Leeds United have been heavily linked with Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce in recent times.
Liam Cooper may be hoping that Leeds United do not appoint Steve Bruce, considering their past history.
Bruce was in charge at Hull City when Cooper was playing for the Tigers, and quickly sold the centre-back.
The way Bruce went about offloading Cooper seemingly frustrated the Leeds captain, who spoke about their differences before the Whites took on Aston Villa earlier this season.
“I saw it right from the start of pre-season,” Cooper told The Hull Daily Mail. “Steve was the manager and he brought Alex in. We were the same position and it’s just one of those things. I could see it coming.
“He’d tried sending me out on loan to Portsmouth early in the season. We were playing Doncaster away in the League Cup and Stephen Clemence came to the back of the bus to tell me I was off the next day and reporting to Portsmouth.
“I made it clear I didn’t want that because I wanted to speak with my family and my agent. Then I went to speak with Steve on the Thursday and he couldn’t believe that I wanted to turn down the loan move to Portsmouth.
“It wasn’t right for me at the time and I didn’t want to just head out somewhere for a month or two. I wanted to stay and fight for my place. That didn’t work out. I couldn’t get back in the team and a few months later I went off to Chesterfield.”
When asked if he had spoken to Bruce since his departure, Cooper said earlier this year: “No. I spoke with Clem when we played Aston Villa this season but I wouldn’t go out of my way to speak with (Bruce). It’s one of those things in football. It happens.”
Leeds have now approached Bruce to become their new manager, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Whether Bruce would give Cooper a fresh start remains to be seen, but it appears that pair would have some making up to do.
Cooper is a very different player to the one he was at Hull now, as he has played regularly for Leeds in recent times.
The centre-back was a key member of Leeds’ squad last season, although he did face a sizeable amount of criticism from the Elland Road crowd.
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