Sorry syd - he never said those words but he always insinuates that this was the reason he was barracked by the fans - we all know there was much more to it than that - at the Wigan game when the fans started singing Bruce Out in the North and East stands there was very little mention of the Geordie part - simply Bruce Out (although I still, to this day, believe we'd have got a point if not for those singing for the last 5 minutes!) - I never got on his back at the matches - I tried to support the club and the lads playing the game - I did, on this board, say I thought his time was up as, at the time, I was actually losing sleep over the club I love going in the wrong direction - This was the point where I'd had enough - when my wife is asking me why I can't sleep and the only answer I could give her was because of the way my football club was going, something had to change! - Bruce seems to think that it was all because of his goerdie roots - but he never says anything about his terrible record and the position we were in when he left
I am in the East Stand and the words, loud and clear..YOU FAT GEORDIE BASTARD GET OUT OF MY CLUB. I was not alone in my disgust and TBH its the, well he never said it but, that gets me. Slate the man by all means for his record but the never ending posts about what he said, but didn't say is what gets my goat. This thread is typical, deluded Bruce the title says then every joins in saying how sick they are of him moaning, then you read the OP and its not even him talking.
Hypothetical scenario... Super Kev is appointed as the manager of Newcastle in 20 years time. Do you think his 'mackem roots' could potentially become an issue for the supporters of 'Newcastle' if super Kev produced no more than 2 or 3 home wins over an 11 month timeframe along with an overall win ratio of 29% two and a half years into the job? Do you think that a small minority of fans would sing something along the lines of "sad mackem bastard get out of our club"? Infact... Do you think that super Kevs 'mackem roots' could be an issue for some fans before day 1? If so, can we conclude that the minority of Sunderland fans who 'sang the song' are quite simply expressing a fundamental byproduct of human nature, which is to highlight a circumstance that they find disagreeable when the chips are down? Does that justify the chants as being right? No. Does that justify the chants as being wrong? Not if it is in our human nature. Can we conclude the chants as being unsavoury? Yes. Do unsavoury chants occur at football matches week in week out along the length and breadth of the country? Yes. Would it be better to preemptively consider the implications of appointing Kevin Phillips as the manager of Newcastle upon the basis that his 'mackem roots' would be raised as an issue as soon as there is clear evidence of incompetence? Yes. Was Steve Bruce the right man for Sunderland? He might of been the right man if he was a brilliant manager. However the actual answer to that question is a clear no. Sunderland football club moves on.
Now, I agree that personal insults are unneccessary. However.... Fat (fact) Geordie (fact, and not an insult) Get out of my club (a man expressing his wish, which is fair) I put it to you Syd, that that is not insulting, a mixture of fact and desire....
Maybe I just come from a time when some facts were left unsaid because they could be upsetting, hurtful or simply rude. The long explanation of SKP and the rest leave me lost, all I have said is that I have never seen Bruce quoted saying he was sacked for being a Geordie but is constantly being accused of saying it. Moving on is what most of us did when he left us, its the never ending Bruce threads that stop us.
Neither slating nor defending him, but this is not a bad piece.. ............................................ The PR offensive that follows a manager’s sacking is always intriguing to watch. The unemployed manager, looking refreshed after a few weeks on an exclusive Caribbean island, having had time to come up with every excuse under the exclusive Caribbean sun for his disastrous performance, appears on every TV and radio show available, repeating his version of events ad nauseum. A version of events that is designed to deflect any blame from himself, and remind gullible chairman up and down the country that he’s available for work, and that whatever failings he’s accused of aren’t his fault. The latest example is Steve Bruce, who over the past few weeks has been doing the rounds relaying his version of events; a version that unfortunately is so far removed from reality that any journalist or presenter with a modicum of intelligence could challenge him for weeks. Unfortunately, the press pack these days is an extended old boys network, in which they dare not utter a word of criticism for fear of doing the wrong thing, and would rather shy away from a question that could be perceived as tough than put a mate on the spot. Bruce’s ‘charm offensive’, to anyone with a remote understanding of his tenure at Sunderland, is as blatant an attempt at rewriting history than you’re ever likely to see. A job at the Iraqi Ministry of (mis)Information surely beckons should he fail to secure further football employment. Take his comments this week: Sunderland fans’ hatred of him due to his Newcastle supporting roots are to blame, losing players at the end of last season is to blame, and fans putting too much importance on the derby games is to blame. Oh, and not being given enough time. That was to blame too. The last excuse from the failed manager’s book of ready made excuses. Of course, it was nothing to do with 29 wins in 98 games, a win ratio of below 29% (to put that in context, the much maligned Graeme Souness had a 43% win ratio north of the Tyne, and 41% on the Mersey; Avram Grant’s ‘disastrous’ spell at West Ham saw a win ratio of 32%, Paul Ince recorded 29% and Brian Kidd 27% at Blackburn, while even Chris Hutchings had a win ratio of 33% at Bradford. Hardly a glowing endorsement of Bruce’s abilities). Nothing to do with 3 home wins in 2011. Nothing to do with 2 wins in 13 games at the start of this season. Nothing to do with signing too many players on loan. Nothing to do with Bruce building up the derby matches, to the extent he was boasting about what celebration song he was going to play over the Tannoy system in January 2011 if Sunderland won. Which they didn’t. It’s a pathetic, bitter assessment from a man who was welcomed and supported from the off, at a club who has a statue of a former Newcastle United captain outside its ground. Do the business at Sunderland or any football club, and it doesn’t matter if you’re from Newcastle, The Netherlands or Neptune. It’s downright insulting, inaccurate and irresponsible, and a smokescreen the Great Soprendo would be proud of. He has even had the audacity to claim that he’s the reason Sunderland have done well since he left, as it’s all his hard work paying off. His signings are doing well (including James McClean, who’s been a revelation but who Bruce didn’t give a second of first team action). He doesn’t see the irony in this, or how insulting that is to his successor. He doesn’t see that Martin O’Neill has done incredibly better with the same set of players as he had at his disposal. O’Neill has got Sunderland organised, motivated and working hard. They’re a fitter, more confident and more focused team, and that’s to do with the manager. The fact O’Neill is doing well with Bruce’s players is a reflection of both of their managerial abilities. And unfortunately for Bruce, under the slightest bit of scrutiny, it doesn’t reflect well on him. The simple facts are that after a very good start as Sunderland manager, Bruce wasn’t up to it, and actually isn’t up to it. Sunderland went on prolonged periods without a win. The fast, pressing game he employed in the early days to maximise Bent’s effectiveness was abandoned for a slow passing style, which while it looked aesthetically pleasing was less effective. And as it became less effective, Bruce cut an increasingly hopeless figure on the sidelines, often looking up to heaven rather than his bench for inspiration. The loss of Albanian club captain Lorik Cana without a fight was careless. The departure of Bent in similar circumstances was neglectful, and Gyan downright incompetent. Yes, they all wanted to leave (within 12 months of Bruce signing them), but part of a manager’s job is to keep good players happy and motivated. Yes, he guided Sunderland to 10th last season. The league table doesn’t lie. The fact they were eight points off relegation suggests it was less than convincing. He took over a club that finished 17th, and left them in 18th position, via a 13th and 10th placed finish. Progress? Not quite. His biggest success at Sunderland was using the media to convince the footballing world that the decidedly average Jordan Henderson was worth any more than a pocketful of loose change. And he’s now using the media again.You can’t blame him, but no matter what spin Bruce and his media chums put on his managerial record, the fact is, at Sunderland, he was a failure. Will prospective employers fall for the media spin? Probably. Because that’s the way it works. Expect Alex Ferguson to speak up for his former skipper again soon. Expect Bruce, fully resplendent in new club tracksuit, in a dug out near you soon. And in two or three years time, the whole media roadshow will start again.
Bruce may not have directly said that he got the sack for being a geordie but he's certainly insinuated it enough times. I read in 1 interview - sorry can't remember which one it was - that Ellis Short thought his position had become untenable due to the abuse he was receiving for being a Geordie. Well I sit in the Premier Concourse - not that far from where Ellis Short sits, and he was there for the Wigan game. The only shouts you could here after the Wigan match were Bruce out - there was no mention of his stature or origins. Not saying that it didn't happen- just that I couldn't hear it from my seat and pretty sure Ellis Short wouldn't have either. I know Syd is right and that we really need to put the Bruce era behind us and focus on what looks to be one of the most exciting futures in a long time. It just bothers me that he is using the chants of a minority as a cover up for his own inadequacies
The point I clearly made is that appointing super Kev as the manager of Newcastle could prove to be a poor choice in the long-term. I use that example as a symbolical reflection of what we witnessed at Sunderland. Most of us understand that a football club will have its good times and its bad times. However, when the bad times occur as they always do, the fans become disgruntled and make their feelings known. Bruce being a gentleman who once openly stated that he 'bleeds black and white' is a quote that is deeply seated within the subconscious of every mackem who has any interest in Sunderland football club. Like it or loath it, as human beings a lot of people are unable to cope with those types of thoughts within their minds at such time when they rise upto the conscious during great difficulty. Some of us older folk are able to see things from a higher perspective, however the majority of the paying fans who create the atmosphere that inspire the players arn't so forgiving... The top and bottom of this scenario is that Sir Niall made the wrong long-term choice when he appointed Steve Bruce. The fans willingness to embrace a man who openly 'bleeds black and white' for any significant length of time was only going to serve to exacerbate and accelerate the impatience of the fans. Like it or loath it, it's human nature... I still give full credit to Steve Bruce for taking on the challenge of managing Sunderland and completely disagree with the fans who suggest that Bruce deliberately threw the derby games because you could see he was visibly distraught. The vast majority of Sunderland fans welcomed Steve Bruce with open arms along with much affection and we all hoped that we were in for a long period of stability. However, after 2.5 years with a win ratio of 29%, a team that had finished the previous season asthough it had jumped onto a slide and then commenced the following season with 11 points from 14 games, it had become clear that all wasn't well... At that point, that is when a minority of fans allowed their subconscious thoughts to rise up into their conscious thoughts and express their chronic disatisfaction. The fans were fed up with the thought of another relegation when they had hoped the appointment of Steve Bruce would bring stability. The constant and very high turnover of players during the Steve Bruce era could only ever create an environment where the club is in a permanent state of 'bedding in'. Having such a high turnover of players was in actual fact creating instability which is the exact opposite of what our fans had hoped to see. This is why we had yet another season pissed away by game 14 and the fans quite simply had enough. Steve Bruce would need all the time in the world to try and create stability with a team where he made so many changes year in year out. Today, I do believe that the media are distorting Steve Bruce's words and perhaps Steve should be more careful with who he chooses to give his interviews to. If the journalists are to blame for the perception that Bruce has now aqcuired in the eyes of the many, including the journalist who wrote the article that commachio placed on this forum, a journalist who isn't a mackem, then perhaps Steve ought to stay away from the journalists. On the other hand, Bruce is a passionate man and loves his football and is ready for a new challenge therefore he clearly feels the need to keep popping up in the media to let people know he is ready to take on a new challenge. However, there are 'minor' details that arn't quite right... Steve is often quoted as saying we only had 11 games to 'bed in' with his newly revamped squad when infact we had 14 games. It was wrong of a professional manager to quote the fans who sang against him as being 'morons' and as far as I'm aware, Steve Bruce is the only manager to ever call the fans of a club he was sacked from as 'morons' and that to me, would suggest that Steve Bruce was intending to fan the flames because nobody in their right mind would make a quote of that nature without fully expecting the fans to pass comment. It is a shame that it didn't work out for Steve at Sunderland because the true fans of Sunderland couldn't careless if it was Malcolm Mcdonald, Alan Shearer or Peter Beardsley guiding our way to success. It's a shame the fans sang abusive songs, as a minority of fans do at all other clubs. It's a shame that Steve has made some ill judged quotes subsequent to leaving Sunderland such as the infamous 'moron' quote. It's a shame it all didn't work out... and we are all feeling the pain of that process, Steve, you, me along with all of the fans who support SAFC. Today, with Martin O'Neill we have a fresh start and hopefully we will experience a feeling of stability that we all hope to recieve. Being 14 points clear of relegation with 5 games to go is a great start and long may it continue.
