Steve Bruce
Steve Bruce is the manager of Sunderland FC and is considered a fan favourite with the Athletic fans after he kept them in the top flight in the 2007/08 season. Bruce is in his second stint with The Latics after having an eight game spell in charge at the end of the 2001 season before he quickly moved on to Crystal Palace. Bruce had an illustrious playing career and is most well known for being the captain of Manchester United in the early to mid 90’s and was known as a tough tackling centre-half.
Bruce has had a fair amount of success as a manager with different clubs including Birmingham City, Crystal Palace and of course Wigan Athletic among others.
Profile
Steve Bruce started out in management as a Player-Manager for his last club as a player Sheffield United and in his first season in charge with The Blades he finished a respectable 8th in the old Division 1. The club he had a good amount of success with was Birmingham City who he was in charge of between 2002 and 2007. In his first season in charge of Birmingham he led them to a Play-Off victory over Norwich City and into the Premier League at the first time of asking.
He managed to keep Birmingham in the Premier League and achieved three excellent finishes in-a-row getting respectable mid-table positions and consolidated their status in the top flight. Early the following season Wigan Athletic approached Birmingham for Bruce’s services and he jumped at the chance to head back to the JJB stadium. Bruce took charge of Wigan when they were deep in relegation trouble and in his first season he managed to save them from the drop which was a huge feat considering the position they were in when he joined.
With the 2oo8/09 season coming to end Steve Bruce has guided his Wigan side to a brilliant position safely in the top half of the table and he will hoping to cement that great form in the last couple of months of the season.
Job security
Steve Bruce is doing an excellent job for Wigan Athletic and for the time being at least his job looks as safe as bricks with both the Chairman and the fans alike who seem to recognise the work that he has done. The only note of caution for Wigan fans is that on occasion Bruce has been known to jump ship quickly if a perceived better offer comes his way however there is no sign of that happening in the near future.
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