Bruce won three FA Cups and three League titles as a player but is yet to lift a trophy in 16 years as a manager. Leading Hull out at Wembley Stadium on Saturday is likely to be career high-point.
Clemence knows Bruce better than most, having played under him for Birmingham City and then cut his coaching teeth with Sunderland’s, and now Hull’s, reserve teams.
He says the former Manchester United defender is long overdue some silverware.
Arsenal v Hull City
FA Cup with Budweiser
Final
5pm, Saturday 17 May
Wembley Stadium connected by EE
Live on ITV and BT Sport
“What you see is what you get with Steve. He is brilliant to work for, and a nice guy,” said Clemence, who will step up to first-team coaching duties for Saturday’s Final.
“He is fair and he lets you get on with your job. But you know he is the boss and he has a lot of respect from the players and the staff.
“And I think that stems from the way he treats you. He tells you how it is.
“I remember there were times when I was a player and I wasn’t in the team but you understood why because he would sit down and talk you through it.”
Bruce has spent a fair chunk of his managerial career in the Premier League, although rarely has Cup success been among his targets.
Clemence says: “I’m delighted for him because I do believe the clubs he has managed in the past the main objective has been to stay in the Premier League.
“But this year the team that has played in the League has been the team that plays in The FA Cup and the only difference has been Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic who have been Cup-tied.
“It’s a great chance for him to get some silverware as a manager. He won loads as a player but I know he’d want to add to that.”
Hull midfielder Jake Livermore, who scored in the Semi-Final against Sheffield United
Clemence enjoyed a distinguished career for Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City before it cruelly was cut short by an Achilles heel injury in 2010.
And so the former Spurs midfielder has taken particular interest in the form of Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore, who Bruce brought to Hull this season.
Huddlestone joined the club on a permanent deal from Spurs, while Livermore looks set to play the final match of his season-long loan from the north London club.
“Tom has done fantastic. I was really pleased that the manager signed him and he has been a great acquisition,” said Clemence.
“He’s a great lad to have around the place. He’s not a flash Harry and he has come up and got his head down, worked hard and listened to what the manager has said.
“And he has also brought with him Jake Livermore. Jake has come through the same pathway as I did.
“He has left Tottenham at the same time at the same as I did. I played more games than him but he could argue it is a better team than when I played.
“He is someone I have worked with because it was my position. I played in central midfield for a long, long time. And I have to pass on my knowledge to those lads and to David Meyler.”
Tom Huddlestone would improve any team, says Stephen Clemence
Clemence said Huddlestone, one of the few genuinely two-footed players at the top of the game, is a major asset to Hull.
“In football we all crave for that player. I have a nine-year-old boy and he is left-footed like me and I say ‘use your right foot’.
“Tom is so naturally left- and right-footed. He’s a top talent and we’re lucky to have him at Hull.”
“But then it is the same with Jake. He’s a different type of player, probably with a bit more energy getting around the pitch but he is very efficient with the ball.
“You need players like Jake in the team to make your Tom Huddlestones shine.”
Clemence admits that Arsenal will be favourites to lift The Cup but Hull go into The Final in bullish mood after a successful season.
“We were the favourites to go down. But it just goes to show - if you work hard enough things can come for you.”
