HAVING assembled the most professional squad he has ever managed, Steve Bruce is now aiming to find a “winning formula” from them.
And the Black Cats boss hopes captain Lee Cattermole can play his way back into those plans after showing the best of his character this week.
Having recently shipped out Asamoah Gyan amid concerns about the Ghanaian’s attitude, Bruce admits the personalities of his summer additions was a key consideration. He referred to his new players as “a manager’s dream” and having seen Cattermole’s response to being dropped against Stoke City last week, the Teessider can be bracketed in the same category.
“It’s not just ability, they’re also a great bunch, a really good bunch who want to do well,” he said. “Now I just hope we can have a bit of stability and work with them for 12 months and add bits of quality rather than wholesale changes. That’s the hard part. Your Larssons, Gardners, Vaughans, Westwoods, Browns and O’Sheas are a manager’s dream. That was uppermost in my decision-making. We need to have a nucleus of players who were sound.” Bruce
unexpectedly lost three key players in 2011, part of the reason wholesale changes were needed for his third successive summer in charge. The club’s last two record purchases, Gyan and Darren Bent, both left (the former on loan), while Jordan Henderson joined Liverpool.
Ten new faces arrived during the last transfer window, and Bruce took great heart from reports filtering back from this week’s team bonding session.
“They went go-karting, then they went for a Japanese meal,” he revealed. “Where they went after that, God only knows, but they all came back in one piece! I believe they came to an agreement that they would all throw their credit cards in and whoever’s came out would buy the meal. I’m told (Craig) Gardner’s came out. I’m only glad it wasn’t poor Jack Colback! He was sweating about it.”
Cattermole could easily have upset the applecart after being benched for Sunday’s 4-0 win over Stoke. Instead, the midfielder’s response has been everything Bruce hoped for.
