Former Sunderland and Newcastle manager retires from football

Seems a fairly unpopular former Sunderland boss has called it quits after 25 years in the dugout.

Former Sunderland and Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has decided to retire from football, according to an exclusive in the Daily Mail.

Bruce joined Sunderland in June 2009 and initially built a vibrant team on Wearside that featured Jordan Henderson, Darren Bent and, later, Asamoah Gyan and Stephane Sessegnon.

He finished 10th in his first season, but things started going down downhill pretty quickly after that. Sunderland finished 13th the following season, but got dragged into a relegation scrap too.

He was sacked in November 2011 with the team in 16th position after a dreadful run of form that culminated in a 2-1 home defeat to Wigan.

Although initially popular while things were going well, Bruce chose to trash his reputation among Sunderland fans by accusing them of forcing him out due to his ‘Newcastle roots,’ referencing the fact he was a Newcastle fan as a child.

Ironically, Bruce endeared himself to Sunderland fans a little bit later by struggling with Newcastle, the fans of whom also disliked him.

In total, Bruce managed 11 clubs – Sheffield United, Huddersfield, Wigan, Crystal Palace, Birmingham, Sunderland, Hull City, Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle, and WBA.

However, he only really tasted any real success with Birmingham and Hull. He got both of those sides promoted twice, and reached the FA Cup final with the latter, but he got both relegated too.

Bruce’s last job was at West Brom, where he was sacked earlier this season after winning just eight of his 32 games in charge.

In fairness, his record at Sunderland wasn’t much better. He won 29 of his 98 games on Wearside, a win-percentage of just 29.6%.

Including his stint at Newcastle, Bruce won just 36 games of his final 129 in management (28%) and lost 53 (41%), so it’s probably the right time to step away. 

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