Bruce Needs The New Boys To Lead Sunderland Recovery

By Luke Edwards on Feb 25, 10 02:09 PM

Sunderland are on a slippery slope at the moment and as anyone who has been watching the Winter Olympics will know that is always a dangerous place to be.

But this isn't the luge, it isn't even ski-ing, and it certainly isn't curling, which appears to be the only winter sport played by the British with any sort of real gusto - bowls on ice.

It's dull, though, isn' it? I mean, I'm not saying I haven't sat in bed watching it until the early hours because I have, it's still sport and it's on terrestrial television so of course I have, but give me someone sliding down an ice tunnel on a tea tray any day of the week.

But back to my point. We all know Sunderland are in dreadful form and unless they win at home to Fulham on Sunday, the pressure will be cranked up another notch on manager Steve Bruce.

I don't think Bruce is in any immediate danger, even if they slip to another costly defeat to the Cottagers this weekend, but he is sliding closer to the hairpin bend without any brakes.

His relationship with Niall Quinn is a good one, but we have to remember that Quinn is just the chairman. In effect, although he is in charge of the football operation, he is employed by Ellis Short.

The American is the owner and he has absolute control. We - by we I mean the media - have never spoken to him so I can't judge what sort of person he is, but if he decides Bruce has to go he will go.

If he feels Sunderland are underachieving and the manager has to carry the can, that is what will happen. Rightly or wrongly, that is just the way it is at the Stadium of Light since he bought the club from the Drumaville Consortium.

There have been enough positives in the last few weeks to indicate Sunderland will be alright, but they desperately need people to stay fit.

I dread to think what would happen if, say, Darren Bent picked up a long term injury and missed the rest of the season.

The problem is confidence. They all talk a decent game in public, but you can see the self-belief has disappeared. They are not the only ones.

According to Sky Sports, the bottom eight teams in the Premier League have won just eight of their last 87 games combined! I haven't double checked that statistic mind, but it gives an idea of how tight it is at the bottom.

When you lack confidence you don't want to take risks, you don't want to express yourself in case you make a costly mistake. They are playing without a safety net at the moment and fear has crept in.

It leads to stilted, unimaginative performances which frustrate fans and lead to even more howls of derision from the stands

It is self-perpetuating malaise, but it is not an ever-lasting one. One win, one spirited display and three points could be enough to completely turn Sunderland's season around again. First chance Fulham.

Bruce has always said he will only sign players who are brave enough to cope with that pressure and in that respect, it is up the new arrivals to be at the vanguard of the recovery movement.

It is time for Lorik Cana to grab a game by the scruff of the neck, it is time for Lee Cattermole to stay on the pitch and dominate it, it is time (again) for Bent to hit the back of the neck and it is time for Michael Turner and John Mensah to repel the opposition for 90 minutes.

These are the players Bruce's backed to take Sunderland on to another level last summer and they are the players on whom his reputation now hangs. No pressure lads!