Niall Quinn has been a breath of fresh air for the club since he came here with the Drumaville lads back in 2006 and undoubtedly has been the reason we didn't go under 5 years ago. He has been a great ambassador for our club, the region and for football in general but the fact remains he has appointed and lost/dismissed 3 managers in 5 years, none of which have exactly taken the club by storm and none that have not been 100% backed up. Keane did a job sticking together a completely buggered team and club when he came. He threw a fair few quid at it admittedly but we did get promoted and stayed there. Keane then left under a cloud and one of the worst decisions in SAFC history was made to hand the reigns to a complete novice in Sbragia. That nearly cost Quinny his magic carpet but we survived by the skin of a gnats cock. Then he went too at the end of a very, very poor season supposedly with a golden handshake and a job for life - somewhere he couldn't do any damage that is - and we were presented with Bruce. Sbragia has now gone altogether. In 2 years and 5 transfer windows, financially, Bruce has done a remarkable job but on the pitch, less so IMO. Yes he finished 10th and that has masked over a lot of cracks in the club and despite that 10th place finish, handed to us by virtue of a last second of the last minute of injury time goal at Sid James, no-one who looks at us without blinkers can see there is something not quite right. We have lost 3 of our main strikers inside 13 months with Jones, Bent and Gyan; Lorik Cana came and went before you could say boo to a goose (much like Gyan) and then Henderson was shipped out in the summer as soon as a bid came in. Players seem to come and want away very quickly at SAFC these days and I dont see that trend at any other club in this or any other league. Thats worrying for me and begs the question why? Sully Muntari came to us as a Champions League winner but looked like a Sunday morning pub player. Richardson is a potential English Left back on minute and then dropped the next. Ferdinand starts all our pre season games and first 3 league games only to be sold straight after? Players are played out of position and sometimes not at all and to be honest, they look as confused as we do at games. There is no consistency or pattern. Its like make it up as you go football management. We are a reactive club not a proactive one these days, always seemingly taking one step forward and two back. We buy a player we lose a player (sometimes the same one inside 12 months) and dont seem to be making much headway. Is it just me or does anyone else feel we are swimming against the tide all the time. Is that really progress? Not in my book it isn't. So, what can Quinny do now? Does he back Bruce 100% and leave himself exposed to the criticism that will follow defeats against Stoke or WBA at home? Does he maintain his support to Short and risk losing his respect and trust in judgement (3 managers in 5 years is hardly a tick in the I know how to pick them stakes is it) or does he have the conversation with Short that begins what if? What if Bruce cant turn this round?> What if he loses the next 3 or scrapes a win a draw and a loss? Are we just limping along or does Quinny really think everything is rosy in the SAFC garden? We need a decision one way or the other and I dont mean a pointless chairman's backing. We need a bold statement in support of the manager, or he should be sacked in the next 2 weeks. Put up or shut up is the order of the day. If Quinn comes out and rubbishes the murmurings of the fans concerning Bruce and states that he is here until the end of the season, then we can all shut up and get in with it but the longer the silence, the longer the speculation. Come on Quinny, even if it is not what I want to hear, back or sack your man and make it known to one and all, so we can all get on with just supporting the club.
we all know we have sold our star players over the last 2 seasons and replaced them with lesser players all be it to bolster our squad we need a few quality players but it appears there are unwilling to supply more funds untill and if our lesser player ie gardner, vaughn, and imo larsson and el hal moudy also come good we are always going to struggle with out team witch has limitted stars in
I would broadly agree with you Cest. SAFC have always been able to disappoint (World class managers and Marquee signings (from Harrods)) I don't know what to make of this season so far. On the optimistic side, 2 away points against a much improved 'Pool and a newly promoted side, always difficult to play for the first couple of months. A defeat against a good Chelsea and the mags who we usually do poorly against at home. The next 3 games should give an indication of how good we really are. Looking at it pessimistically, just read the majority of posts on here. Are we going backwards? The striker situation would certainly show that. The going value of our current forwards would be a small fraction of last years starting four (Gyan, Bent, Welbeck and Campbell) We've gained 2 possibly decent defenders from Man. U. but lost Onouha, Mensah and Ferdinand. Are we now stronger in defence? When will Gordon return? I'd rather have Fulop than our current 2 back up goalies although they both will improve. Midfield has been bulked out with average players replacing Steed, Zenden and Henderson. I think Vaughan will turn out to be the best of the bunch but who knows. I would say we have a worse squad than last year and one thing pointed out on Look North was when Dong scored nobody bothered to congratulate him. We have a low team spirit. We can help the team by getting behind them but we cannot do anything about the running of our club. I think Niall is a brilliant man and I can't praise him highly enough. The fault is he is probably too nice. He would probably rather wait for SB to die of old age than replace him. You could see how much getting rid of Ricky Sbragia hurt him. He also tends to build our hopes up too much (as above, World class manager etc.) I would never want to lose him but I wish he would toughen up a bit. So then, what do I think will happen to us this season? I really don't know. We could very easily get into a relegation fight or we may end up about 12-14 if we're lucky. We scraped 10th. last season with a better squad. I want to stick with SB unless we have a run of catastrophic results and peformances but if that happens we need the new man in place with plenty of time to do business in the transfer window. In the meantime, fingers crossed.
He has backed Bruce according to his interview on safc.com The rest well its all been said thousands of times on here. The best thing we can do as supporters is get to the SOL and support the team, to me the thing were missing is the atmosphere in the ground, its much quieter than it used to be. So if you really want someone to look at or blame its us, the fans, we need to stop expecting everything handed to us on a plate and get out there supporting the lads. Quinn has kept ticket prices low, much lower than the majority of EPL clubs so lets repay him by getting to as many games as is possible.
Very true points lads. I think our next 3 matches will show where we are heading. 2 out of three wins with a good and consistant team togetherness and we will all start to believe. Anything less, we will remain worried !
Sunderland have always failed to dismiss failing managers at the right time, always waiting too long. The only exception to this was Durban and that's nearly 30 years ago. Since then we have persisted for far too long when there was only one inevitable conclusion to any manager's tenure. Always we leave it too long for the replacement to have a fighting chance (usually to prevent certain relegation). Quinn has followed in similar vein, but the prizes of success and costs of failure are far greater. Ellis Short is not a man who will have sat passively observing failure. He's a successful man in the harsh world of finance. Failure costs money. By allying himself so closely with his manager Quinn's days may also be coming to a close. He's an intelligent and thoughtful man Niall Quinn, with compassion and a genuine desire to do his best for SAFC and the city as well. I do wonder whether Short will allow NQ to continue for much longer as Bruce's failure, Sbragia's Houdini act and the dire end to Keane's reign quite rightly reflect on Quinn as well. Times have changed. We are in a slump that can only be described as relegation form and we have a manager incapable of holding on to players that he has signed even very recently, and incapable of motivating the rest. The right thing, and the best thing for NQ and SAFC is for Quinny to stand up and say enough is enough and sack Bruce immediately. It is both inevitable and overdue. Nobody in their right mind must think that Bruce currently has a squad/team capable of making an impact on this league whatsoever. If we are feeling worried about playing Stoke then there really is a serious problem. Lose against them or indeed Norwich and those concerns will cease being Steve Bruce's. Failure to dismiss him may mean that in an official capacity at least, they will cease to be Quinn's.
They backed him in the transfer window, so I can't see how they can sack him now. NQ's seen the ups and downs and he's not going to panic just yet. Bruce's job is no more or less secure than any other manager's, but Niall's not going to drop him this side of Xmas.
Another Cest article disguised as something about Niall Quinn but it is actually another "Bruce out" rant. Yawn
The way things are going it wont make any difference as Ellis Short will make the decisions for Niall.
What a shame you couldn't be bothered to read the article Bob-gee. Perhaps then you could have made an interesting contribution about Quinn. The article includes Bruce's future because he is the manager of the club Quinn is chairman of (just to help you out there) but instead you have posted this woeful effort, which has all satirical put down of a wet haddock. Double yawn right back at ya there chum!
To be honest anyone unhappy with Bruce, Quinn or Short should read this as it puts things into context: Recent highs and lows Sunderland returned to the Premier League as First Division champions in 1999 with a then-record 105 points.[55] Two consecutive seventh place finishes in the Premier League were followed by two less successful seasons, and they were relegated to the second-tier with a then-record low 19 points in 2003.[21][56] Former Ireland manager Mick McCarthy took over at the club, and, in 2005, he took Sunderland up as champions for the third time in less than ten years.[21] However, the club's stay in the top flight was short-lived; as Sunderland were once again relegated, this time with a new record-low total of 15 points. McCarthy left the club in mid-season, and he was replaced temporarily by former Sunderland player Kevin Ball.[57] The record-low fifteen-point performance was surpassed in the 2007–08 season by Derby County, who finished on eleven points.[58] Following the club's relegation, it was taken over by the Irish Drumaville Consortium,[21] headed by ex-player Niall Quinn, who appointed former Manchester United captain Roy Keane as the new manager.[59] Under Keane, the club rose steadily up the table with an unbeaten run of 17 games[60] to win promotion to the Premier League,[61] and were named winners of the Championship after beating Luton Town 5–0 at Kenilworth Road on 6 May 2007.[62] The club's form in the 2007–08 season was better than during their last season in the Premier League, as they finished 15th with 39 points.[63] Following an inconsistent start to the 2008–09 season Keane resigned, to be replaced by coach Ricky Sbragia, initially as caretaker manager though his position was later made permanent. After keeping Sunderland in the Premier League, Sbragia stepped down from his managerial post.[64] Meanwile off the pitch, Irish-American tycoon Ellis Short completed a full takeover of the club from the Irish Drumaville Consortium,[65] and Steve Bruce was announced as the new manager on 3 June.[66] One of his first signings, Darren Bent,cost a club record fee of £10 million. Sunderland started their first season under Bruce strongly, including victories against Arsenal and Liverpool, but then went 14 matches without a win over the winter,[67] eventually finishing the 2009-10 season 13th. Sunderland completed the signing of Ghana international Asamoah Gyan in August 2010 for a fee around £13 million, becoming their new record transfer fee.[68] Sunderland again started the 2010-11 season strongly, this time with a 7 match unbeaten run against teams including Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United. However, the run was ended with a 5-1 defeat to local rivals Newcastle United on October 31, 2010. Sunderland did bounce back with another good run, the highlight being a 3-0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. This run left Sunderland challenging for a European qualification place by the end of 2010. However, striker Darren Bent left Sunderland for Aston Villa in January 2011 in a deal that could be worth up to £24 million (a record transfer fee received for the club).[69] Following Bent's departure, Sunderland suffered a mid- season slump, before finishing 10th, their highest top-flight finish for 10 years
You could also read this of course: In 2011 (not just 4 games this season as some keep harping on about), here are the hard facts. P - 24 W- 6 D - 5 L - 13 GF - 27 GA - 41 25% win ratio 54% loss ratio Home form in 2011 P - 12 W - 2 D - 1 L - 9 GF - 15 GA - 25 Win ratio - 16.6% Loss ratio - 75% Abject, hapless, scandalous embarrassing, woeful and pitiful are words that adequately describe these stats. Progress they dont say. 10th place is all the Bruce supporters can keep throwing at us but 10th place in reality is just a hiding place Bruce can camouflage these damning facts as 'progress'. However the real fact remains, it was the good start that got him there, not the last 24 games. What happens when we get the 4th annual Brucie slump form January to May. Since that run ended in December 2010, we have endured what can only be described as one of the worst forms in the EPL. Beaten even off a 3rd division club at home in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Bruce has presided over the complete demolition of any kind of home advantage we may have enjoyed and teams now visit the SOL with the absolute belief they will emerge with all 3 points these days. Is that the fans fault as well? We have lost top players at an alarming rate, some like Cana and Gyan within a few months of arriving. For whatever reason it is, name me another team that has lost so many players (Cana, Jones, Bent, Gyan and Henderson) in the space of 5 months, when the club supposedly didn't want them to go? Is that just fate? Coincidence? Or is it something much darker within the clubs management structure I dint know of any other manager that would keep his job with such ****ty results and Bruce has Quinn to thank for that. Lose on Sunday and even the big man wont be able to stop the torrent of abuse his man will receive and when Ellis Short hears of it, the inevitable will follow. Remember, we are in this position concerning Bruce due entirely to him and not us as fans. As fans, we havent lost so many games and turned out so many hapless performances this year have we?
I don't believe I'm reading this! These ar**holes are on more money per week than many in the north of England are getting per year - and you want us to help the poor dears do the job? We've won one home game in NINE MONTHS, and you've the damn gall to tell me it's my fault! Let's get something straight here. The people at that club get paid for turning up to games. We do not. Therefore, the responsibility to make things happen is entirely theirs. It is not for us to do it for them. We will shout when they (in return for £40.000 a week) give us something to shout about. We will sing when they (in return for £40,000 a week) make us happy enough to sing. Not the other way round. Sing? - What the hell are we supposed to sing, The Last Post? They're pathetic.
