Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson bristled slightly today when asked whether Sunderland boss Steve Bruce can go on to manage a top club.
"I don’t think Sunderland’s fans would be too pleased to hear that," Ferguson asserted to reporters at his Friday press conference.
"They could be a massive club, you know. They already are in terms of history, stadium, training ground, and their fan base. It wouldn’t be doing them justice to say otherwise."
Ferguson clearly feels that all the ingredients are in place at the Stadium of Light, not least Bruce himself, who has paid his management dues after his successful playing career ended.
"If you go back through Bruce’s career, his experience of the other side of football is very useful," the United boss added.
"From being down there scrapping with Crystal Palace or Sheffield United, he recently almost took Wigan into a UEFA place. He’s learned a lot as he’s gone along. Birmingham didn’t have much money to deal with. They never had a big budget to buy players. That’s not easy in the Premier League. Now he has the chance to spend some money at Sunderland and it looks as if they could be good.
"The addition of Darren Bent now, who’s scored seven goals now, is a good one. He’s given a good return already. Steve has galvanised the club really well, and you can see something happening there... just hopefully not on Saturday!"
The Black Cats travel to face United at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon, and Ferguson is not taking Bruce's team lightly.
“Everyone’s a threat if you don’t approach games the right way. We have to approach the game in the right way all the time," he explained.
"That’s what happens here. We have to make sure the attitude and the character of the team is always there. It will be. We have no problems there. The team is playing well and hopefully we get the result we want."
As for Bruce the player, Ferguson certainly has some fond memories of the bruising centre-back who could also take a mean penalty.
"He was a great player for us," he enthused. "The fantastic thing about Brucey was that he had this great ability to play on with injuries. He was always hobbling about the training ground, with knocks or hamstring strains. He’d just rub it better and play. It was unbelievable.
"I remember when we were going to play Liverpool at Anfield at the weekend and he’d picked up a hamstring injury on the Saturday before. He was on the treatment table all week. Then on the Friday I was doing some team shaping and the set pieces. He came running down the hill at The Cliff and said, ‘Don’t pick your team just now, I think I’m OK’. I said, ‘You’re joking, it’s a hamstring pull’. Brucey came back, ‘Yeah, it’s all right, I’ve had them before’. He played the full game."
Ferguson continued: "Looking at his partnership with Gary Pallister – it went on uninterrupted for years. They hardly missed a game. It was a phenomenal partnership, and the right combination; they had the qualities you need. They were great characters too. You can laugh just thinking about them!"
Source: www.goal.com
Let's watch who will be the winner...
