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Steve Bruce Tried To Blame Everyone Else, But His Sacking Is His Own Fault

by Gary Evans
1 December 2011 5 Comments

Steve Bruce blamed: being a Geordie. Steve Bruce blamed: striker changes. Steven Bruce blamed: Sunderland fans for coming “in their thousands”. Steve Bruce blamed... pretty much everyone but himself.

Steve Bruce blamed: being a Geordie. Steve Bruce blamed: striker changes. Steven Bruce blamed: Sunderland fans for coming “in their thousands”. Steve Bruce blamed… pretty much everyone but himself.

That’s the tagline to the Tumblr page set up to collect Bruce’s many and increasingly bizarre post-match excuses for Sunderland’s shambolic form. Its tone is tame by comparison to the treatment he received during Saturday’s last-gasp defeat to Wigan at the Stadium of Light.

Were the chants of “fat Geordie b*****d” warranted? Probably not. But it’s not hard to see why the SoL had lost patience: three home wins in 2011; two places above the drop-zone; 30 signings in two years; £25 million spent this season.

Bruce’s arrival in 2009 was met with an approving shurg. He came with a decent record at Wigan, making some deft signings during his time in charge. The only difference at Sunderland was he had money to spend. Proper money.

In came Michael Turner, Lorik Cana and Lee Cattermole. With them, came the pivital player in Bruce’s reign on Wearside: Darren Bent.

Led by an in-form Bent, Sunderland sparkled in the opening months of the 2009/10 season – including a beach ball-assisted three points at home to Liverpool and a win against Arsenal. Shortly after which, it all went tits up: 14 games, from November to March, without a single win.

A 13th-place finished seemed to flatter our end-of-season form.

Bruce spent – relatively – big again the following summer, including a record signing: Asamoah Gyan. Once again, we made a decent start; once again, we faltered: Sunday 31 October 2010 – that defeat.

But Bruce kept his job and the lads bounced back. From one of the worst performances in living memory to one of the best: the 3-0 spanking of Chelsea on their own overpriced turf.

This form was not to be repeated.

“Sadly results this season have simply not been good enough and I feel the time is right to make a change,” said Ellis Short. It’s as simple as that.

The remainder of the season brought with it nine games without a win, but a – slight – return to form in the closing stages saw Sunderland finish a respectable 10th.

2011′s pre-season was full of optimism. Again.

Sebastian Larsson, John O’Shea, Wes Brown and David Vaughan all looked like quality signings, while Connor Wickham and Ji Dong-Won were both exciting prospects. A promising season lay ahead.

But a home defeat to Them up the Road and a Bent-esqe mercenary move to the UAE by Gyan set the tone for the weeks ahead. The rest is history.

Why did Steve Bruce get sacked? Was it down to Bent? Was it the defeats to the Mags? Or was it Gyan’s departure?

“Sadly results this season have simply not been good enough and I feel the time is right to make a change,” said Ellis Short. It’s as simple as that.

Had we been playing well this season, picking up points as we should have done, Bruce would still be in charge and all those things would have been forgotten. With the players we’ve got, we should be doing better than we are. Much better.

Who’s next? Martin O’Neil’s always mentioned – although, as likeable as he is, his glory days at Leicester were over a decade ago and Celtic isn’t the toughest of managerial challenges. Other bookie’s shouts include Mark Hughes, Rafa Banitez, Walter Smith and, at 20/1, the baby-faced assassin himself, Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

As for Brucey, he’ll probably get a chance at the top-level again. But for blowing it at Sunderland, he has only has himself to blame.

Other Sunderland stories you might like…

Sunderland’s Connor Wickham Is The Future Of English Football

Sunderland Greatest Xl v Newcastle Greatest Xl

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image descriptionCOMMENTS

JR 5:04 pm, 1-Dec-2011

ellis short might want to look at why he left his manager without his 2 best strikers ( bent and gyan) for so long... sunderlands problem is that they dont score enough goals... which is entirely down to the fact that short made the decision to flog his strikers at crucial times- bent in january and cygan in august.

Dan H 5:33 pm, 1-Dec-2011

Bruce's dour defensive tactics are simply awful. His insistance on playing players out of position is truely staggering. He's had 2 years to buy a left back and a left winger and still hasn't. If it hadnt been for Seb Larsson's freekicks Sunderland would be bottom of the table and alreadt staring relegation in the face.

yogavo 6:21 pm, 1-Dec-2011

i would have sacked him after asking for funds to sign wes brown. wes f*cking brown!!!!????

JR 6:29 pm, 1-Dec-2011

sunderland have the 6th best defensive record in the leauge this year so far, defense isnt the issue, they just cant score!! would that be the same wes brown who is ex england, won numerous premier leauges and a CL? arguably the most decorated and experienced defender sunderland have ever had.. but then if your used to tritus bumble... thought so. you mackems dont know your born.

yogavo 7:53 pm, 1-Dec-2011

@jJR holy crap you actually think wes brown is worth all those trophies. just for the record i don't support sunderland.

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