What do we know? AS a football chairman â in fact, in most respects â Ellis Short is an unknown quantity on Wearside. With every day he does nothing, we are learning slightly more about him. âDoes nothingâ is slightly unfair. Short is not sat on his hands having taken over day-to-day running of Sunderland. Crucially, though, he has not taken the ultimate sanction available to him and sacked Steve Bruce. Rightly or wrongly, if Bruce had started the season at many other football clubs he would be sat comfortably in television studios by this stage of the season rather than prowling technical areas. The case against him remaining as Sunderlandâs manager is that a disappointing start to the campaign is merely a continuation of last season. Form dropped off dramatically in the New Year as injuries bit and he failed to adequately replace Darren Bent. Unexpectedly finishing in the top half papered over the cracks but a raft of summer signings have not fixed them. The case for Bruce is that no teamâs final league position is accidental, reflecting their true standing in the Premier League. Sunderlandâs tenth-place perch was one they only occupied twice in the previous 55 years. Eight games into a new campaign, the standings can be deceptive, however, and the manager has earned time to put things right and allow his much-changed squad to gel â even if a record of just seven wins in 28 competitive matches in 2011 makes for alarming reading. Shortâs predecessor Niall Quinn took the pro-Bruce view. Short is yet to change course, but we have no idea how thin his patience is. He has shown himself to be ruthless when it comes to the administration of the club. The managing and marketing directors were moved on so Margaret Byrne and Angela Lowes could be promoted, to chief executive and finance director respectively. Quinn has been demoted, although the club say willingly. Having spent the last two years watching and learning, Short is now hands-on. The widespread assumption was that, once Quinn went, Bruce would too. A week and a match later, it is yet to happen. We wait to see if Short â who Roy Keane felt was largely responsible for his departure â is a trigger-happy Texan or has the patience of âSt Niallâ. His response to a defeat at Bolton Wanderers, should it happen this Saturday, would be instructive.
Trigger happy Texan? That's his lass Comm. She hates intruders coming onto the land of her Scottish castle like.
