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Steve Bruce wins the sack race but who’s next?

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As boos rang out around the Stadium of Light last Saturday following Sunderland’s 2-1 defeat to Wigan Athletic, manager Steve Bruce would have been hurt but, being a football manager, would’ve already been thinking about the next game and how to get three points against Wolves the following weekend.

As it turns out, Bruce wouldn’t get that far, with chairman Ellis Short relieving him of his duties on Wednesday night, stating results had “simply not been good enough”. Unfortunately for Bruce, the stats don’t lie, their recent form and performances have been wretched and only two wins from their first 13 games this season tells its own story.

At the time of writing, Bruce’s successor has yet to be announced, There have been rumours about Mark Hughes and Martin O’Neil has provisionally said ‘yes’ to taking the reigns, which would be a shrewd appointment. But how much can somebody hope to get out of a group of players which has the talent but has yet to show its credentials this season?

Bruce can point to the departure of Darren Bent at the start of the year as a huge turning point; the striker defecting to Aston Villa for £24 million with Sunderland sitting pretty in sixth at the time. He could also say that the strange departure of Asamoah Gyan badly disrupted team morale at the start of this season when the £13 million striker left to join United Arab Emirates club Al-Ain on a season-long loan.

Bruce, though, has been given money to re-shape his squad and he wasted no time in the summer transfer window, drafting in ten new players. These players have been given ample time to prove their worth and the sad truth is, the majority of them have just not stepped up to the plate. Nicklas Bendtner, signed on loan from Arsenal, has simply not got that predator’s instinct of Bent or Gyan and his lack of goals hasn’t helped Sunderland’s cause.

£5 million signing Craig Gardner, from Birmingham City, has had a quiet start to the season, too – failing to repeat his form of the last campaign and struggling to live up to the price tag. John O’Shea and Wes Brown, signed from Bruce’s former club Manchester United, have also failed to shine – Brown being held culpable for Wigan’s second goal last weekend with some highly questionable defending.

Thus, Bruce has been given funds and time in which to stamp his mark on this team. It just hasn’t worked for him. You can’t pinpoint too many Sunderland performances this season where you felt like the XI that he put out was giving its all for the manager. In that respect, you could also add that Bruce possibly didn’t have the full backing of the dressing room and when it gets to that stage, you know it’s time to go. He is a good man, well spoken, well respected in football and with good PR skills, but slightly lacking on the front which matters the most – getting a team to play. He’ll be back, his stock won’t have sunk too much, his time at Birmingham and Wigan still keeping him in good stead – but he may need to step down a division to build up his confidence again.

Who next to go in the sack race?

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