Just a gut feeling that the club and Bruce are quiet because they are negotiating a deal. I expect an announcement tomorrow that Bruce and Black have both left by mutual consent and that Kevin Ball will take charge of Sundays game. I than expect an announcement by Monday at the latest, maybe even Friday/Saturday that we have a new manager and it wont be O'Neil. May well be totally wrong and we will soon know but Short is no fool and I just don't believe he is sitting at home watching day time TV.
Unfortunately this is the same kind of logic that has fans turning up week in week out expecting a win. We believe it because we want to believe it. In Football terms Short could very well be a bit of a fool. OK he's great at making money but if he expects to make anything from a at best average Premiership club, He's delusional. Our club needs major investment short term if he wants to see any positive results long term. After all that though. I hope your right Syd.
i think the evidence to back this up is several poeple in th know have said he has left/cant stay... and when ex players come out and say he has to leave you know the club is doing somthing
I dont agree that the team needs major investment. The squad we have is more than good enough for a top 10 finish - provided we play our strikers and give Noble a chance. This is why I have said give Bruce a chance up till now, asI believe the squad he has built is good enough and he needed time to get it right. But now, he has had his chance to get it right and is failing - unless we win convincingly against Wolves and Blackburn I beleive Short will get rid. Anything but a convincing win against Wolves will spell time over on Bruce's time imo (from Short's point of view) and even if he achieves that he will then need to do the same vs blackburn. If a new manager does come in, it will be time up for Cattermole and perhaps richardson as well (shame for Ricco, as I like him as a player)
Now then Dan, tht takes us off in a new direction because like you I dont think the team needs a lot of new players, it does need major investment mind, just needs to be spent on 2 or 3 players. So, does Short keep Bruce and spend that or does he replace Bruce and hit the bring in my own players senario. Or does he find a new manager who will work in the main with the exsisting squad. More questions than answers.
I have been told by an itk (usually very good) that Bruce WILL definitely be in charge for the Wolves game. If we win on Saturday though, or come away with a credible draw and a performance, he WILL be in charge for the Blackburn game as well. The thinking is that 2 wins, or a win and a draw and we could be top 10 and on a roll and maybe ride out the **** storm with supporters? The general thinking is that they DO NOT want to change for changes sake and think up-heaving all the backroom staff and 2.5 years of investment in players etc may well be more disruptive than keeping Bruce whilst we are still in touching distance of the top 10. Bruce is still both liked and respected in the boardroom by Short and Quinn although there is a realisation from ALL parties, that its not going as they expected this season. However, the preferred choice is that Bruce pulls a rabbit from the hat in the next 2 games and things settle down. That said, my itk also said lose Saturday and its over. Not a bullshitter my itk and usually not far from the mark. We shall see I guess.
Over the years I have wearied of the perpetual changes in manager all of whom have come put with the usual " It will take time ....... " ........meaning of course that a new manager will want to totally revamp the squad with his 'own' players. Will ES finance yet another squad overhaul? I very much doubt it.... We might have to wait until ES cashes in his investment and moves on............
and I can see all of that being true, keeping with what you know, like and have invested in is always the best option, proving that option wins.
Obviously there is the argument about the devil you know and with SB do we know him! I suspect if we had a couple of decent strikers, we would have won the last two games. So yes as Bendtner seems to be going backwards and we have no experienced strikers anyone coming in would go for them imho. If SB were still in charge I would not have faith that we would get anybody in and if we did they would be played i the best position. One of SBs massive failures is his stubbornness in messing individuals and the team about as to where and how they play. On saturday one of the many embarrassing things were we hardly ever rolled the ball out from the keeper a hoof downfield towards Sess(???) seemed to be the tactic. The he took Bardo off and put young Jack in his place, it was fairly obvious this was a surprise to MacBardo, Jack and the rest of the team..talk about spreading confusion in the ranks.
Im not for one minute suggesting that Kevin Ball is a better manager than Bruce but I think we've got a better chance of a result if Bruce is sacked and Bally takes the team at wolves. It might stir something up in the players we have yet seen. On the silence front I read that Short had to go overseas for other business purposes and Quinn returned to Ireland to Sep.d time with his family. I also read that Bruce was due to sit down with the board today or tomorrow to talk things over
Bendtner going backwards? The lad was playing wide a fair amount of time, through no fault of his own. Play him in a 4-4-2 formation, and we will start seeing goals flow. Bendtner has a good overall game, and should be used to partner an out and out striker (Noble?). What is the point in allowing Bruce to buy another striker, if he is just going to sit on the bench like the others?
That is a tricky one Syd. I could forsee problems with all scenarios. If he does change the manager, 90% of managers want their own way when it comes to the squad. That is a nightmare scenario for Sunderland because of the expense and the time needed to bed it all in. You could be dicing with death. Now if you go and search for a manager who is willing to work with the current squad, I suspect that sentiment would last as long as things are going well. I'm sure if nothing was turning around by Jan, the same manager would be saying he needed more control. The other option as you say is to keep Bruce and give him more money to spend. This would be insanity to me because he'd probably go and sign a centre back! He's had his chance and royally failed to make the next step. A tight league last masked many a managers deficiencies for me. Sunderland did ok but they had the potential to do better. How much progress has actually been made in his 3 years? I'd go with option two but just get the right guy. He is going to have to work with the majority of the current squad barring the obvious signings (striker, left back). There is enough quality for any manager worth his salt to get a steady finish this year. I never think it works well when a club is not doing so well and wholesale changes are made mid season. Fair enough if the situation is desperate but Sunderland are hardly getting cut adrift just yet!
I think it would be option 2 so that, IMO, would rule out MON, not unhappy with that. I hope the Curbs and Maclaren stories are the result of drink.
i think if gyan hadnt ****ted on you, sunderland would be in the top 10, i think it would be the wrong decision to get rid of him as i think bruce has it in him to turn things around
Aye but you just never know Syd. I thought Pardew was a horrendous choice given his awful track record. The board obviously saw mainly a guy they could mould, but also a guy who was driven and keen to set the record straight. Whoever it is who comes through the door just needs a fair crack of the whip. To be honest like ourselves, I think manager are always backed to the hilt from the off at your place. We certainly did with Fat Sam even though we all knew it was doomed to failure. I can see why Curbs and McClaren would worry you though!!
Curbs might be ok but has been out the game for a long time. McLaren would make us an OXO club - a laughing stock. I would never go to the SOL again if the wally/brolly man was appointed. Bart
I must be the only one on here that thinks McLaren would do good job for us, he has been hounded by the media, and I still believe it was the FA`s fault for appointing him too soon, he just wasnt ready for the England job imho. Boro, got them 14th, 11th, League Cup winners, Uefa last 16, beat Lazio, got knocked out by Sporting Lisbon, 7th, Uefa finalists. England = a job too soon for me, should have had another 6 years in club management first. FC Twente, won their first ever title with them in his second season Wolfsburg, they sold players from under him, including Dzeko, bit like Bruce and Bent, but we stuck with Bruce, they sacked him Forrest, he was promised funds before he took the job, he took the job and they were skint, so he left and waivered any compensation that was owed to him. Yes, on the TV he sounds like a plank, but i do think he has something about him as a Manager and will come good again. Do i want him, no not really, but i dont think it would be as disastrous as some on here are making out if we did get him.
That's brilliant. You point out how good a manager he has been, far better record than any Sunderland manager I can remember. Then you go on to say "Do I want him? No not really!" I don't know why but the thought of him turning up at the SOL fills me with dread.
