Taking a break from sticking needles into MoN effigies and relaxing in the sun counting his millions for getting the sack, Steve Bruce had the following to say.... Former Sunderland boss Steve Bruce believes he could have transformed the club's fortunes if he was afforded more time. Bruce was axed by the Black Cats in November and replaced by Martin O'Neill after a disappointing start to the campaign. The former Wigan and Birmingham chief admits he was disappointed not to be given more time at the Stadium of Light and he has backed O'Neill to be a success on Wearside. Unfortunate "It is never easy when you get the sack, especially when it's a public sacking of course," Bruce told Sky Sports News. "It is unfortunate the way it went and I am disappointed we didn't get a bit longer but all managers are going to say that I suppose. "I am just going to recharge the batteries and see what comes up and have a break from it and see what appears on the horizon." Bruce added: "We finished tenth last year which was a decent finish for them and we made many, many changes and with changes you need time and unfortunately it didn't go our way and the crowd got impatient and we know the way football is, that is the disappointing thing. "You have to accept it. If you are going to be in the Premier League and manage there you have to accept unfortunately things like that have happened. "It's difficult, but you just dust yourself down and go again. "Frustration is there because I knew the nucleus of the side was decent, we just didn't have that bit of luck that is needed. "They are a good squad of players, decent lads and Martin has inherited a decent squad. "Martin has done remarkably well which I knew he would do and I wish them well." Knew it would be partly the crowds fault.....hang ya heads in shame...
Jesus, I forgot about the duldrums of 2011 for 2 weeks until being reminded of Steve Bruce. I would have worshipped him if he progressed from his first season where he done a brilliant job, unfortunately Mr Bruce the facts show you were given too much time, not as you say "Not enough time".
Yeah, that 11 months he had from January wasn't long enough was it Steve? What a prat. We are so fortunate the way things worked out.
Well, come on, you dont really expect me to agree do you. I saw him on sky and thought he spoke well. He is a genuine man whoes time was up so good luck from me Steve and thanks for the good times, yes I remember the good times.
I have to agree there mate ! There's no point slagging the man off now that he's gone, that's the easy option, so to speak. I never once mentioned his Geordie references or connections or questioned his loyalty. He was, and still is a professional. Okay, in the end we all gave him the bird for our opinion on his tactical ineptness, which in turn, probably didn't help in affording him any more time. Nevertheless, come on guys !... there were good times, remember them and move on.
Like I said in my comment Rackem, I'll praise Bruce to the hilt for his first 12 months in charge. I just disagreed with Bruce for needing more time.
He was afforded an incredible amount of time and patience from the SOL faithful imo. How many other fans, having seen 3 home wins in 11 months would have taken until October to really get pissed off? If is still trotting that tired load of bollocks about finishing 10th but fails to address what Mon did immediately. It's not the position that matters, It's the amount of points you have. We finished 10th but were only 3 games away from being relegated due to a **** February to May slump and it took until the Wigan game (5 from the end) to really settle nerves, this after being 6th in January and 9 points clear of 7th. One thing is absolutely certain as well. If Bruce was still in charge, we wouldn't have anywhere near 24 points and be in the 4th round of the cup. That's a definate, absolute certainty imo. The only person responsible for the demise of Steve Bruce is Steve Bruce. Not the fans, the players (we now know they are a good bunch) , the owner who backed him or the chairman at the time who was his biggest supporter. I don't wish him any ill but shut up Steve. We've all moved on.
He simply could not arrest the slide and our record from Feb 2011 to December 2011 was shocking. The same players are now doing it for MO'N, which begs the question as to why SB couldn't get them motivated. Best of luck Steve, but the sacking was spot on IMHO. You'll have had plenty cash anyway...
I agree with you Syd but I do think it was time for him to go for he clearly could not motivate or organise the players that he brought to the club. The fact that MON has turned us round with the same players confirm that Steve Bruce could not be afforded more time. My big regret at his leaving was the disgraceful behaviour of those who chanted personal abuse at the final matches when he was manager and those who insisted on posting the same abuse here. Certainly, we are all entitled to an opinion but that does not include the name calling and abusive comments we had on the forum. He has gone but left a very good legacy in the form of an excellent squad of players so surely the time has come to look forward and unite in support of the club we all support.
I'd have felt luckier if Larsson had been played on the right, McClean on the left and Vaughan and Gardner given a chance. I'd have felt luckier if a good defender like Kilgallon wasn't farmed out to bloody Doncaster, and Riveros to Turkey. I'd have felt a lot luckier if, ten minutes from the final whistle, we weren't facing successive defeats against Wigan, Wolves and Blackburn! I'll tell you when we got lucky, Steve - ten minutes from time, when O'Neill's stir-up got us two late goals and a home win at last. You don't like us fans? - Good, now f*** off.
Did Bruce have the 'man', management? I don't think so... Bruce did argue that 'we' as fans were too passionate and wanted too much!! MoN doesn't see a problem with 'we' as fan's wanting that and seems to be on the same wavelength, think MoN actually mentioned he want's what the fan's want, in so many word's. Bruce in a nutshell was simply out of his depth.
And it would seem in answering them, he couldn't help lay blame at everyone's door but the one actually responsible for the total collapse. Himself. With Bruce, it was always someone else's fault and never his. Injuries were the physios fault; poor performances were never his tactics; **** substitutions were the pixies fault no doubt. Piss poor planning from selling key players and not replacing them a mystery and fans expectations (to not be a relegation haunted team and actually compete in the derby games are obviously massive demands? ffs) placed too much pressure on the team at home. For him to then say on national tv that he wanted more time to **** it up even more is embarrassing. If he had come on and held up his hand and admitted he just ****ed it up I would actually have some respect for the bloke. It was his lame excuses, without accepting any responsibility that really pissed me off in the end. It just has again.
sure was his time but he was never going to say that, what else could he say but I would have solved it and I agree 100% about the abuse.
Bang on, Cest. He signed well for us, and we did have some good times. If he'd even vaguely acknowledged that he'd gone as far as he could with it and that it was time for a change, I could credit him with quite a lot of things. But if he's going to blame me for the bad things he did, he can kindly send me a couple of million for the good things he did too. This bloke wants all the benefits of the good things, and to blame the ordinary working man for the bad. No, I'm sorry, I'm not taking the rap for eleven appalling months. And I'm not swallowing bulls**t from him either.
