Bruce in danger of sack after Quinn changes Sunderland role
Published:Although it seems only a matter of time before Steve Kean is sacked by Blackburn, developments at Sunderland could mean that Steve Bruce becomes the first Premier League manager to get the boot this season.
Protests were rife around Ewood Park after Blackburn’s 4-0 home defeat by Manchester City and it seems only the smallest portion of supporters still have some degree of faith in Kean.
He may have kept Blackburn up on the final day of last season, but his overall record is not the best, losing 15 of his 32 games in charge.
Blackburn’s owners The Venky Group are now planning to sit down with Kean to work out the best strategy moving forward and it is 8/11 in the Premier League odds that the Scot is the next manager to leave.
However, there has been significant money for Bruce in the same market, as he has slowly shortened from 20/1 at the start of the season to his current price of 2/1.
Sunderland’s slow start sees them sit just one point outside the relegation places after seven games, while Bruce has also had to contend with the off-field problems concerning Asamoah Gyan.
He has called for time and patience to allow his large number of summer signings to begin to gel, but the fact that Niall Quinn has stepped down as Sunderland chairman will not help his long-term prospects.
Quinn will have lost a large degree of influence at the club by moving to take charge of international development at the Stadium of Light, which may not help Bruce who enjoyed a good relationship with Quinn.
Owner Ellis Short has taken over as chairman and he is largely regarded to be quite ruthless, meaning he may not be as accepting as Quinn when analysing Sunderland’s current position.
