Sunderland Football Club

• Nickname:Black Cats
• Founded:1879
• Manager:Paolo Di Canio

• Ground:Stadium of light
• Capacity:48353

Bruce still fuming over Jones

27 Mar 2010 - 10:59:24

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Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is delighted to have seen the back of speculation linking striker Kenwyne Jones with a move to Liverpool.

Rumours surrounded the frontman throughout the January transfer window, with Bruce particularly unhappy at the suggestions of a loan deal being a possibility.

He commented: "Listen, it's said and done. In management you have to do one thing, which is look after your own club.

"I couldn't get away from the speculation and, for me, it did affect Kenwyne.

"He must have read some of the reports thinking I had gone loopy, thinking I was going to let him go on loan.

"It was continuous. I don't know where the notion came from - I was thinking 'am I going round the twist here? Am I missing the plot?'.

"Kenwyne Jones going on loan - I am sorry, but it was just a non-starter.

"But it kept going and going and going. Obviously, Rafa Benitez must have been getting the information from somewhere.

"I would have thought, out of decency, maybe he would have done the honourable thing and rung me if there was an interest.

"But the speculation kept going and going and, for me, affected Kenwyne and affected the team.

"Thankfully, when the window shut and all the nonsense had gone away, we started seeing the best of Kenwyne again and it was nice to see."