He's talking himself out of a job and into another pay off. He knows how to do this as well as anyone, no wonder he's loaded.
Bobby Robson once said that the way to earn really good money as a manager was not be successful at a club. Rather, it was to get a name for a bit of competence somewhere down the line, keep getting jobs, keep getting sacked and keep picking up the pay offs and new deals.
Bruce is not the only one - and they could end up with another travelling failure like Mark Hughes- but Robson could have been describing him when offered those sentiments.