Source: Northern_Echo
Bruce’s sights are on Europe
STEVE BRUCE has admitted that guiding Sunderland into Europe has to be his longterm aim even if he doesn't achieve it this season. The Black Cats manager has ensured there was no major fall-out from the embarrassing 5-1 Tyne-Wear defeat at Newcastle United three weeks ago by leading them to two victories and a draw. The 2-0 win at home to Stoke and the draw at Tottenham provided plenty of reasons to be optimistic, but the emphatic nature of last Sunday's 3-0 victory at Premier League champions Chelsea has gone a long way towards repairing the damage done at St James' Park. Many of the fans who questioned Bruce's position as manager are now believing that Sunderland could be in with a genuine chance of qualifying for the Europe League ahead of tonight's visit of Everton. While Bruce aspires to lead Sunderland on to the continental stage, he admits he does not want to consider that as a viable target when the season comes to a close in May. When I came here 18 months ago, the remit was to establish ourselves as a Premier club, forget this yo-yo stuff, said Bruce. This is our fourth year in the division and we've come to terms with it. My aim now is the top ten. Can we compete in Europe Can we become a top ten club We've got a possibility with what we've got. We've got some good young players. The important thing is holding on to them and signing a couple as well. My first aim is top ten can we do that I had a chance at Wigan, but it didn't come off. Ultimately we'd love to see the club compete in Europe. You see all these games with half filled stadiums and I think we'd jam ours to the rafters. I really, really do. That's what we're aiming for. We've got a chance at the moment, but that's all we've got. I said when I arrived we had everything in place, we just have to achieve it. Despite his illustrious playing career, Bruce has been amazed by the turn of events on Wearside in the last few weeks. Never before has he felt like he did after watching his players succumb to Newcastle then humiliate Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in equal measure. I've never had a crazy couple of weeks like that, from a fortnight ago when some people were writing to me wanting me out, he said. In the 12 years I've been doing it, I've never gone from the biggest low to the biggest high. It's ridiculous, it really is. It's the way management is. I've never counted my chickens, or got carried away when we've had a good result. We let ourselves down in one game, the biggest game for the region, but apart from that we've done well on the quiet. This will be our 13th game and we'll have played the entire top ten from last year. This is a massive opportunity for us now. It's going to be difficult, but that's the reason I came here. I do believe we've got a chance if we keep everyone fit. Sunderland's return to form has incredibly arrived in the absence of leading goalscorer Darren Bent. He is expected to return to action after a hamstring problem against Everton tonight, although he is no longer guaranteed his place. The performances of Danny Welbeck and Asamoah Gyan have given Bruce plenty to think about as they have proved they can form a strong partnership. But Gyan is understood to have taken a knock in training, which is likely to rule him out, meaning a return to the side for Bent, which would otherwise have been far from certain. The decision I've got with Darren just shows where we are now, said Bruce. He's not guaranteed to get straight back in. It would be very difficult to leave someone out after the way we played against Chelsea. It's one of those horrible ones, but also a nice one. We'll see how he is. It's obviously one of my most difficult decisions, but it's a good one. That's how far we have come.