Now as a BOB, I dont have a lot of time for whatsisname, but reading this article has given me a few bits to mull over, doubt it will change my mind, as I am normally not quick to form opinions, but when reached I find it hard to backtrack, but the article does place a range of questions/statements, which need addressing, by club/ bruce/me. Time to dismiss the big-spending Bruce theoryby Jonathan Wilson Share: For football managers, criticism is part of the job. Most of it, you suspect, barely registers, but what must niggle is when people who should know better ignore context to have a rant. Steve Bruce is not beyond criticism. Itâs legitimate to ask why three top-class strikers have left Sunderland in little over a year. Itâs legitimate to wonder why, when rebuilding the squad over the summer, he didnât mould a more tactically flexible unit. Itâs legitimate to ask why Sunderland have let slip so many leads under him, and why they so often start games well and then fade in the second half. Itâs even legitimate, although the issue pre-dates Bruce, to wonder why Sunderland havenât had a genuinely creative central midfielder player since Lee Clarkâs departure in 1999, after he foolishly put on a T-shirt mocking the club. And yet the most commonly heard criticism about Bruce is that âheâs had money to spendâ. Yes he has, but only because heâs sold first. Until the official accounts are revealed such things are always to an extent a matter of estimation, but by my calculations, Bruce has spent £43million since the end of the 2009-10 season. In the same period, he has sold players to a value of £52million while trimming the Sunderland wage bill. That doesnât even take into account the Asamoah Gyan loan deal, out of which Sunderland have done remarkably well from a financial point of view. Al-Ain paid a reported £6million to take the Ghana international for a year, while paying his wages (around £2million). Sunderland get him back next year and they can then decide whether to give him another try or to sell him on. While his resale value is unlikely to be the £13million they paid, itâs equally unlikely to be £6million less than that. So Bruce hasnât had money to spend. On the contrary, heâs recouped £15million in 15 months. Now that, in itself, raises questions. There was a general perception that Roy Keane had wasted money as manager, both in terms of acquisitions and salaries, and that had to be righted; the suspicion now, though, is that that caution is going too far in the other direction. After all, what is Sunderlandâs goal this season? Last season they finished 10th. Given how well things had gone at the start of the season, and the hope raised by the 3-0 win at Chelsea, that perhaps felt disappointing, but it was Sunderlandâs best finish in a decade, their third best since 1955 and their eighth best since the war. To maintain that level while making a significant profit in the transfer market would be an achievement. To start the season with four winless matches isnât encouraging, but again context is necessary. Those four games featured a draw at Anfield and a home defeat to Chelsea, a draw at Swansea â and newly promoted sides are always awkward early in the season, particularly on their own patch â and a home defeat to Newcastle, the derby being a notoriously bad indicator of form. It was a disappointing start, but one at least partly explicable by a difficult run of games. Sunderlandâs neatness in possession against Stoke was little different to previous home games, but this time they found accommodating opposition. Now if Sunderland need opponents to make errors and score own goals, thatâs clearly not much of a step forward; if the win inspires new confidence and gives Sunderland more of a cutting edge, the perhaps it is. Either way, five points from five games represents an alright start: itâs not brilliant, but itâs certainly not disastrous either. Put in context, itâs hard to understand why the discontent about Bruce seems so widespread. CR30 2 comments collapsed Collapse Expand Surely losing 8 out of 9 home games up to the Stoke game is enough reason for him to get some stick. A Like Reply 17 hours ago 0 Like F Table Top 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand I'm a Sunderland fan , and I think he's doing a good job. He was dropped right in it by Bent and injuries meant that we were without recognised strikers for a long while. He's been dropped in it again by Gyan. We've got to take other factors into consideration. Truth is we've never had such a good buch of players at the SOL, and never seen such attractive football. normangunston 2 comments collapsed Collapse Expand But using transfer fees as the only metric of "spend" is reductive. Steve Bruce has overseen a huge amount of transfers in his time at Sunderland, each of these deals attracting agents fees, sign-on fees, wages. He's never given any strong sense that he's found a squad he's happy with (like he did, mostly, at Wigan and Birmingham), and those quality players he had - Cana, Henderson, Jones - he couldn't convince to stay. A Like Reply 18 hours ago 0 Like F Phil 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand To redress the balance, all three of those players received quick a lot of stick from the fanstowards the end of their Sunderland careers. I know a lot of people who were happy for these players to leave.Phil Dave 1 comment collapsed Collapse Expand How much has Bruce got to save the club before he gets some recognition from the media? I still want him out though what he did against Brighton was unforgivable, Imagine being an away fan hearing that team sheet!
It does wind me up when people (usually the press) try to bang on about how much Bruce has spent, when in fact. He's made a profit.
Cyprus I have read other articles by this geezer, and what I like is he tends not to condemn or judge, sort of puts you in the position via a range of statements, whereby you have to work it out for yourself. but certainly point taken about the money, but and a big but, can we progress, in my lifetime, with this policy of not being able to attract , and if we do,,,,,keep the best, or is it all about keeping mr Short sweet? showing proffit, etc,,,,,dont much like the thought of not being so much a supporter,,,,,but a cash cow.
It all depends how you see it. The BiBs will say it's madness to sack a manager after four games of a season - and I'm right with them on that. It would be madness, especially as those four included Liverpool, Chelsea and a derby. But I don't see it that way. To me, last seasons bad run hasn't ended yet - and that's a whole different kettle of fish. I'm personally staggered and disgusted that he wasn't drummed out of here in May. What I can't take is when BiBs tell me he solved our away form in April/May, and the home form was due to injuries. I'm sorry, but surely the injuries affect home and away games or neither, don't they? And I can't swallow that he needs time to build his own team and get them to gell. We gave him time for that in summer 2010. Steve Bruce has his good points, and I'll credit him with them. But overall, I'd still be delighted to see the back of him.
Exactly...we finished 10th. People don't complain when we were over achieving first half of last season, and think it has deluded some people into thinking we ought to be in the top 6...we aren't there yet guys.
I dont know about you lot, but I can remember top six, pampers were not even invented, we didnt have a washing machine either, different era, different league, but baby ****s never gone out of fashion has it?
It would appear Mr Short may be a Billionaire but he's defiantly not throwing money at the club. I'd be very surprised however if he got into Football to make any real money. For that to happen you need to spend, and spend bloody big which he's not doing to date. I agree with you about the author of the article however I'd guess he's not a Sunderland fan from this bit. "itâs hard to understand why the discontent about Bruce seems so widespread." It's not. Two reasons for me. Bruceys roots and the Derby.
OH MATE,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the derbys, what else do we want more than anything, we know what we wont or cant accieve, but all of us to a man woman child screams out for a derby win. Its a must. Maybe Bruce just was not able to get this into the players heads just how much it means to us folk. some playes weve had picked up on this, Bally, Superkev,Quinnie Joe Bolton etc, many many more, but last season and this one so far, the iron and fire has not been instilled in them,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,YET.
You stick to your guns Bill, i went from being a staunch BiB to being on the fence, That magic win hasn't changed my mind yet,
Lads. One win shouldn't really change anyone's opinion. Up till now I've managed to keep the faith in Bruce due to finishing tenth and a good transfer window. Yeah it wasn't perfect but overall I believe we have a better squad now than last year. 10 games in is a good measure for me, not four or five. I predicted a top 8 finish this season, I'm still confident we'll get it.
It's not just the results that have got me thinking, it's the persistence with that flippin formation of playing Sess as a striker, a one that hadn't and never looked like it was going to work... How-ever it did work against Stoke, so Bruce will justify it even more now, but the old saying "new change a winning team" may remain true, let's see how it continues before i really cast judgement, cos iv'e been a BiB for a while, but certain things have happened to get my cobwebs working... None more than the farce at Brighton.
I agree Sess shouldn't be played as a striker. For me he would be far better utilized by being given a free role in the team. Bruce see's much that we don't in training etc. He has a wealth of experience within the game and no doubt a fair few ear's to bend from those in the know. SB obviously saw something in the tactics he used and like you say it worked this week with a couple of personnel changes. Only time will tell if Sunday was a one off or are the players finally gelling as a team?
I predict top ten, and will be happy with 10th or above.... now i know finishing 10th is no improvement on last season, but when I say 10th I mean having a nice steady season where we avoid stupid "highs" which get the expectations too high (top 6 last season), and avoid any relegation nerves - i.e. hovering around the mid table throughout the season. nice and boring. (finishing above Newcastle would be very nice as well - though I would look more at the big picture) Push on next season, after a summer window where we bring in 2 to 3 quality players at the most so we dont have an entirely new squad to bed in.
Dan mate, Ive been pushing on next season for fifty years, sick of pushing, maybe you will understand that patience will and does run out, and mine unfortunately has.
I wanted him sacked in May for sending teams on the field for four months only for 40,000 people to be insulted when they lay down and invited teams like Wolves and West Brom to walk all over them. They positively invited defeat and might as well have not turned up for some games. I don't swallow the tenth place entirely - without a brilliant start to the season, we might easily have been relegated. February to May was shocking - and Ancelotti was sacked for a whole lot less. At the end of the day, you have to see the season as a whole, and yes we finished tenth. But it covered up a multitude of sins.
I am on the fence, but I am willing to give Bruce some time and a few more games yet, 10th place finish and established as a EPL team. Its not long ago that every season we were thinking about relegation or promotion, I firmly believe we are past that.
i agree that Bruce has taken us on a bit from the Keane days, and I'll credit him with it. I'm not prepared to blame him for what he didn't do. Nor am I prepared to refer to him as a "fat *******" or take cheap shots at Amy. At the end of the day, Steve Bruce is a man, he has feelings, and I'm not going to abuse the man for fun. It just occurs to me that 40,000 paid to watch some of those performances - and they had feelings too. They had every right to be angry, y'know.
I can see your point but surly we have to cut some slack because of the injury's we had. It can't be just coincidence that our form nosedived just as we lost our first team.
You're right, of course - but it can't be just coincidence that it happened two seasons running either. BiBs told us in March/April 'we need to look at the medical staff' - er ... and when do medical staff injure people? Then we were told 'It's the loanees - they don't play with the same commitment as our own players' - er ... useless w**kers like Welbeck, Onuoha and Mensah, I presume? Last December, I wrote on 606 'Sunderland couldn't be in better hands than Short, Quinn and Bruce'. In Spring, I just found all these lame excuses gradually eroding my BiB position until, one morning, I woke up to find I didn't believe in Bruce at all any more. It's odd. I never intended it, you know. But I can't swallow medical staff injuring people, etc. And then - the final insult - Bruce claims that the whole nine month travesty was down to one game against Newcastle played in August. Surely, no one in their right mind can believe that. I'm sorry, that's enough for me. I want him out like I can taste it.
