Exclusive: My fights with Ehab Allam - Steve Bruce on why he left Hull City

HAPPIER TIMES: Hull City manager Steve Bruce, centre, with owners Ehab Allam, left and Dr Assem Allam with the Championship runners-up trophy back in 2013. Picture: Tony Johnson.

AHEAD of his first return to Yorkshire since quitting as Hull City manager, Steve Bruce revealed the breakdown in his relationship with vice chairman Ehab Allam meant he should have left the KCOM Stadium earlier.

The 54-year-old brings his rejuvenated Aston Villa side to Leeds United tomorrow tea-time for a Championship game that is expected to attract a bumper crowd of more than 32,000.

Villa have taken 15 points from seven games under Bruce, who called time on his four-year reign at Hull in early July following a series of disagreements with the club’s hierarchy.

The departure of the manager who had taken the Tigers to two promotions, an FA Cup final and the Europa League left supporters stunned, but the new Villa chief insists it was the best thing for all parties.

“I needed the break after all the shenanigans at Hull,” said Bruce when speaking exclusively to The Yorkshire Post. “With hindsight, I had probably needed that break for a while.

“Me leaving was the best thing for me and the best thing for the club. Things had just got too difficult.

“With Ehab involved, there was a big difference of opinion too many times. That is not a healthy situation for the club.

“We were at each other too often and that is no good for anyone. It becomes wearing and, with hindsight, a parting of the ways had become inevitable for quite some time.

“Ehab wanted to go in a different direction to how the club had been run before. At the end of the day, I didn’t agree with him and that caused disagreements.