Steve Bruce, of the oft-times broken nose, looks like your classic headers-and-blocks, meat-and-potatoes English centre half - like a 1990's version of John Terry. The man who made his name at the heart of Manchester United's defence, though, was much more than he appeared. As he developed from an erratic young player into a reliable centre half, Bruce became known for his calmness under pressure and judicious use of the ball. He also found the net regularly - in the 1990/91 Bruce netted 13 times in 31 games. That's a strike rate some centre forwards can't even match! A threat from corners and taker of a mean penalty, it beggars belief that an England call never came for the Georgie defender. Bruce won 8 England caps at youth level and had one run-out for the "B" side, but he had to watch on while his regular centre half partner Gary Pallister won 22 caps for his country. When it became clear that England managers had a blind spot when it came to Bruce, he was approached by Jack Charlton to represent the Republic of Ireland, as his mother was born there. Bruce turned the offer down (although his son, Alex, later turned out twice for them). It's hard to look through any England XI in the late '80's to mid '90's and understand why the ex-United captain was not given at least one cap. While Bruce was at his peak Keith Curle got 3 caps, Gary Mabbut played 16 times and midfielder Calton Palmer was even pressed into service at the back. Makes you wonder what Bruce had done to offend Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
