Thursday, April 14, 2011

Steve Bruce Must Prove He is Not Part of the Problem After Sunderland Slump

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Steve Bruce, Sunderland v West Bromwich Albion, Premier League, Stadium of Light, Sunderland, April 9, 2011Less than three months ago, an end of season review at Sunderland had all the makings of being little more than an exercise in back slapping. Now it's increasingly taking on the shape of an all-out inquest.

The bad news for Steve Bruce in the light of Niall Quinn having promised to look back and learn from the mistakes of the current campaign is that there will no doubt be one or two awkward questions as to why the manager has overseen a second debilitating capitulation in two seasons.

The good news for Bruce is that Quinn has reassured him he'll be part of the think tank tasked with ensuring the avoidance of a hat-trick of slumps next season, one being unfortunate and two being careless to coin a phrase. There are many who think he shouldn't be in situ to do so.

For an increasing number of Sunderland supporters fed up with the same tired old excuses - injuries, tough fixture list etc - Bruce is part of the problem, not the solution to a run of one point from the last 24 that has turned an outside chance of Europe into a grim battle for survival.

Sunderland sit a precarious six points above the relegation zone in 13th, currently bottom of the division's form table ahead of the trip to Birmingham City. Quinn said: "Once we get through this, we'll look back to see what might have been done differently, how we might have improved things,"
There's no getting away from the fact that Bruce is presiding over a slide that is turning into an unwanted repeat of last season, when his side went 14 games without a victory spanning three months. However, he retains the full support of his chairman, and Quinn added: "Of course in the summer, we will evaluate things such as the catastrophic injury problems we've had to contend with and look at our transfer policy collectively."

 

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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/04/13/premier-league-sunderland-steve-bruce-end-of-season-slump/

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