Former Birmingham midfielder Jiří Jarošík talked about working with manager Steve Bruce in an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net.
- After Chelsea you went to Birmingham and you didn't have a good relationship with manager Steve Bruce.
- After my first game for Birmingham, Bruce came up to me and said: "What position do you play?" It was an interesting experience, but I soon became the team's top scorer, scoring about eight goals in all the tournaments, one of which was voted the best goal by the fans, but it was a bad year for Birmingham because we were relegated to the Championship.
- Why did Steve Bruce throw a bottle at you after one of your games?
- We were playing Millwall in the FA Cup. I started the game as a reserve, I came on the field in the second half, but it took me a while to change. The game ended in a penalty shootout, I scored, we won and went on, but Bruce started shouting at me in the locker room, saying he didn't need a player like that, and threw a bottle at me. Everybody throws things at Manchester United (Bruce played for MU in the 80's and 90's - editor's note).
- But if you meet David Beckham, you'll have something to talk about.
- Ha ha, that's right. I don't like being insulted, so I even tried to throw something back at him, but the guys stopped me. I don't know why he reacted that way. I can only assume it was because I had two chances in overtime and I could have scored, but I missed and it went to a shootout.
Jarosik played for Birmingham between 2005 and 2006. He made 32 appearances for the English club and scored eight goals.