Bruce: Genius Fergie would have won title with any of the top four Published 17:17 10/05/11 By Simon Bird Steve Bruce reckons Manchester United's top four rivals would each have won the title had Sir Alex Ferguson been their manager. Bruce has hailed Fergie as "the greatest" and reckons he's built another "awesome" side. He said: "I have to say Manchester United were fantastic. In a one-off game to win the league they were absolutely awesome. "To a man they were just as good as you get. It was a great performance. I hope they can re-produce it and beat Barcelona in the same fashion. I hope they can do it. "It is the manager. If he had been manager of any of the top four they would have won it. "Let's be fair, two years ago he sold Ronaldo and Tevez, everyone is questioning his judgement then he buys Valencia and Hernandez and wins the league again and is in the Champions League final. "He's a genius. He's unbelievable. Where do you start? I think he's the greatest ever - I don't think anyone will get close to his achievement, not only of managing Man United for 25 years but what he has achieved in those years." Bruce needs to show a bit of genius himself to dig Sunderland out of their injury troubles. He is facing the prospect of having six of the players who are currently injured still on the sidelines for the start of next season. Bruce added: "This run has taught me how difficult it is in the North-East - don't get me wrong, I wouldn't swap it for anything. "If everyone had been fit I'm convinced we would have been top 10 long before having two games to go. "With the problems we've had, finishing top 10 is not going to mask it. Even now we've got a lot of people out for a long time. That's the big challenge for us now - getting them back, even for next season. "You're talking about Gordon, Meyler, Campbell, Turner, Cattermole - there are serious injuries that they've got. "That's the big challenge, to get them fit for next season. "This season has been as difficult as anything. At the end of January we have the Darren Bent situation, which is untimely. e all didn't want it to happen, but it did. "Then, unfortunately, the injuries kick in - Welbeck and Fraizer Campbell. They were meant to be back, it didn't happen. Then Gyan gets injured. "It's been frustrating and difficult. Then the scaremongers come along and it grows and it grows. It grows like in no other area - the vultures circle round here like in no other area. "You have to have the strength to see it through and thankfully we had a little bit of luck on Saturday. We had a little bit of luck at Wigan and on Saturday to get a result. "But even then we had 12 senior pros out - it was a fantastic achievement, arguably one of my biggest results for a long, long time."
Fergie nearly got the sack at Manu in his second year but managed to keep his job and the rest is history
