There are two thoughts to be had IMO about the events (or non events) of last nights transfer window close. 1) Bruce is simply happy with his squad, comfortable that they will be fine from now on and there are no issues to resolve. Having had the best part of 8 months since Bent left to find a suitable replacement and since it is surely inconceivable that no-one was available or could be found in the world of football in that time, the conclusion must be that Bruce simply didn't think he needed a proven goalscorer for this season and what he has at his disposal is good enough. He always fancied Bendtner all along and sees him as the final piece of the jigsaw. 2) The game is well and truly up and the owner simply refused to supply the necessary funds to recruit the striker we so desperately needed. There were options we know of. Cisse, Helmes, Crouch, Long and Bellamy were but 4 of a plethora of names available. That we eventually only managed to scrape over the line with a season long loan of a player that had earlier in the day been odds on for Stoke, until they got wind that their number one target was available, dropped Bendtner and signed the man WE thought was our number one target. We got Stoke City's cast off. Whether or not you rate Bendtner (and as many of you know form previous posts I actually do rate the lad) thats not the point. I would love to know at what point of the evening he became our primary target? 5pm? 6pm? 10pm? Desperation must have been etched into Bruce's face yesterday as he got out his fantasy football league entry form to tick possible targets off. It must have been pin in the paper time as no preparation was obviously done prior to yesterday and nothing will convince me that Bendtner is nothing more than a token signing, made so that he had at least something to talk about today. No doubt he will try and bullshit his way through the press conference by suggesting "Nickolas was one I always fancied, as I knew him from my Birmingham days" routine. No doubt he will be a smashing lad, young and hungry and up for the challenge, adding that bit of know how etc etc etc. Horseshit. Bendtner is nothing more than a struggling managers last hurrah. Will he change our fortunes on his own? I think not. A decent player I do think he is actually but as a Brucie after thought, he doesnt exactly fill me will hope and goodwill. If he really fancied the lad he would have done the deal weeks ago not at the 11th hour. Bruce has made his bed now and will have to lie in it. Will it be enough? We shall see but personally, I dont see Bendtner scoring 20 goals this season at all. What conclusions can we draw? Short has had enough too. If he really backed the manager, he would have provided the funds for a REAL Bent replacement not a last minute freebie. We sold Anton for £3m yesterday and have off loaded some big earners too so where is that money? In the bank for a new manager in January? Thats my guess. I wish Nickolas Bendtner all the very best and personally look forward to see him play (hopefully as a centre forward but with Bruce you just never know) as I rate the lads ability. With a run in a team he may prove to be a good acquisition. I just wish he had been a wanted target and not the last throw of a desperate man to save his job. Bruce out? You better believe it and even more so than I did 24 hours ago. The biggest summation I can make however, is I think Ellis Short is now a BOB as well and has removed his financial backing form a manager that simply isn't delivering the promise.
Rubbish. Who says all these players you name were available ? The media and the fans, in reality, were they really available and if they were, did we have any chance of signing them ? I think its a good move bringing Bendtnar in on loan, if it works out, buy him, if not, send him back. Its a win win. This transfer window has been very good for us, and you can only buy a 20 goal a season striker if you spend mega bucks, or if you are very lucky as we were with Bent.
Cest - Your view is correct as your arithmetic ("...Cisse, Helmes, Crouch, Long and Bellamy were but 4 of a plethora of names available...") - in my opinion like (know it's a cheap shot but couldn't help myself - tinker that I am). Without doubt, the replacement for Bent should have been the priority and I'm not happy with that. Only one thing to say... KTF
Cracking article, Cest. At this moment in time, all i can say is i'm chuffed to bits we've brought in O'Shea and Brown because we've a whole load of desperate defending ahead of us! I just can't see how this team can achieve a COMFORTABLE top 10 finish, which MUST be the aim, right? I'm happy with Bendtner (even if he is almost ideantical to Wickham), but i think we need 1 or 2 more to fulfill our ambitions. I know i'm the only one harping on about it, but i felt it was essential to bring in a pacey, skillful winger/midfielder. I'm trying to think of team line-ups that give me real confidence, but it's difficult. Bruce won't play our strongest team anyhow. I've one last plea to Bruce...get some attacking players in that midfield!!
In other words - you're happy with the signing but you want to bitch about the manager and the chairman anyway 
I think the owner does back Bruce, if Crouch wanted to come here then I would be pretty sure Short would have sanctioned the £10 million pound move as we apparently bid for him didnt we? I agree though that now Bruce has his own team its a big season for him, some stability and better home form would be welcomed and a victory against the mags at their ground will do him good. Im afraid thats as good as it gets this season unless we pull something out the bag in the FA Cup!
Sorry Cest,but I think the players we were linked with were out of our league wages wise.Short would probably ok spending 14-15 million on a player,but 70 grand a week wages?(just guessing but I reckon thats what they would have wanted) I don't think so,which is why we never signed insomnia.I do think your'e right about Bendtner though,we got the player that was left,not what we wanted.Is it a mistake by the owner (not willing to break the wage structure) or the owner not backing the manager because he's lost faith in him?
I dont believe some on here, Bendtner is young and has EPL experience, Crouch is 31 and Stoke reportedly paid 12 Million pounds for him, yes thats right 12 million, unbelievable, as hes no different to what they already have in Kenwyn. I would have gone balistic if Crouch came to us for that money. Why dont we just give this signing a chance and see how it goes, Im not totally convinced over Steve Bruce but he could have signed Lionel Messi and still take flack from some on here. We are where we are with the squad and I for one am looking forward to the rest of the season, my glass is definetly half full.
I agree Bendtner is a good player and I wish him success. I also agree that Bruce must have played all his cards now. Yes IMO Bruce isn't good enough. For the sake of our club I hope I am eating my words in January. My problem is, I cant see that happening. I can even understand Stoke being more preferable to us - they are in Europe. They have made the right noises for players at the right time. There'yar I aspire for our club to match Stoke City. How good does that feel? x
I certainly would not have been happy if our club had spent 10 to 12 million of 'our' money on Crouch...It's not that I don't rate Crouch, but no way on God's earth is he worth anything like that money, especially as he is the wrong side of 30. I agree with your 'final piece of the jig-saw' analogy, and feel that Bendtner could prove to be just that..Hopefully anyway..
Did anyone expect anything different from Cest, if we signed Messi he would have twisted he was not tall enough. You have to look at the window as a period of time and not the last day madness that some focus on. Are we happy with our 10-11 new players, I am. it is now up to Bruce and the players to gel into a team that will compete in the toughest league in the world.
Personally I do see an exciting side within our squad: Westwood Bardsley O'Shea Brown Turner Cattermole Larsson Gardner Bendtner Gyan Sessesgon I think thats a cracking side with Vaughan and Colback both able to step into midfield, Wickham and Dong developing up front and also the likes of Richardson, Elmo, Bramble, Meyler and some very good kids in the squad! Lets not jump the gun here. We have a tough game against Chelsea but following that we have a run of about 9 or 10 games where the majority are very winnable. I do agree that he will be under huge pressure if we are still struggling come christmas after those games but I am very confident in the above sides ability to get moving and start picking wins up.
Cisse and Helmes we know nothing about - we don't know if we went for them and were knocked back - Crouch said he wouldn't come up here (we tried and failed), bellamy was offered Liverpool on silly money (again we wanted him but he didn't want us) - Shane Long is a championship striker who would've cost £7m - too rich for a player who has been plying his trade at a level below where we are. Bendtner could be a decent signing - not my first choice (and I'm not a fan) but, as I've said, He's on loan so he's costing us very little (relatively) to find out if he fits. Also he's a big lad and has a decent touch - could be another Niall Quinn (I know a lot of people didn't want him when we signed him and he turned into one of the best strikers this club has had in my lifetime) Also Cest - are you saying that, even thought Bruce has signed a player you wanted us to sign, you still want him sacked because of how late the deal was done? Ha'way man that's daft - I'm definitely on the fence with Bruce but to want him out more because you believe this plan wasn't in place (No-one knew anything about our targets and SSN proved that by saying "Crouch is going to Sunderland after the Stoke deal fell through" amnong other bullshit stuff and Wee David Craig had no clue who we were going for. Sky get stories from all over the place about different clubs signing different players (in total Sunderland were linked with 100+ players this window) - Chances are there was a deal in place for Bendtner but the finer points hadn't been passed to the FA. Maybe we wanted Cisse or someone like but no-one knows this. We have to get on with it and keep the faith that the club is in good hands (ownership/chairman level) and get on with it
I think if Bruce plays the right team Bendtner could bring out the best in gyan and sessegnon. Larssen...catts...gardner.....sess ..............gyan....bendtner........... Or at home against crap or chasing games. ......larssen....catts.....vaughan... ...sessegnon..............gyan...... ..................Bendtner.............. .......
I would've been disappointed with crouch. If he had signed for us, his only reason for doing so would've been cos he couldn't find a southern club to take him on. Don't want a player like that at sunderland. Whoever said bendtner wasn't Bruce n1 Target from the start? The media? The bookies? Thought all summer that bendtner would be good for us, and is the kind of player Bruce likes. Reckon he will a good player for gyan to partner with.
Another unbiased spin Cest but there is option 3, the one you dont like to mention. Bruce AND QUINN have indeed tried hard to find Bents replacement and Short is prepared to back Bruce but, sa d to find, many arehard but true that players like Bent are looking. Cissi we may well have made an offer for, how do we know, and like with Newcastle and others he did not want to come. Crouch we made a 10mil offer for, over priced to me but Short backing Bruce, he chose Stoke and not because he does not like Bruce. Finding replacements is the easy bit, signing them, now thtas not so easy. You said yesterday how pleased you would have been with Crouch, your opinion but many, including me, are far happier with Bendtner than blowing 10 mil on Crouch. Its how you spin it mate.
A: Bruce has worked with Bendtner before when he was Birmingham Boss, he had him on a season long loan when he was 18, so he knows what he is about. B: Remember, we do have 5 strikers now (not including Noble and whoever else may make the breakthrough from our youth setup), Campbell may be crocked until Feb/March, but if we had bought a Helmes/Cisse/Crouch/Long that would have pushed Wickham/Ji even further down the pecking order. Gyan, Bendtner, Wickham, Ji, Campbell, So buying someone outright was probably never on the cards. C: We were promised a replacement for Bent, they are few and far between, 20 goals in a 38 game season is pretty hard to come by, and costs big bucks, and there isnt that many players that can do that, with this signing I believe the club are thinking Gyan can be our Bent replacement, and play him alongside Bendtner, who is good with his feet and head (its not square like Elmos for a start) so Gyan and our Midfield should get on a lot of Knockdowns. Bendtner isnt going to get 15-20 goals himself, but hopefully he can play a big part in our midfield scoring (which lets be honest has been lacking ever since we came back up) and Gyan getting on the scoresheet more.
I think that Bruce has had a long standing interest in bringing Bendtner up here, we've been linked a thousand times, he's managed the lad before and knows what he's about. My opinion is that we were looking to bring in 2 strikers, and that a move for Niklas was always on the cards, i think this is a quality signing, i think with a run of games the lad will score a few goals, and i think he will link up well and bring the best out of Gyan, with Sessegnon filling the left wing problem spot. I like this lad, i really do, he's a tdy finisher and a great creator as well, he wroks hard and runs hard, and anyone who wants to give him grief for having confidence (admittedly a way bit too miuch...), it's a confidence game. With Larssons set plays and Sess creative brilliance, combined with Bendtner's ability to hold the ball up, the team instantly has a better shape, so Bruce and the lads have my full backing for a few weeks while he beds in. Unless he plays him left back like.
