FOR a relationship that is still going strong after almost three-and-a-half years, Titus Bramble's association with Steve Bruce did not get off to the best of starts.

Less than a minute into Bruce's first game as manager of Wigan Athletic, Bramble attempted an intricate clearance against Manchester City, missed the ball completely and enabled Geovanni to open the scoring at the JJB Stadium. Same old Titus, always messing up.

Walking into the dressing room at the end of the game, Bramble probably expected a comforting arm around the shoulder, but instead he received a message that has transformed his career.

"Whatever else you are Titus, you're not a good player," said Bruce. More than three seasons on and the transformational effects of that statement are still apparent.

No longer the error-prone player that so infuriated the supporters of Newcastle United, Bramble would surely have ended the current campaign as Sunderland's player of the season had he not suffered a knee injury in January that has plagued him throughout the last four months.

The lapses of concentration that characterised the early years of his career have largely disappeared, along with the flamboyant touches that often created more problems than they solved.

"Maybe I had issues with my concentration," said Bramble, whose injury will keep him out of today's game with Wolves and next weekend's final-day visit to West Ham. "But people tend to forget that I was a young boy when I joined Newcastle.

"People forget that. It's part of the game for young players - it's difficult to concentrate fully all the time, but the more games you play as a centre-half the more mature and experienced you get, and hopefully I'm showing that now.

"I relish defending now. Maybe at times at Newcastle I thought I was more than a defender when I was on the ball. But I understand now that my job is to keep out goals.

"There are other people in the team whose job is to score and create goals, that's not down to me. Maybe before I tried to do too much on the ball, but now I know I'm there to head and tackle.

"I've come to realise that and, to be fair, that was what Steve Bruce said to me when I went to Wigan. He said, in a polite way, ‘You're not a good player.'

"He was very nice about it and I knew what he meant. Yes, I can pass the ball, but that's not what I'm paid to do. He made me realise that and it's made me a much better defender."

In many ways, Bruce has transformed Bramble into a mirror image of himself, a rugged, no-nonsense centre-half who is adept at keeping an opposing centre-forward at bay.

While plenty has been said about Sunderland's lack of attacking options in recent weeks, rather less has been made of the absence of both Bramble and his fellow defender Michael Turner.

The pair have started just eight Premier League games together this season, and just one of those matches - the October debacle at Newcastle, in which Bramble was sent off - ended in defeat.

Bruce regards the Ipswich-born defender as one of the most important members of his squad, and while some Sunderland supporters might have initially questioned the wisdom of signing a player who had enjoyed mixed times with Newcastle, you will struggle to find too many criticising Bramble now.

Yet, on a national basis, the hangover from his time with the Magpies remains, a period that saw him pilloried for a number of high-profile errors.

"The hardest part about being at Newcastle was some of the stuff that was written about me," said Bramble. "That's when I started doubting my ability. I used to read the papers and think, ‘Am I really that bad a player?'

"It was hard to deal with the criticism at times, but it was harder for my family. My mum reads a lot of papers and she would be seeing lots of horrible things which weren't justified. It was harder for her - I'm a strong enough person and I don't mind getting stick.

"Ultimately, it was the person who picked the team that mattered and I was playing week in, week out, so I couldn't have been that bad."

The person picking the team was Sir Bobby Robson and, this afternoon, Sunderland's players will wear special commemorative wristbands celebrating the work of The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, the charitable trust established in the latter years of the former England manager's life.

Robson persuaded Bramble to swap Portman Road for the bright lights of the North-East, and the defender is proud to be associated with an organisation that ensures his mentor's legacy lives on.

"He was just a great man, a great manager," said Bramble. "Put simply, he just loved football - every day he came into work with a smile on his face and that put a smile on your face in return.

"You would do anything for him. He knew how to deal with players as a team and he knew how to deal with people individually. Sir Bobby and the cause which bears his name now is bigger than any local rivalry. He's loved across the North-East and across the country because of his achievements and because of the way he conducted himself. I feel privileged to have played under him."

* Find out more about the work of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and pledge your support at sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.org.uk