Andy Reid shows the way to stars on sidelines

Oct 27 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

“I am hoping two or three will come to the party and me give some hard decisions to make,” Bruce said.

“Reidy had a wonderful performance at Norwich – it’s a chance for someone else to show me what they can do. From the outset I’ve seen this as a competition we can win.”

If tonight is an opportunity for some to remind Bruce of what they can do, it will also provide a chance for the majority to help him forget how they performed at Birmingham City. Almost without exception, the Black Cats under-performed as individuals at St Andrew’s with a sloppy display which undermined all they had achieved against Manchester United and Liverpool.

“We let ourselves down and let the supporters down,” Bruce admitted.

“It was desperately frustrating. We tried to guard against the complacency circulating round the game.

“The simple fact is we got nowhere the standards we’ve set as a team and as individuals. How can we put in a performance like we did against Liverpool, then play like we did against Birmingham?

“The beauty of football is you can always to go the next game. If we get a result we can forget about Saturday – I won’t find that easy, but you can put it to the back of your mind.”