Quoted from the Mirror ... 'Chairman Niall Quinn clapped uncomfortably. Board member David Miliband fixed a diplomatic grimace honed by years in Government. Then Ellis Short emerged, perched himself at the front of the top tier, hands in pockets. No clapping, no smile. Just a straight-faced glower. On the pitch below, Sunderland players were thanking the fans for their support (let's not call it a lap of honour), an end-of-season ritual that is more of an excruciating burden than a celebration at most clubs these days. Short, the man who has invested ã54million in the last two seasons alone to fund Steve Bruce's squad-building, clearly wasn't ready to dish out easy applause. He stood there unmoved. His body language: Disgruntled. Expected more. What do I do next? The odds are still on Steve Bruce continuing as manager next season, and I have argued here before that he is one of the more humane, engaging, decent, down to earth and honest characters in football. Someone you naturally want to succeed. But I do believe Bruce will have to answer some tough questions from Short to get a mandate to continue to spend his cash. Of course, we know the perfectly valid reasons why Sunderland's form has dipped so alarmingly. No 1: There has been a crippling injury list. No2: Whoever was to blame, and fault probably lay on both sides, selling Darren Bent in January proved a disaster (and what an under-priced deal it looks now, by the way.) But can those two factors really be entirely to blame? Sunderland look to have lost the plot on the pitch with 11 defeats from their last 13 games... claiming just four points from the available 39 since January. Bruce's side has lost seven out of their last nine home matches, and one of those was a scrambled injury-time draw against Newcastle. That is an atrocious effort and would have any manager, no matter what the injury circumstances or run of bad luck, answering to his chairman or owner. Despite the injuries, Bruce has still had experienced players to call on. And he's had players waiting in the wings to play. Men that he brought in. No matter who was injured - and yes, it adds up to a pretty decent starting XI - surely Sunderland could have dug out more results with some discipline, organisation and grit? A couple of months ago, the dip could be explained by injuries and the manager was given leeway by many a fan. But it has become so bad that it has cast a question mark over Bruce. Take the defence that collapsed against Wolves on Saturday. Nedum Onuoha and Ghana World Cup skipper John Mensah look, on paper, a decent pairing. Ahmed Elmohamady has power at right-back and Phil Bardsley has been one of the players of the season at left-back. But it was picked apart with ease. Where was the resilience? Many a side in the top flight would be happy with that back four. But put it in Sunderland shirts and it looked weak and disorganised. It baffles me why Bruce has complained about having to play kids in the last two months, when Bolo Zenden had been sat on the bench until a belated call-up nine days ago. When he scored. Even with the injury crisis at its worst, Bruce has Jordan Henderson, Steed Malbranque, Zenden and Paraguay World Cup star Cristian Riveros to choose in midfield. Have they all become bad players? Don't the likes of Wigan, Blackpool or whichever struggler you want to pick have, on paper, less talented midfields? So difficult questions will have to be answered. Is Bruce getting the best out of his men? How many of his squad need clearing out? Certainly looks like Marcos Angeleri, Anton Ferdinand, Riveros, Zenden are on the departures list. They will also lose loan men Mensah, Sulley Muntari and Danny Welbeck. It'll be a busy summer of rebuilding after all those exits. Try to sign loanee Onuoha from Manchester City, who would be an asset but may be too pricey. Lure two new strikers. Remember Short's wish-list when he spoke in March: "Firstly never to get relegated. Second to finish well into the top 10. A good team... hard to beat, respected, and one we can be proud of. "Two seasons ago we had just stayed up. I didn't expect to be in a relegation battle again and I wanted to finish top 10. I was a little optimistic. We made good progress last season but we didn't finish top 10. "The good news is we have made a lot more progress this season." Cue five defeats out of seven. Ask Bruce whether he will be under pressure next season to get off to a good start given the mood created by this year's flop and he replies: "I think this will be all forgotten about next year when we start again, but of course we need to get out to a decent start. "Hopefully, we will have everyone fit and hopefully have a clean deck. I know with seven fit we could have had a great season. "No one would have envisaged this happening but that's the Premier League and when I see a team like Arsenal win one out of 10 and Spurs win one out of 13, that shows you. "Ellis Short has never interfered in anything. He went down to wish the players the best of luck, he was fine. We will sit down, we have to move forward, always try to improve and go again. "We will learn from January, but I keep telling you, without seven or eight first teamers, and your back four, you simply can't do it. It is like going to war with a pop-gun. "It has turned into one of those horrible run and that has left a bad taste." Only Ellis Short can confirm how bad that taste is.'
"Chairman Niall Quinn clapped uncomfortably. Board member David Miliband fixed a diplomatic grimace honed by years in Government. Then Ellis Short emerged, perched himself at the front of the top tier, hands in pockets. No clapping, no smile. Just a straight-faced glower." ___________________ Is this saying Short wasn't sitting with Quinn and Milliband during the game, or is it the way I'm reading it? It just seems to me to describe an extremely tense scene. A man puts ã54 million into my club ... well I'm not turning against that man. I'll back what he does, hell or high water.
No, your right, it is worded as if they were separate parties but at the end of the day it's just journalism and isn't gospel. I think all in all though it's a pretty decent read and I for one I'm looking forward to a summer filled with new Sunderland signings and speculation!
Great post FFH! I think the reporter must have been reading some of our threads! Almost every point he raised in this article had already been highlighted and debated at length by many of us on here. The worry for me, if true, was the reaction of Ellis Short at the end of the Wolves match. What was he thinking as he stood at the top tier? I'm sure that we'll all find out in the coming weeks, but as I see it, he has 3 options..... 1. Back Steve Bruce 2. Sack Steve Bruce 3. Sell up To do nothing would spell disaster for the club, because there is no way that we can maintain our premier league status next season with the current squad and another 5 loan signings! Billionaires do not tend to back losers, so watch this space......
FFH - very interesting read and captures the whole mood around the SOL currently. There is uncertainty where 6 months ago there wasnt. There are massive question marks over Bruce today where there was very little dissent in December. Much of that uneasy feeling has come about due to 2 consecutive collapses in 2 seasons, at exactly the same time. Granted, injuries have played a part this time (along with some poor management decisions) but what about last year? What are his excuses for that collapse? Have we moved forward? Its open to interpretation of course and there are valid answers from both camps. What cannot be denied though, is that Bruce's honeymoon period with the fans and the owner is well and truly over and he is under the microscope big time form this moment onwards. One slip and the axe will fall IMO. Thats an impossible situation I agree but one which SB is going to have to come to terms with but all in all, its a huge **** storm we didnt need, as far as progressing this club forward.
A good read, but as Dorset has pointed out,these issues have been mulled over long and hard,for a good many weeks, as for progression, I must have let it slip by me, and as for startining next season with a clean deck, dont we do that every season? I love the expression "Keep the faith" quite a few lads/lasses have been keeping it for more than fifty years, perhaps we have got it all wrong, maybe instead of being greedy, and keeping the faith, maybe we should share it. Im sure somebody out there would like some of our faith and the rewards that come with it. In an earlier article Cest made a lot more valid points than were in this artcle, but if you read them both, and cross refer, you will see that there is no end result, not yet anyhow.
Im not into changing managers half way through a season so for me its decision time now. And after Sunday i hope the club makes an announcement one way or the other Personally i say he stays
Dorset, as you say only time will tell, for me it's either 1 or 2, and I'm swaying towards 1 at the moment unless we have a horror results against the Hammers. As Cest says, Bruce's honeymoon period is well and truly over and it's time for doubters like myself to be proved wrong and for Bruce to show us all why only a few months back Ellis and Quinn rewarded him with a lucrative new contract. If Bruce is still in charge come the start of the new season, there will be no second chances and the pressure will be immense.
I think if all the players in the squad were fit it would be well good enough, not just to remain in the premiership, but to finish in the top ten as well! The million dollar question is how many of these injured players will be prone to even more injuries, and that for me is what the manager needs to sort out.
I don't mind so much if Bruce goes, but it's a lot harder to find a manager than somebody who's willing to chick money at the club on an Irishman's good word!
On ability alone yes, I agree, but what I was alluding to was the number of players in our squad that can't seem to get through a few weeks, let alone a season without succuming to injury. As you say, there is a high probability that the current batch of injured players will be even more prone to injury now. We need more players that are resilient, that can cope with the rigors of a Premier League season.
Not this clap trap again. Bruce will be in the Sunderland dug out in August, its not even an opinion, its a fact.
