Why Titus Bramble Could Be An Excellent Sunderland Signing
There is no doubt the signing of Titus Bramble will divide opinion among Sunderland supporters but will there be a few Newcastle fans who quietly resent seeing their former player turning out for their bitter rivals?
We all know about the Bramble jokes. He became a player people loved to mock, but he was never as unpopular on Tyneside as certain sections of the media made out and he certainly wasn't as bad a player.
With hindsight, Bramble - signed by Sir Bobby Robson who knew a thing or two about players - was perhaps too young at 21 to be thrown straight into a side which was challenging for the Champions League, but he was.
And yes he made mistakes, horrible mistakes, but sometimes it can be fashionable to knock players, who in turn became trapped in a spiral. They are told they make mistakes so they make even more of them.
Lest we forget, Bramble played for Newcastle in the Champions League, a far cry from where they are now.
He was part of the side which beat Juventus at home, which qualified for the second group stage with the thrilling win over Feyenoord and the one which pushed Inter Milan all the way in the San Siro.
He also scored the goal which ensured the Magpies qualified for the Intertoto Cup under Glenn Roeder. In short he was a regular member of a Newcastle side which competed for a top six place year, after year.
As United fans will admit, this season's main objective is to make sure they stay in the Premier League so how do they feel about seeing Bramble sign for their bitter rivals? A club which aims for top ten finish this season?
It will be fascinating to see what sort of response he gets in the Tyne-Wear derby, although I'm sure it will be mainly boos.
Look what happened to Michael Chopra and he was a Geordie and wasn't even a pal of Kieron Dyer!
Having said all that, Bramble has much to do to persuade Sunderland supporters he is not the same player they used to chuckle at.
They laughed for too long not to be a little nervous about the deal. However, few people know the towering centre-back better than Steve Bruce.
It was Bruce who helped Bramble rebuild his reputation at Wigan and it was Bruce who passed on the skills and the knowledge to transform a figure of fun into Wigan's player of the year.
As a former centre-half, Bruce saw something in Bramble. As did Robson, as did Graeme Souness.
The difference was, he managed to get the best out of him on a regular basis and that is why Bramble has been so keen to link up again with his former mentor.
Bramble isn't a player full of raw potential anymore, plagued by regular lapses in concentration.
At 28, he is an experienced top flight defender and for less than £2m, there aren't too many of them around. He is also English, and as we all know, there aren't even many of them to choose from in Premier League either.
Is Bramble better than Anton Ferdinand? Yes he is, so his signing is another indication Bruce is slowly managing to improve his squad. Only time will tell, but Bramble might just turn out to be a superb piece of business.
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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.
yes luke and excellent signing for newcastle, sorry i mean sunderland thanks sunderland, thank you, thank you, thank you. i've always thought Bruce bought dodgy players and he has just confirmed it..
toonagain darren bent n co dodgy signings???? dont think so!!! cant wait to see uz go down again!!!
safc 4 life a few words of advice mate. Don't feed the Troll!
safc, to be honest i prefer to se all the northeast clubs up there playing each other every season. Steve Bruce is a geordie but i'm glad he isn't managing newcastle. darren bent always falls short and to be fair for it looked for a while that bruce's buys might have just sent you into the relegation zone last season. he pulled it around to be fair but what will happen next season with magic bramble helping out? all i'm saying is rather you lot then us..