It's all change again ...

The departure of some major names – and a worrying mid-season slump – left Steve Bruce with no choice but to reshape his squad again, says Mark Douglas

REVOLUTION, once again, is in the air on Wearside.

For the third successive summer Steve Bruce has overseen a major overhaul of his squad but this time, more than any, he needs to have got it right.

Major changes were to expected when Bruce inherited the bloated, unbalanced Ricky Sbragia squad that clung to Premier League life by their fingernails in 2009 and a second stage of that development was to be expected some twelve months later.

But this summer’s nine-man recruitment drive was an unforeseen development – pushed partly by Darren Bent’s shock January departure and the dispiriting slump that left Sunderland looking far too short in certain key areas.

As even Bruce admits, it wasn’t supposed to come to this but his hand was somewhat forced by some major exits that he had not predicted.

“I know that I said a year ago that there wouldn’t have to be major changes again but circumstances changed,” he said.

“We lost Jordan, we lost Darren Bent – and then there were the loan players who had to go back. John Mensah as well, who was a terrific player but I just couldn’t justify it with his injury record.

“I’ve been really happy with what we’ve done. I like the look and the balance of the squad – I think everyone knows where we’d like to add but there’s a real feelgood factor about the place.”

Clearly, Black Cat progress over the last three years has been acute. Bankrolled by a major investor in Ellis Short, they have spent – at a conservative estimate – some £95million to bring in international players that just five years ago would not have contemplated joining a club damned by the ‘yo-yo’ club tag.

No-one considers Sunderland anything but part of the Premier League furniture now but there have been boardroom frustrations along the way that the pace of change hasn’t been quicker.

Bruce has never been genuinely vulnerable in the eyes of the Sunderland power brokers but questions have been asked about the way the Black Cats have fallen away in successive seasons. The Sunderland boss put forward the suggestion that youthful inexperience meant that his side couldn’t cope when the chips were down and used it to support his argument that the club should be shooting for the likes of Wes Brown and John O’Shea with the money accrued by the double sale of Jordan Henderson and Darren Bent.

Those departures were regrettable, unforeseen and hardly ideal. But Bruce argues that Sunderland supporters know that those in charge have the best wishes of the club at heart when such difficult decisions are taken.

“It’s vitally important for the club that there’s a trust, and that stems from Niall, that sometimes we have to take the money.

“You lose a really good player, but as long as the supporters can see the money reinvested back into the team and the club and the team can be stronger for the sale of one player.

“Nobody wants to let their best players go and no one thinks more of Jordan than I do, but I believe in the money and what we got for him. You might not like signing off a deal like that, but it enabled me to go and buy Craig Gardner, Seb Larsson, David Vaughan, Keiren Westwood, Connor Wickham, four or five who strengthen the squad?”

Bruce would argue that his squad has improved infinitely since he took over, and point to the number of sales as proof that he is as committed to balancing the budget as any of the club’s bean counters.

But there’s a suspicion, too, that Bruce enjoys his reputation as a wheeler-dealer – a sort of Northern Harry Redknapp.

Although public denials are usually issued when unlikely links emerge, Bruce makes it his job to be kept abreast of any potential deal that Sunderland can potentially broker.

Sources close to the Black Cats boss spoke of a speculative call to David Beckham last Christmas as the England man was assessing his options during the MLS close season while Bruce was never far from the Charles N’Zogbia deal until it became “too rich”. It is a fine trait to have a manager so well versed in the vagaries of the transfer market but at some point, the conveyor belt has to grind to a halt.

Another major overhaul would be counter-productive and Sunderland now need a modicum of continuity if they are to progress beyond the top ten finish achieved last season.

 

I think this is massive - our fans were up in arms at one point but saw 8 or 9 players (most of proven PL quality) added to the squad which would be much better than Henderson alone (I like Henderson but these additions we've made sare much bigger for the club rather than the team).

Looking forward to the season starting now

 

I agree totally mate. I think Henderson split fans down the middle, me personally I didn't see where all the excitement came from surrounding him. Fair enough he was a local lad but I don't think he ever set the world alight with his football. I do however wish him well at Liverpool and working under Kenny and some other quality footballers there, I'm sure will bring him along nicely. Others think he was exactly the sort of player Sunderland needed to hang onto a build a team around.

Whichever way you look at it, the money we got from his sale has imo been wisely re-invested bringing in a range of youth, experience, goals and creativity and that can only be a positive step for SAFC.

Roll on Saturday!

 

I have no problem with good players being sold, as long as money is re-invested. So yes I think the squad is stronger than last year and less likely to fall over if the likes of O'Shea and Brown are playing (assuming that they are fit).
However the problem position of LW that has been around for a couple of seasons has as yet not been solved, unless we think the the unproven Irish lad is the solution? Also we still have not replaced Bent, and I know we finished 10th, but as injuries mounted and goals dried up, the mistake of selling him without a replacement was very evident. Yes I think Wickham and Ji Dong look good prospects but we do need a proven back-up, to let the problem fester until January would be stupid cos' prices in that window are higher than now.
Bellemy the man has been thumped by his colleagues in every dressing room he has been in. Bellemy the player is fast (I think we lack pace on the wings atm) and may be a short answer to letting the two young strikers become used to the EPL. So for this year at least we must get someone in. If not Bellend then someone similar IMHO.

 

Reading some articles about Bellamy last night. Apparently we are making a big push on bringing him in on loan with Short ready and willing to pay a high percentage of his 80-90k/week wages. Seems to just depend on City agreeing to stump up the remaining amount. He's just what we need for this season and as you say, it will give other time to gain experience and bed in.