New Sunderland manager Steve Bruce aims to match the big boys
Jun 4 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal
NEW Sunderland boss Steve Bruce ushered in a new era at the Stadium of Light by promising “exciting times” lie ahead for the Black Cats.
Bruce was confirmed as Ricky Sbragia’s successor after signing a three-year deal yesterday, with his Wigan backroom staff of Eric Black, goalkeeping coach Nigel Spink and Keith Bertschin all following him to Wearside.
The club have set him a minimum target of avoiding another fraught relegation battle next season and while Bruce chose his words carefully, Black Cats chairman Niall Quinn spoke of the huge lift the new manager had provided after the sombre Sbragia era.
Bruce will be handed a significant transfer kitty – and intends to raid his old club Wigan for their ‘big’ players – as he goes about trying to create a team that “the Sunderland fans will be proud of”.
At an upbeat unveiling last night, an elated Bruce also dismissed concerns about his Geordie background, insisting supporters would judge him on his win-loss record and not his birthplace. He added that the chance to turn a club like Sunderland into a genuine Premier League force is an opportunity that he has waited his entire career for.
“It should be exciting times ahead. If I could say one thing to the Sunderland supporters, I hope they’re excited because certainly I am,” he said. “I spoke to Niall for three hours while the legal people were looking over contracts and we talked about players I’d like to get.
“I'm looking at targeting people that I've never been able to target before. I have got targets in my mind, but I'm also going to give the squad a chance. I know where we need to improve, that’s for sure.”
Bruce’s brief of avoiding a relegation battle is a modest one, but he is fiercely ambitious and sees the potential to be challenging at the top of the Premier League within his three contracted years. Indeed, he is already eyeing a longer-term project on Wearside.
