A decent read, I find myself agreeing with the bold text. Couldn't give a fook where he was born, what he has for supper, who he likes to drink with as long as he does the job well ... Unfortunately he doesn't. 'By early Saturday evening some Sunderland fans were running sweepstakes, with wagers placed on the day and hour of Steve Bruce's predicted sacking. Others preferred to debate the succession and ponder the respective merits of, among others, Mark Hughes, Martin O'Neill, David Moyes and Steve McClaren. By 5.30pm Sunday bookmakers had suspended betting on Bruce's dismissal. For the moment, at least, he remains in charge at the Stadium of Light, but although he maintains resignation is not an option – and having signed a lucrative new long‑term contract in February there has never been much likelihood of Sunderland's manager waving a white flag – even he concedes that his relationship with the Wearside public has possibly fractured beyond repair. After witnessing two home wins since New Year's Day, this defeat to a Wigan Athletic team who had begun the day seemingly glued to the bottom of the table proved a watershed. With chants of "Bruce Out" and "You fat Geordie bastard, get out of our club" echoing in the late afternoon gloom, the atmosphere was so vitriolic it felt suspiciously close to mutiny. Bruce was asked if things had reached the point of no return. "Can I turn the relationship around?" he mused. "I don't know. It's going to be very, very difficult. I would never walk away, never. But If I thought that by going it would help everybody then I would consider it, I'd certainly have a think about it. I don't think that at the minute, though. "I just want to try to get it right. Hopefully the criticism has bottomed out today; I don't think it's ever been as bad as that. It borders on abuse. That's just the way it is, though, and I have to accept it. I cannot help where I was born." That last somewhat disingenuous comment will not play well with the majority of Sunderland fans, who simply do not care about Bruce's roots or his boyhood adoration of Newcastle United. Instead, most Stadium of Light season-ticket holders are far more concerned about the reasons why he has signed 30 players – several of whom have since moved on – since the summer of 2009, the apparent lack of an overall playing philosophy or tactical strategy, and Bruce's persistent failure to tweak his teams and formations incisively during games. Why, they wonder, has he rushed key players back following serious injuries only to see them relapse, why was Anton Ferdinand allowed to join Queens Park Rangers when he was in the best defensive form of his career, and why were three former key strikers, Darren Bent, Kenwyne Jones and Asamoah Gyan, so desperate to depart? If attacking options are limited, a lack of control and creativity in central midfield leaves Sunderland unable to dictate play and set the tempo. It explains why, after taking an early lead through Sebastian Larsson and missing several subsequent chances, they permitted Wigan back into a contest altered irrevocably by Jordi Gomez's conversion of a controversial 44th‑minute penalty. Aware sporadic bouts of pleasing passing were being betrayed by alarming defending, Roberto MartÃnez tightened his team's positional discipline at half‑time. "Defensively we were giving too much space to Kieran Richardson and Nicklas Bendtner and they were getting in little holes to really hurt us," Wigan's manager said. "We tried to get a little bit tighter and that helped neutralise the threat. Small details won us the match. I wouldn't say we had too much flair and, to be honest, I thought it was one of our worst performances of the last three weeks, but we were really professional." MartÃnez also made an inspired 84th‑minute substitution. Franco Di Santo was clutching a corner flag while performing an elaborate stretching routine when the command to get stripped for action finally came and, judging by the way he ambled down the touchline and then spent an inordinate amount of time adjusting his shorts, the Argentinian striker looked an almost reluctant participant. If Di Santo's demeanour lulled Bruce into a vague sense of security it was short-lived as within minutes Wes Brown had been caught, horribly, in possession and, with Keiren Westwood lured off his line, James McArthur rolled the ball for the former Chelsea forward to sidefoot into an empty net. In the match programme Ellis Short, Sunderland's reclusive chairman, had made a rare public pronouncement, claiming that while he was unhappy with the team's league position and sought an improvement in results and performances, he saw no reason to panic. Short, who did not speak to Bruce before leaving the stadium, has a big decision to make. Does he offer the manager a chance to spark an improvement at Wolves on Sunday and at home to Blackburn Rovers the following weekend, or should he implement an immediate change?'
The scary bit is that Martinez says it was his teams worst performance of late and they still beat us.
Speaks volumes doesn't it! We have a habit of letting any team who is apparently struggling beat us and then kick-start their season into life. Yes, we created chances and probably should have been 2 or 3 up by half time but chances mean nowt if you constantly fail to put them away.
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Toon fan in peace Just a little bit of info . . . SAFC Starting 11 vs Bolton, 15 August 2009 Fulop (Sold) Bardsley Ferdinand (Sold) Collins (Sold) McCartney (On loan) Malbranque (Sold) Cana (Sold) Cattermole Richardson Bent (Sold) Jones (Sold) SAFC Starting 11 vs Birmingham, 14 August 2010 Mignolet Onouha (Loan - returned) Mensah (Loan - returned) Bramble (Dirty dog) Richardson Cattermole Malbranque (Sold) Henderson (Sold) Elmohamady Campbell Bent (Sold) SAFC Starting 11 vs Liverpool, Mignolet Bardsley Brown Ferdinand Richardson Larsson Colback Cattermole Elmohamady Sessegnon Gyan (On loan) *Players in bold featured in two out of three starting XI's, with the exception of Ferdinand and Bent, who has departed for pastures new So, from a mere two seasons ago, 8 of your starting 11 have gone. From one season ago, 5 of your starting 11 have gone. And already 1 of your starting 11 have departed this year, which suggest Bruce is building a team around the spine of . . . Mignolet Bardsley Cattermole Richardson Elmohamady This strikes me as bizarre as, with the exception of Bardsley, none of those players are in any way shape or form quality players. Yes, they do a job, but they aren't what you want to be building a team around. So, anyway, add your new players (ie. Sessegnon and Larsson) and I do actually think Bruce is trying to build something - he's just not doing it very well. I have never ever rated the guy, he has never done anything to me to suggest he deserves a shot at managing in the Premiership. The bloke is a Championship manager, at best. He seems to think buying new players every year will hide this fact, which it sadly, does not, and I very much doubt anyone will shed a tear when he leaves, much like when he left Birmingham, Wigan and anywhere else he managed to shove his fat head through the door.
