Scout’s honour in Black Cats’ search

Jul 15 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

Sunderland chief executive Steve Walton confirmed that Brown had vacated his position yesterday.

He said: “Mick leaves us on very amicable terms. We thank him for all his work over the last two and half years and wish him well for the future.”

Brown is a highly-respected figure in football but his time at Sunderland, working mostly with former boss Roy Keane, has not been wholly successful.

Perhaps the biggest black mark against his name was the signing of Rade Prica, the Swedish striker who looked out of his depth almost as soon as he made his debut in English football.

He was trumpeted as the first foray into the Continental market but it was a misjudgment by the club and he left for Rosenberg in March having played just six times in a Sunderland shirt.

The Black Cats made significant moves in the transfer market last summer too, but few were unqualified successes and Pascal Chimbonda and El-Hadji Diouf lasted only a few months before being moved on amid reports of failing to settle in the dressing room.

In fairness to Brown, Keane was the driving force behind moves for those players.

When Bruce took over, Quinn pin-pointed his ability to recruit smartly as one of the key reasons for his appointment.

“I’m not going to be interfering but I will make sure that the recruitment and the structures are as good as they can be,” he said.

“There will be reporting structures and every Friday we will know what is happening. We will put a library together of all of our thoughts so we can call on that at any stage. We have to be smart on that. Ricky’s role has not been put in writing yet but he will head that (scouting network) for me and Steve.”