June 3, 2009

After leaving Wigan Athletic, Steve Bruce is officially confirmed as the new manager of Sunderland.

The Northern Echo: SQUAD SPLIT: In an attempt to provide his senior players with as much match time as possible, Steve Bruce will split his resources evenly between the two matches.

Chairman Niall Quinn is confident that Corbridge-born Bruce would help lead the Black Cats to the next level.

August 5, 2009

After a summer of discussions, Bruce lands the striker he felt would become a hero at the Stadium of Light by signing Darren Bent from Tottenham in a deal worth £16m. He would go on to score 32 goals in 58 league appearances for the club.

November, 2009 – March, 2010

The Northern Echo: NO RETURN: Fraizer Campbell

After recording a 1-0 win over Arsenal, Bruce’s team would have to wait more than four months before winning again. That run included a 7-2 defeat at Chelsea and ended with an inspired 4-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers.

August 2010

The Northern Echo: LOOKING FOR MORE: Asamoah Gyan

Bruce seals the signing of Asamoah Gyan from Rennes for £13m. The Ghana striker would go on to score on his debut against Wigan Athletic and score some important goals as Sunderland ended up finishing 10th, but his time on Wearside would not end happily.

October 31, 2010

The Northern Echo: YOU’RE OFF: Phil Dowd hands Titus Bramble his marching orders

Sunderland suffer a Halloween horror show at St James’ Park, beaten 5-1 by their closest and fiercest rivals.

Kevin Nolan scored a hattrick, Titus Bramble was dismissed and bragging rights returned to Tyneside for the first time in more than two years.

November 14, 2010

Two weeks after the derby defeat, Bruce inspires Sunderland to a sublime 3-0 victory at Chelsea. Gyan and Welbeck are in inspired form as the Black Cats swept aside the then league and cup double holders.

January 2011

The Northern Echo: Darren Bent

After an indifferent performance in Sunderland’s 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle, the Black Cats’ leading goalscorer left for Aston Villa in a deal worth up to £24m. Bruce did not have the time to replace him, and would soon see serious injuries to Welbeck and Fraizer Campbell leave him with just Gyan in attack.

January 22 - April 23, 2011

Despite a 2-1 win at Blackpool in the aftermath of Bent’s departure, Bruce endured another massive barren run, not recording a victory until beating Wigan Athletic 4-2 in a game where Sunderland finished with no recognised strikers on the pitch.

Summer 2011

The Northern Echo: MAGIC MOMENT: Connor Wickham defies the attempts of two Aston Villa defenders to prevent him scoring his first Premier League goal and turns away to celebrate

With a sizeable transfer kitty following Bent’s departure, Bruce brought in 11 new players: Seb Larsson, Keiren Westwood, David Vaughan, John O’Shea, Wes Brown, Craig Gardner, Connor Wickham (right), Ji Dong-Won, Ahmed Elmohamady, James McClean, and Nicklas Bendtner (loan)

September 10, 2011

Ahead of Sunderland’s defeat against Chelsea, Bruce had to deal with the departure of another star striker, this time Gyan, who left on loan to join UAE side Al-Ain in a deal which may become permanent.

November 26, 2011

Bruce suffers what turns out to be his final defeat as Sunderland manager, losing 2-1 to Wigan. Franco Di Santo’s 92nd minute winner sparks a chorus of boos, with personal abuse meted out to Bruce, fans branding him a “fat Geordie b******”. Four days later, he is sacked by Ellis Short.

STEVE ROGER BRUCE
Born: December 31, 1960
Birthplace: Corbridge, Northumberland
Playing career: Gillingham, Norwich City, Manchester United, Birmingham City, Sheffield United
Managerial career
: Sheffield United (1998-99), Huddersfield Town (1999-00), Wigan Athletic (2001), Crystal Palace (2001), Birmingham City (2001-07), Wigan (2007-09), Sunderland (2009-11)