Should Steve stay or should he go?

5:15pm Saturday 27th October 2001

With the Eagles perched at the summit of Division One, manager Steve Bruce has cast off speculation linking him with Birmingham City to concentrate on consolidating Palace's position as league leaders.

Blues chairman David Gold has confirmed that Bruce and former Manchester City manager Joe Royle are the leading candidates for the post, vacated when Trevor Francis was sacked last week.

Royle is understood to be interested but Bruce, who finished his playing career at St Andrews, has so far refused to be drawn on the issue.

He told the Guardian: "I've said all along I am manager of Crystal Palace and that's it. I can't stop the constant speculation."

He declined to comment further, but asked whether he was happy at Palace he said: "Absolutely, I'm really enjoying it."

Having won seven consecutive league matches and gone top, Palace are on the verge of matching an eighty year old club record with victory at Burnley on Tuesday, a feat achieved by the Third Division champions in the 1920/1 season.

Bruce is now moving to consolidate Palace's great start by securing the services of loan signing Steve Vickers on a permanent deal.

Bruce said: "We are sitting down with his representatives on Wednesday to discuss things. The indications are that he'd like to stay and we want him to, because he's been excellent for us."

He confirmed that a fee of just under £500,000 has been agreed with Middlesbrough and that the club's search for another striker continues, with Boro's Andy Campbell a possible £1m target, if he recovers from his long-term ankle injury.

Bruce's refusal to be drawn on the Birmingham vacancy may have raised eyebrows, but his determination to keep building the squad, and play-down growing expectation at the club, suggest his commitment to Palace is undiminished.

He said: "It's nice to be up there at the top of the division, but it's very early on in the season, so we're not getting carried away."

The success of Bruce's four shrewd cut-price signings Vickers, Matt Clarke, Tony Popovic and Jovan Kirovski has undoubtedly done wonders for his managerial reputation and helped draw Birmingham's unwelcome attention.

He said: "The new lads have given us that extra dimension. There's a spirit and a fight about this team that's really encouraging."

But the improvement in the performances of Palace's young talent like Hayden Mullins, Clinton Morrison, and Julian Gray, suggest Bruce's coaching and motivational skills can take this squad all the way to the Premiership.

He added: "All the players have responded magnificently and worked really hard, which is a credit to my back-room staff."

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