Steve Bruce is right man for job, insists Gary Pallister
Jun 5 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal
A difficult dressing room may not be the only problem that Corbridge-born Bruce runs into at the Stadium of Light.
His Newcastle United connections may have been deemed irrelevant by chairman Niall Quinn and new owner Ellis Short, but for some die-hard Sunderland fans, it may sway their feelings towards Bruce. Quinn will hope those Black Cats supporters will put their tribal loyalties to one side and accept a manager who is fairly well-established as the best English boss of his generation – sentiments shared by Pallister, who believes talk of boyhood teams or affinities is laughable.
“He loved beating Newcastle as a player, he loved and was totally committed to beating Newcastle when he was a manager,” he said.
“It will be the same at Sunderland. When you’re a professional, it doesn’t matter what club you supported as a boy, it’s about where you are now. The vast majority of the supporters will forget about that, I’d have thought. He’ll be judged like everyone else on results.
“He’ll be desperate to prove himself because this is a big opportunity with Sunderland. They under-achieved hugely last season.
“What he’s done at Wigan has been impressive. He’s got them punching above their weight again and, perhaps as importantly, he’s turned them into an exciting and good footballing team.
“He’s worked within a budget and been happy and contented to do that but he has understandably grown frustrated at seeing his team picked apart. I think he will see Sunderland as a club where that won’t happen.” Pallister also believes that Sunderland are a good match with Bruce’s own fiercely-driven personality.
“They under-achieved but they can do better than that. Sunderland are a much bigger club than people from outside the North East realise,” Pallister said.
“Who knows how far they can go with the right management and the backing that they’re going to get? They get huge crowds and they’re the North East’s only Premier League club, which is a selling point for them. Steve’s ambitious, so he’ll see it as a chance to kick on both professionally and for Sunderland as a club.”
He should also enjoy the chance to work with a “dream” chairman, says his former Manchester United colleague.
“There were a few battles between Arsenal and Manchester United when we played. Steve and Niall were best of enemies as players but there was a mutual respect there, too,” Pallister said. “He’ll love working with Niall because they’ve both got that drive and determination to do better and kick on. Niall seems like the dream chairman and they should complement each other well.”
Ironically, Sunderland have now taken on their third successive Manchester United alumni as manager.
And, while Roy Keane was often talked of as a future Old Trafford boss, it is arguably Bruce who is closer to succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson than anyone among the English managerial fraternity.
“I don’t think he’ll be thinking of this as a stepping stone. Steve isn’t like that,” Pallister said. “But he has got a great reputation at Old Trafford and left on great terms with the people there. If he was to do a good job at Sunderland, I think he’d be a contender and it’d be difficult for Steve to turn down.
“But that’s getting ahead of everything. The first priority for Steve is to turn Sunderland around – and I think he can do it.”
