Steve Bruce's Past Counts For Nothing But Could Still Cost Him
When it comes to Steve Bruce, Sunderland supporters should just be pleased they are getting a good manager rather than worrying about which team he supposedly supported four decades ago.
Steve Bruce is a Newcastle fan. Well he is when it suits him. Like when he is touting himself for the manager's job at St James's Park, but he didn't exactly shout it from the rooftops when he was playing for Manchester United did he?!
In fact, Bruce has never been particularly well-liked by Newcastle fans because he was always seen as a Red Devil. In turn, he never gave the slightest indication he had any special affinity for them until he fancied a shot at the manager's job.
Suddenly it was Corbridge this, Tyneside that, bottle of Broon ale this. Did you know he used to walk to the Gallowgate kicking a lump of coal around as a child, singing the Blaydon Races at the top of his voice? No, that's because he didn't.
I was one of those who believed Bruce would have been a good appointment for Newcastle and he did want the job, I'm not denying that.
But football is his profession and if he becomes Sunderland manager he's not going to be some sort of elaborate double agent, slipping into a position of power at the Stadium of Light so he can cause havoc from within.
He will do the job to the best of his ability and if he can replicate the success he has had at Wigan with better resources then Niall Quinn will have quickly removed the black mark of Ricky Sbragia's appointment from his Black Cats copy book.
Bruce has done a wonderful job at Wigan, but he wants a new challenge because he knows he has already taken the Latics as far as he can.
They are not a proper football club in the traditional sense - no matter how annoyed their fans get when people say it - and Bruce knows (like his pal Roy Keane) that Sunderland, for all of their problems last season, have the potential to be a major player in the Premier League.
If Bruce gets it right on Wearside he will be worshipped by fanatical crowds of 48,000. If he continued to get it right at Wigan he would still probably play second fiddle to the Rugby League team which shares the dreary Lancashire town.
With Ellis Short on board, Bruce knows he will have money to spend at a club which will finally give him the backing to prove he isn't just a manager who can make the best out of a bad hand.
Ultimately, if Bruce does well as Sunderland manager, nobody will care about his past affiliation. Sure, he'll have to win a few sceptics round at first but what manager doesn't? Even Alan Shearer has a few doubters on Tyneside after one win in eight games!
But if he struggles, it won't take long for the mood to turn ugly. Few managers get the luxury of time, but a Geordie who says he was a Newcastle fan will get even less than most....
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Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
SB has proved nothing as a premier league manager and has shown no loyalty to any club that has employed him. Sorry I don't want him. I do not see the top class manager who can take the club forward as was promised.
Naill is making a rod for his own back with this appointmet. just wait till we've suffer three straight losses at home the fans reaction will be unprintable.
There is no doubt at all that Steve Bruce will remain a great profesional and that Sunderland will become a powerhouse club once again. Assuming it is true that he turned down Toon in the past the blame for that will have belongs entirely to NUFC's past or present directors. NUFC is known throughout football as a very badly run club. Truth is that if Shearer does not take the job the alternative will come from amongst the dregs of the managerial talent.
Good luck to Bruce and god help the Toon!
steve bruce is a muppet!if hes a geordie it will never work out for him.. end of! i'd be surprized if he did more than 2yrs.
Agent Bruce,
Your mission should you choose to accept it, is to destroy the Mackems and then return home to the mighty Toon.
Question for you Luke, I was watching 'Time of our Lives' on Sky the other night. Am I the only one who would actually prefer King Kev to be the next Toon manager? Shearer is a hero, but KK has proven to be an expert in getting teams promoted (Newcastle, Fulham, Man City). Yes people will argue he walked out, but I for one would love him to come back, who else out there feels the same?
P.S I realise this is a Sunderland blog, but hisory has shown these to be vastly unpopular.
Re Kevin above
The madness of NE football fans. In a season where SAFC, NUFC and MFC all finished in the bottom 5 with vast resources at their disposal Steve Bruce finishes 11th despite having to sell his best players and playing in front of 17,000 fans every week.
Yet Steve Bruce has proved nothing? I think he has at least proved that he is better than anything seen in the NE this season.
I must admit I am surprised by the appointment. Not because Steve Bruce is a Geordie, or that his mother lived half a mile from where I did, but because Niall Quinn promised a 'Big Name'. I heard Slaven Bilic allegedly put his name forward for the job and heard a lot of European managers names mentioned, so to hear that Steve Bruce is the big name makes me wonder just how ambitious Big Niall really is.....?
This dreary Lancashire town will be hosting Premier League football next season which is more than Newcastle Utd can say.