Steve Bruce has revealed that he bumped into former Sunderland owner Ellis Short a few years ago, and the American admitted that sacking the 61-year-old was his 'worst mistake' as owner.
Bruce spent just over two years at the Stadium of Light after joining from Wigan Athletic, taking charge of 98 games, winning 29, drawing 27 and losing 42. He picked up an average of 1.16 points per game - he only averaged less points at Newcastle during his whole managerial career.
After leading Sunderland to a top half finish in the Premier League in the 2010/11 season, he was sacked as Black Cats manager in November 2011, having won just two of his first 13 Premier League games in the following campaign, and Short has admitted to Bruce that relieving him of his duties was a mistake.
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"Dave being Dave [Whelan, former Wigan Athletic owner], he encouraged me to take the next step after we had sold too many players to finish in the top 10 again," Bruce said in an exclusive interview with the Telegraph.
"I went with his blessing to speak to Niall Quinn at Sunderland. It was a big decision on a personal level because I was a Geordie and a Newcastle fan growing up, but I knew Niall was a proper football person, which is key. The relationship between CEO and manager has to be good or you don’t get that stability.
"We had two good years there: the only top 10 finish since Peter Reid, their highest finish in a decade in the top flight. I had a great strikeforce: Asamoah Gyan, Danny Welbeck, Darren Bent and Fraizer Campbell. Within six months, we didn’t have any of them - that spelt trouble. And it did - I got the sack! I bumped into Ellis Short, the owner at the time, a few years ago. The biggest compliment he could pay me was he said: “I shouldn’t have sacked you, it was the worst mistake I ever made as owner.”
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