Riddled with factual errors, but some of the content is pretty accurate regarding some fans feelings towards the manager........
Steve Bruce and Sunderland – Hanging by a thread: English Premier League
Tyneside in England is known primarily for its two football clubs, Sunderland and Newcastle United. Both the clubs are intense rivals and the Tyneside derby rivals other derbies in England as one of the most anticipated matches of the Premier League season. Steve Bruce, the current manager of Sunderland is under fire at the moment. Despite the fact that it is the close season right now the end of the 2010-2011 Premier League season was not a particularly delightful one for the Black Cats.
Steve Bruce as their manager failed to live up to the fan’s expectations and now the former Manchester United defender is hanging by a thread. Betting people would be quick to bet on Bruce becoming the next manager to leave his job but that will only happen once the Premier League season beings. In short the upcoming 2011-2012 season is a make or break one for Steve Bruce in the English Premier League. It seems strange that Sunderland’s fans are acting like the ones at Newcastle United given the fact that their 10th place finish in the 2010-2011 Premier League season was their highest finish since 1956.
However the Black Cats’ faithful have good reason to worry. In the January transfer window Sunderland parted ways with their star striker Darren Bent. In the first half of the season, Sunderland were in a high run of form and looked like potential challengers for a Europa League spot but all of that faded into obscurity when Bent departed for Aston Villa. Bruce failed to invest in his squad in the winter transfer window and it seems unlikely that he will be able to find a striker as productive as Bent in the summer transfer window as well given that the Tyneside club are not playing in any European competition next season.
Moreover in the latter half of the season saw Sunderland pin their goal scoring hopes on Asamoah Gyan as Daniel Welbeck was out of action due to a knee injury. Gyan’s failure to rise up as Bent’s heir apparent made Bruce’s job even more difficult as Sunderland’s woeful form meant that their free fall down the Premier League table continued. The end of the season couldn’t come soon enough for the Black Cats but now in the summer transfer window Steve Bruce is already linked to a 12 million pound swoop for Manchester United rejects Darron Gibson, Wes Brown and John O’Shea.
However it is Bruce’s tactical cluelessness that baffles the masses at the Stadium of light. The former Birmingham City manager failed to get the best out of Asamoah Gyan as his 4-5-1 formation failed to generate to the best out of Ghanaian striker’s abilities. In a 4-4-2 formation, Sunderland were woeful at the back which meant that they always had one problem or another due to Bruce’s strategic limitations. The English manager’s failure to switch to a possible three man midfield did him no favours either.
Now Jordan Henderson has already been sold to Liverpool for 20 million pounds, a long summer of investment waits for Sunderland. If Bruce fails to rise up to the challenge of turning Sunderland into a Europa League challenging outfit then it is more than likely that he will be gone by Christmas. It remains to be seen how much time Nigel Quinn will give his club’s manager
