Of course before and after every game I wander on to the opposition boards and it's unbelievable how they constantly bang on about our fearless leader. It makes some of our own grumbles of discontent over Pearson seem tepid.
Parkinson or Dowie would be more comparable. With Pearson there was bitterness at losing a good manager in a way that seemed disloyal at the time. Bruce left Sunderland because they didn't want him, so it's weird that they're still so interested in him and in fact seem to want to believe he's really bothered about them. They are a funny bunch of fans up there.
A small number can't get over the fact that a Geordie managed them (the Geordie-lites) and they have to re-live the memory every time he sets foot in the SoL or when Sunlun have to play a team managed by him. Compare the warm reception that our fans gave our former manager Brownie the other week. I appreciate he took us up, but our second season in the top flight wasn't always a ball for us. At least most of us appreciate what he did and that he gave his best. As I said, with Brucey, I appreciate that it is a small number of their fans. Indeed, some idiots (with a higher than normal percentage of Neanderthal genes) will always need someone to hate, but their attitude to Bruce is sad, pathetic and simply way over the top.
Impartial view from a Sunderland fan. Like Bruce or not, his record at Sunderland speaks for itself. Niall Quinn went to great lengths to get him in and the club backed him with a lot of cash. He spent it on a lot of players that he was familiar with (Gardner, Cattermole, Larrson) and paid them top dollar to come. How many would you want in your team right now? His results were OK at first, but gradually started to get worse, the nadir being the gutless 5-1 capitulation at Newcastle. If you'd looked at the SAFC board at the time, you'd have seen the development of the BIBs & BOBs, i.e. the "Bruce in Brigade" and the "Bruce out Brigade". I was a BIB for ages, as he had a very solid record as a manager and he obviously needed time to get the club set up as he would wish. But the results just got worse. I personally went BOB (pardon the expression) about a month before he got the boot and by the time he went I was glad to see him go. Our "obsession" stems not from the fact that we don't like him now, or didn't like him then. It's from his persistent whine that he got the boot because of his geordie roots. If you really want to see why he was canned, just look up our results for the last 12 months of his reign. I have no axe to grind here and well done on Saturday. You won fair and square and I have no complaints. Well, not against you that is; I'm pretty pissed off right now. But Bruce simply did not work out for us. If he works out for you, fine by me!
Cheers mate. I reckon we'll both stay up. It's going to be extremely tense now though. After Fulham's result today. Never seen the premier league like it. And it's nothing different to what we did when Pearson left for Leicester.
It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that he learnt from his mistakes at Sunderland. What kind of turd makes the same mistakes every time he takes over a new club?
I think Bruce is A LOT wiser now mainly due to his spell at Sunderland... Look at the thread regarding his signings for us, he's been shrewd in the transfer market and taken us to another level...it's only a matter of time before he unearths a real gem. I'm just happy he made all his mistakes up north on wearside before joining us.
I don't think SB's hint that because he is a Geordie the Sunlan fans didn't take to him, Bob Stokoe was born 12 miles from St James Park and they put up a statue to him outside the Stadium of Light.
Bruce is obviously very popular here at the moment and rightly so. But I wonder what would happen if he spent £28.5m in the summer and we went into December having won only two games, i suspect his popularity might wobble.
Brian Clough failed at Leeds and failed at Brighton. Did a tad better at Forest Bruce may yet become a legendary manager, for all I know. Just because he failed at our place doesn't make him a bad manager. He just joins O'Neill, MacMenemy, etc. in the list of them who got their CVs dented at Sunderland...
It's just like looking for the perfect marriage, you have to go through a few to find the 'right' one
