Steve Bruce is under pressure whether you like it or not

Another week, another set of Steve Bruce on the brink reports. No matter how many times senior club figures and media handlers deny their validity, this is a story that simply refuses to go away.

More stubborn than a red wine stain on a pristine white carpet, the pressure on Bruce is not going to vanish quickly.

For what it is worth, my information remains consistent. Bruce’s position is not under any immediate threat.

While his chief ally Niall Quinn is no longer chairman – concentrating instead on overseas development and international business links – owner Ellis Short has personally assured his manager he retains his full backing.

With just one win in eight games in all competitions this season, results have been disappointing, but at this stage, far from disastrous.

After seven games, the Black Cats are one point worse off in the table than Arsenal and Everton.

After seven games, it is hard to justify any manager’s position being under threat unless their team is bottom of the table, pointless, the fans are protesting and the players are clearly playing with the intention of earning him a P45.

In Sunderland’s last game before the international break, they were two goals down at home to West Bromwich Albion and disgruntlement was turning into open hostility towards Bruce.

By half-time the Black Cats were level and by the end of an entertaining game, they probably should have taken all three points.

The players are clearly still playing for the manager – half and perhaps the most important part of the battle – and there is a genuine desire at boardroom level to maintain stability rather than push the managerial ejector seat.

Bruce has spent a large chunk of the international break with Short in Korea, pushing the Sunderland brand in a potentially lucrative overseas market. Hardly the behaviour of a condemned man.

Yet, others continue to fuel the uncertainty. The latest reports over the weekend have even claimed Martin O’Neill – still out of work after walking out on Aston Villa at the start of last season – has already been lined up to replace Bruce when the bullet comes.

Bruce must feel like he is drinking in the last chance saloon with a selection of rather large knives sticking out of his back. It is unhelpful, distracting and unsettling, but it is unlikely to go away anytime soon.

It might be subdued if Sunderland win – or even secure a point at Arsenal on Sunday – but it remains in the background, simmering away and ready to boil over again as soon as a bad result emerges.

Like it or not, Bruce is fighting for his job even as those around him offer him protection. He cannot stop people speculating about his future, he cannot stop the rumours, all he can do is try to win football matches.

Two from the next four would be great given the opposition, but two and a couple of draws would be the sort of exceeding of expectations he needs to silence the doubters in his current predicament.

After the trip to the Emirates this weekend, Sunderland travel to bottom of the table Bolton before entertaining Darren Bent and Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light.

Should all three pass without success, the prospect of a visit to Old Trafford to take on champions Manchester United will hardly instil confidence a corner is about to be turned. Crunch time, therefore, could come at home to Fulham on November 19th.

Football is and always will be a results business. Bruce will live and die by them. He probably does not deserve to be under-pressure given the progress made over the last two years, but he is.

Regardless of the support he has at boardroom level and the understanding he has been shown, only a good run of results, not the odd one here and there, is going to change things for the better.

Sunderland lost to Newcastle but must not lose sight of a bigger picture

The thought of a manager being under pressure after just two games of a new season is, quite frankly, farcical. The thought of Steve Bruce being that manager after two years of steady improvement at Sunderland is, quite simply, ludicrous.

Then again, who would have thought the mighty Arsene Wenger would be starting a new campaign swatting away questions about his future at Arsenal while a slither of the club’s support begin to call for his removal.

Football is a ruthless, ridiculous business and football managers are normally its biggest and most frequent victims.

Bruce’s crime amounts to little more than a derby defeat to Newcastle, a one off game which can turn even the most level-headed into raging madmen; a game Sunderland were widely tipped to win given the two club’s contrasting fortunes over the summer months.

Newcastle’s recruitment strategy has been widely criticised and questioned, Sunderland’s was seen as bold and ambitious. Newcastle were thought to have got weaker because of the loss of key players and the relative unknown quantity of their replacements.

Sunderland, it was thought, were stronger because Bruce was allowed to reinvest in the team, not merely balance the books.

Thrashed 5-1 at St James’ Park last season and fortunate to escape with a draw in a game the Magpies dominated at the Stadium of Light, last weekend’s clash between the North-East’s ever warring neighbours was perceived by Sunderland’s supporters and players as an ideal opportunity to put the record straight.

Instead, Newcastle survived a difficult first half, scored from a Ryan Taylor set-piece in the second and made the short journey back to Tyneside with another derby win to celebrate. It was a crushing experience for those in red and white.

Bruce’s new look side looked worryingly familiar to the one which tended to run out of ideas towards the back end of last season and the knives, if not exactly out, are at least being reached for.

It is dangerous and short-sighted. So Sunderland lost to their bitter rivals on home soil. It was painful and embarrassing, but it is ultimately just one game in a very long season.

Under Bruce, Sunderland have progressed and improved. The calibre of player signed this summer would have been unthinkable when the former Manchester United skipper arrived just over two years ago.

This must not be forgotten, particularly when Sunderland started the season with a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield, who beat Arsenal at the Emirates at the same time as the Black Cats were losing to Newcastle.

The problem with derbies as intense and as hostile as the North East one is they mean everything at the time, but little in the grand scheme of things.

Sunderland’s record in these regional battles for supremacy is abysmal. One win in 14, one win at home in 30 odd years. Yet, they have finished above Newcastle three years running.

There is a section of the Sunderland supporters who will simply never accept Bruce because he was raised a Newcastle fan. They will always look to pounce on any failing.

Sadly, it is that bunch which will be heard loudest at the moment, metaphorically shouting on internet message boards, ranting on Twitter, bending the ear of radio pundits, whipping the media into a frenzy, turning a solitary defeat into a disaster. It’s the same at every club.

Had Newcastle lost to Sunderland, the mood would have turned ugly on Tyneside. A frustrating summer in the transfer market would have been replaced by anger and animosity at the thought of a troubled season ahead.

But they won and manager Alan Pardew has some breathing space as he looks to sign the two players, a left-back and a striker, everyone knows he needs before the close of the window. It was a great result for him, a terrible one for Bruce.

Sunderland must pick themselves up and dust themselves down. They responded to the 5-1 defeat last season by beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. A victory over Brighton in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night would be a start this time. Two early cup exits last season were arguably far more damaging and disappointing for Bruce and Sunderland’s board than those derby results.

Bruce has tried to do a lot this summer and has perhaps done a little too much in terms of the number brought in. With ten new players, the team needs time to gel, time the derby defeat has taken away to a certain extent.

The squad has more depth, but it seems to lack a goalscoring threat at the moment, while the lack of pace out wide is a concern.

Sunderland fans will be tetchy and emotional after the defeat to Newcastle, calm and a sense of collective purpose needs to be restored. The derby blow was a devastating one and it has undoubtedly wounded Bruce again, but it was not a mortal strike.

It has made the next few weeks tough for manager and players, but there is no sense in panic or attacking Bruce. He has damage to repair and the sooner the better, but a sense of perspective must be maintained even while their old enemy gloats, goads and grins.