Source: Northern_Echo
Carling Cup is Bruce’s target
IT might be derided as the least fashionable of England's knockout competitions, but Steve Bruce would rather win the Carling Cup than guide Sunderland into Europe by finishing in the top six of the Premier League.[LNB] The Black Cats entertain West Ham at the Stadium of Light this evening knowing a victory would take them into the last 16 of a competition that offers one of two realistic routes to silverware this season.[LNB] A number of Premier League managers, from both ends of the table, routinely field shadow sides in the League Cup, but having resisted the temptation to tinker too much in last month's second-round tie with Colchester, Bruce will be naming another strong starting lineup tonight.[LNB] Club-record signing Asamoah Gyan will make his first Sunderland start, with Bruce claiming a Carling Cup triumph would be the highlight of his managerial career.[LNB] Is winning a cup competition better than finishing fifth or sixth in the Premier League For me, yes. Absolutely,[LNB] said the Black Cats boss.[LNB] Give me winning a cup any day of the week. I'd love to go on a cup run, it would delight and excite everyone.[LNB] We'll be giving this game the respect it deserves and I'll be picking from Saturday's squad. What other teams do is not up to us.[LNB] If we beat West Ham and get a home draw, all of a sudden we could be looking at a quarter-final. Knowing the area like I do, I know that would capture the imagination of the fans.[LNB] Last season, Sunderland were unfortunate to lose to Aston Villa on penalties at the Carling Cup's fourth-round stage, a defeat that was made all the more unpalatable by Villa's subsequent run to the final.[LNB] It is 26 years since the Black Cats last appeared in the League Cup final Bruce, ironically, played for the Norwich side that beat them at Wembley and their record in the intervening period is wretched.[LNB] A solitary semi-final defeat to Leicester is the best they have achieved, a statistic that underlines both Sunderland's deficiencies in the Carling Cup and the competition's propensity to throw up bigname winners.[LNB] For all that the leading sides tend to field shadow teams in the early rounds, Middlesbrough's Carling Cup victory in 2004 was the last time the trophy has been won by a side outside the established big four and Tottenham.[LNB] Portsmouth are the only non big four side to have won the FA Cup in the last 15 years, and Bruce admits it has become increasingly difficult for a side like Sunderland to break their lengthy trophy duck.[LNB] It's tough, and it's getting tougher, he said. Once the top teams get to the quarterfinals and semi-finals of any competition, they want to go on and win it.[LNB] The Carling Cup is possibly even harder than the FA Cup, because it's seeded at an early stage. The top teams don't even come in until this round.[LNB] History will tell you it's normally one of the big boys who win this, but you only have to win five or six matches and we're more than capable of doing that.[LNB] A Carling Cup success would enhance Bruce's status within the game, and catapult him into an elite group of English managers with a trophy on his CV.[LNB] Harry Redknapp is the only English Premier League boss to have lifted a piece of domestic silverware, with Roy Hodgson's successes having come abroad.[LNB] Steve McClaren's League Cup triumph helped him secure the England job when Sven-Goran Eriksson was dismissed, and while Bruce has played down recent reports linking him with a possible promotion when Fabio Capello departs, a cup success would nevertheless enhance his claims.[LNB] The managers at the top level have stacks of trophies, but they have earned that right, he said. The (Carlo) Ancelottis of this world have an unbelievable record and he has come here and won trophies already.[LNB] It's more difficult for a British manager because you have to beat the top teams, and they're usually managed by people with silverware on their CV, and not many Englishmen have that. Look at Harry. He's been around for 30 years and he's won an FA Cup.[LNB] With Gyan certain to start tonight, Darren Bent could be rested on the substitutes' bench. Bolo Zenden will feature in midfield, and Jack Colback will also be involved, although he could start on the bench.[LNB] Marcos Angeleri will be absent once again, however, as he struggles to come to terms with the pace and intensity of the English game.[LNB]
