle in the top flight while also winning four Premier League promotions.

He stated to BBC Radio Lancashire that he had his first experience playing football in the third tier after his first stint with the Latics in 2001 and that he had thought he had finished his stint. “But the enjoyment and the love of football have brought me back to work.”

Bruce had a successful first five games at Bloomfield Road, winning four and drawing one.

After his four-month-old grandson Madison passed away, he took a two-week leave of absence and released a statement thanking the footballing world for his assistance. He did so at the end of last October.

Blackpool’s final 25 League One defeats included just five, but 10 draws in those defeats erased any chance of achieving the top six.

With experienced defenders Fraser Horsfall and Michael Ihiekwe and former Sunderland captain George Honeyman among the recent additions, they made a significant summer recruitment.

Stevenage’s home defeat and a 4-1 defeat at Exeter City marked the start of the season.

Then they held on to defeat wildly popular Huddersfield 3-2 to claim their first victory overall, but they eventually lost three of their subsequent four matches.