Bruce: I want character
Steve Bruce says he's on a mission to create a Sunderland side with character stamped all the way through it.
And he believes that as he enters his second season in the hot seat at the Stadium of Light, he's already well on his way to getting it.
He said: "I've been lucky in that I've had the backing and the will has been there from the owner and chairman to allow me to turn things around quickly on the playing side.
"Some of the changes have perhaps happened a little too quickly, but they've needed to be made because we wanted to improve the quality of the players and the quality of the character of the squad.
"The biggest thing I learned last season was that you need big players to play at this club if you're going to be successful – not just big on talent but big on character.
"Maybe I should have known that already, coming from the North East as I do.
"But I didn't really appreciate it until I came back to manage here.
"The pressure of expectation in the North East is immense because of the passion that the fans have for their club.
"It's a 24-7 thing and we maybe don't realise – because we live here – that's not normally the case elsewhere.
"It means that you need a player with a certain type of mentality to succeed here. They need to be mentally strong, they need to have complete confidence in themselve and they have to feed off that passion from the terraces, rather than fear it.
"Some players relish it and the last time Sunderland were a top side – with players like Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips – they loved that pressure to perform.
"But some players don't and I think that's why so many successful footballers have come to the North East, failed and then gone other places and succeeded again."
Bruce believes his recruitment over this summer and last has helped add backbone to the side.
Last summer, the manager brought in players like Michael Turner, Lee Cattermole and Lorik Cana and this summer the manager has sought players who relish the battle, like Titus Bramble, or are used to competing at the highest level, like World Cup stars Cristian Riveros and Asamoah Gyan as well as Manchester United's Danny Welbeck and Manchester City's Nedum Onuoha.
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Weather for Sunderland
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
