Steve Bruce striving to find right blend

Sep 26 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

“I don’t blame them. I used to knock the door down at Manchester United although I didn’t get very far! I used to wait and see if he was in a good mood or not. If there was a cough I didn’t go in. It is part and parcel of management and what you do. I got judged on that.

“If we get beat, I’ll be judged on that. I think they are intelligent enough to know in the Premier League we need a bit of depth and sometimes they will not play.

“They accept that and it gives good competition.”

The key is balance – knowing when to take players out of the firing line and when to massage their fragile confidence by keeping them in the team.

Bruce’s biggest selection dilemmas ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Mick McCarthy’s Wolves surround Anton Ferdinand and Kenwyne Jones.

Both played on Tuesday but have been inconsistent during the Premier League campaign and are at risk if Bruce goes with form men like Mensah and Campbell.

Ferdinand – clearly low on confidence after a difficult start to the season – could be Bruce’s next defensive project if he decides that he fancies him, but it is still unclear whether Bruce has an interest in rehabilitating a defender whose career is still stuck in third gear.

Bruce’s low North East burr may be easy on the ear, but asked a direct question about whether Ferdinand was in danger of not fulfilling his potential, he cleverly steered the subject onto other matters.

“I am not going to single out individuals. I am looking for competition for places,” he said. “In the past maybe we have not had that competition. Da Silva and Mensah have come to the table and given me food for thought.

“That is why I brought them here. They are proper defenders who captain their country. The biggest question mark is, can they play in the Premier League? But I think they can. I have got a decision to make. Against Birmingham the other night they certainly both looked terrific.” For Jones, it is the lingering doubts about his work-rate that exercise Bruce’s mind.

But while he may never possess the lung-busting style of a Lee Cattermole or a Lorik Cana, he scores goals and upsets opposition defences.

If Bruce can coax an extra 10 per cent out of the giant striker by creating uncertainty in his mind where once there was complacency, he will have fulfilled the man-management part of his remit. Intrigue like that persists all over the pitch when Sunderland play at the moment.

Two steps forward are quickly followed by a crunch of the gears and a quick slip into reverse – infuriating for the manager and supporters.

But while Sunderland may have verged between the sublime and the ridiculous this season with alarming regularity, that represents progress. Last term, after New Year, the Black Cats were simply dreadful with no silver lining to cling on to. This year, they have at least book-marked disappointing defeats against Stoke and Burnley with resounding victories over Hull and Birmingham – confirming that there is an excellent team lurking beneath the baffling inconsistency.

With Manchester United and Liverpool lurking during a potentially treacherous October, the Black Cats reach the end of their gentle introduction to the season tomorrow against Wolves in a contest that Sunderland should win. “If we can get 12 points from six or seven games on the board before October that would be a good return,” said Bruce. “October is a tough month. At the moment it’s a decent start, a good return at home which is vital.

“We slaughtered Birmingham in every department. It was our most complete performance.

“We have to take that cup form into the league and show, not just in bits that we are a good side.

“If we repeat the Birmingham performance we will have a very good chance.”