Steve Bruce refused to blame Jake Livermore’s positive test for cocaine as the reason behind Hull City’s defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, stating the club’s owner, Assem Allam, would now “want to do the right thing” regarding the player’s future.
Hull will be relegated from the Premier League next Sunday if they fail to beat one of Bruce’s former clubs, Manchester United. Even then, if Newcastle win at home to West Ham and Sunderland pick up one more point this season, Hull’s result will prove irrelevant and they will slip back to the Championship.
City have lost three games in succession and Bruce was first informed of Livermore’s positive sample on Tuesday evening before speaking to the 25-year-old midfielder on Wednesday morning. Livermore has been suspended by Hull and is the subject of a Football Association investigation but faces a ban of up to two years following the test after last month’s victory at Crystal Palace.
Bruce revealed it had been one of the most exacting periods of his managerial career but, despite a disappointing defeat in north London, he refused to blame the incident for the result. “I don’t want to make it an excuse and I warned them of that playing today,” said Bruce. “As far as I’m concerned he wasn’t available. We had five or six not available but, obviously, we didn’t want to make that an excuse. To a man, all of them today were terrific. They are shocked and saddened and disappointed, like probably the whole of football is.”
Asked if Livermore could be sacked by Hull if he is banned by the FA, Bruce added: “I haven’t had the conversation. Knowing the owner the way I do, he will want to do the right thing. I think that’s vitally important, whatever that right thing is.
“People have their own opinions and certainly when I have the conversation with the owners of the club, I’ve certainly got my own thoughts. But at this moment in time the authorities better do their job, do the right thing and see where it ends up.”
Bruce must now ready his team for a crucial game at the KC Stadium next weekend. He has a poor managerial record against United and Hull have not prevailed whenever the sides have met in the Premier League.
Bruce said he was “disappointed, frustrated and angry” over the Livermore situation but that he would not judge the player for his actions.
“It has been one of the most difficult 24 to 48 hours that I’ve had to deal with and I’ve been doing this now 16-17 years,” said Bruce. “I couldn’t quite believe it and I’m still in a state of shock with it now. I understand the severity of it and Jake will have to face up to the consequences and see how it goes.
“We go on all sorts of courses and seminars to be football managers but there are all sorts of things that you’ve got no experience dealing with. As the head of the club, apart from the chairman, of course, then I think I’m within my right to express my huge disappointment, frustration and anger at the whole situation.
“It’s certainly a situation where no one wants to confront it and Jake knows that he’s let everybody down and he’s let himself down. I’m not going to be the judge and jury, I think that would be wrong of me, but I’m obviously disappointed and the consequences will be laid out in the next few weeks.”
Paul McShane, the Hull defender, added: “I don’t really want to comment. You don’t know what’s going on in his personal life. I’ll let it all come out.”
Spurs secured victory following second-half goals from Nacer Chadli and Danny Rose, yet Hull performed much better than in their previous home defeat by Burnley. Abel Hernández and Dame N’Doye could not score in a goalmouth scramble that would have assured a close finish, while Nikica Jelavic hit the bar early on.
It means Mauricio Pochettino’s side could still qualify for the Europa League, despite it being their first win for a month. Questions have been raised regarding Tottenham’s desire to play in Europe’s second-tier competition next year – given the effects the campaign has had this year – but Pochettino insisted that remains their ambition.
“The gap is only one point but our objective and target is to play next season in the Europa League – and we need to try to get three points against Everton. It was a nice way to finish at home and I think the fans are very pleased. We deserved the victory and they enjoyed the two goals we scored today,” he said.
“The first half was difficult – they were really aggressive and it was difficult to play – but we got the three points, which is the most important thing as we are in the same place in the table.”
Man of the match Érik Lamela (Tottenham Hotspur)
