I wondered what Steve Bruce might come up with to explain today’s latest non-display. Make of it what you will – the “back to the training ground” bit reminded me a little of Mick McCarthy, he of no money to spend …
Dear Colin
My reaction to that can only be total disappointment in the way we played and how we conducted ourselves.
We were nowhere near what we’ve been used to this season and we have to make sure we respond in the right manner.
We looked very, very disappointing today and as the manager I take responsibility for that.
Make no mistake, as from tomorrow we’ll be working very hard on the training ground to try and get us back to where we were.
Where did it go wrong? Everywhere. Defensively we were all over the place while we didn’t look like we had a cutting edge up front.
We have to go back to basics, as they say.
The one thing I don’t want to do is make excuses – it sounds pathetic sometimes when I hear them.
They’re all huge games in the Premier League and if you don’t show up results like today’s happen.
I always judge people on how they respond when they’re up against it. We have to arrest the slide.
We must batten down the hatches, believe in what we’re doing and respond.
All the best,
Monsieur Salut
sunday what a shambles no heart from the players and not as good as a pub team. You could see the hurt in Nials face and what the owner thought i beet would be unprinterble. One thing really puzzels me –why does the manager keep playing ferdinand the worst 8mil the club have ever spent. lazy and can,t run but only trots.I can understand the argy right back being upset at not getting a game unless he has only one leg and even then he would be better than ferdinand. come on sb it,s time you earned your corn or ship out.
People picking on poor Henderson too bloody right I started in August 2010 after the Baggies match where his crosses and corners were inept. His set pieces are no better and the talk about Manure wanting him have to be hype./ Even Lady Sue, a novice as far as football is concerned said at the match that LAD CAN’T KICK A BALL PROPERLY. Then when Bolo Zenden came on she rightly said he is useful.
Nothing has changed so why is almost every set piece taken by Henderson.. Te boy may have potential but the bullshit talked about in the press as gone to his head.
The entire crowd can see things Bruce appears to be oblivious to and it might make a start if he stops the players talking to the press too because the fans make more sense than they do.
If I look at the last seven fixtures, Ian, I would have expected more than 1 point. To go into games like that expecting nothing is not acceptable – it’s what you expect from a club like Wigan, Blackpool, Hull City.
The mentality problem should be altered by now with the amount of new players who have come in. It is so frustrating; we thought we had moved on but we haven’t. Injuries do not excuse the total lack of awareness yesterday. Had we given up on that game beforehand? Has the manager convinced them that it will be an easy run in? Have they convinced themselves of that?
If you need to fight to keep away from the relegation zone, as Stoke, Everton and Newcastle have, can our players do it? Where is the leadership on the field? Organising days out for the staff is fine, but who takes responsibilty on the field? Cattermole and Turner were very poor yeterday – I know both were coming back after injury – but we are supposed to be building a team around them.
This is very worrying. It could all blow over and probably will, but for me the City game was even worse than the debacle at SJP. It cost me £50 before I had even bought a cup of coffee yesterday. I can think of much better things to do with that amount of money in the future.
SB has done a good job.
If you look at our last seven fixtures, how many points would you seriously expect to get? The 0-0 at Arsenal was even a bonus!
Give SB some more time, – we’ve had some serious bad luck injurywise and were thrown for a loop when Darren Bent went.
I think SB is changing the mentality of the club. Its not going to happen overnight , but lets stick with SB.
To be honest i was expecting this. Look at our fixtures. We will start winning next week at end up in the top 10. I wasnt even angry this week. We are a lot better then this. There is a reason you cant play on us going down. Look at the bookies.
“it’s my responsibility”
Same old Steve same old.
When is it going to change, we now are looking towards another relegation situation, no change there then.
Ask yourself, you’re a premier league player, rich, feted, adulated by sycophantic fans desperate for success and told how wonderful you are, every whim catered for.
Would you give a toss about Sunderland F.C.
Same old, same old and here we go again.
Jeff Stoddart
It is no coincidence that since changing the team to incorporate Sessignon and Muntari we have not performed. The team has lost it’s heart and is not balanced, hence we are not scoring and are leaking goals at the other end. Steve Bruce needs to change it around (and yes I know we have a lot of injuries) because we are heading for a relegation scrap!
A team playing without belief is beaten before it steps foot on the pitch, every other team below us that we still have to play will know this and will step onto the pitch with confidence, and there’s only one way to deal with it, change the team around and get a result. Stop being so defensive!! The West Brom game will show what we are made of!!
Is it time for Bruce to go?
To be fair I never welcomed his appointment in the first place and he’s done absolutely nothing to convince me that he’s the man to take us on to the next level. That is of course if you believe that Championship football is the next level! I would urge everyone to look at his record as a Premier League Manager.
Steve Bruce’s Premier League Managerial Career:
Team Games Won Drawn Lost
Sunderland 69 20 22 27
Wigan 68 23 17 28
Birmingham 190 57 52 81
327 100 91 136
30.58% 27.83% 41.59%
This equates to 44 points a season. Take out his one good season at Wigan and you’re in deep Sh1t. If fighting relegation year on year is your bag then he’s your man.
We are being told that the owner has full confidence in this man. How can this be?
Will he do the honourable thing and walk away? I doubt that he has the integrity to do so. Therefore we must give Niall Quinn the biggest sign ever that this incompetent man must go.
If not I fear the worst for our club and the position of our Chairman as well.
Everyone seems to be having a go at Henderson to the point at man city when he had been subbed, a pass went astray and some idiot started calling him. Where is his help from the so called senior players?
Pure capitulation, no effort no pride and worst of all a seeming contempt for the supporters. Sessegnon is not as good as Malbranque, he never beats anybody and gets a cross in, Muntari does not strengthen the squad he has never played on a winning side at Sunderland, Mensah is not good enough and Gyan is not the type of player who can plough a lone furrow. There are 7 games remaining and we have accumulated 1 point from the last 7 a similar return will see us relegated. Put the cheque book away and don’t buy Muntari or Mensah they have not shown us they believe in the future. Bent has been a huge miss and we need to find a replacement, if only we hadn’t sold Jones. Bring back Alan Hutton and find a top class midfielder, because since the transfer window we have looked like relegation material and that is unforgivable, in December we had lost only 4 games what went wrong? We have no fight no passion and are turning in guttless performances
I am not sure that you can teach pride, heart, or commitment on the training ground.
Nor am I sure that you can teach the manager that Henderson can’t cross a ball or take a decent corner or set piece kick and despite this he seems to be used for that role time and again. I am not sure what he does well these days and suspect he has been given an inflated opinion of his true worth by the press publicity.
I am not sure how you teach a manager on the training ground that he has had a year to find a full back so Bardsley can play in his correct position, no matter how hard he has tried for us fitting into a supposed stop gap role.
Neither am I sure that the training ground is the place to convince the manager that having a midfield that can neither defend nor score goals is not quite what the club needs.
In addition this is the second season in a row when we have been beset by injuries so perhaps the training ground tactics and systems are to blame.
We seem to swing from great performances to abysmal games and are repeating last years slump. One man carries the can because by now this is his choice of players.