14 games without a Premiership win would be worrying for several sides, but when you’ve spent the best part of £50 million to improve the team, 4 months without a win is disastrous. When Bruce took the reigns at the Stadium of Light in the summer, the club had survived a dreadful season which had seen Roy Keane walk out half way through and they limped to the final day staying up.

If you were brutally honest, Sunderland stayed up due to the ineptness of the other clubs at the foot of the table. For the amount of transfer outlay the Black Cats have spent, around £130 million in 3 years, two successive relegation battles are simply not good enough. For all the criticism that came last season, Bruce’s tenure started so well and Sunderland were comfortably placed in the top ten.

Yet since November, it’s all gone horribly wrong and Sunderland have slid down the table once more. Free scoring twitter addict Darren Bent has suddenly found goals hard to come by in open play and the side seems gripped with a fear of losing. As daft as it sounds, it’s a common occurrence for sides struggling to win to try and close up defensively, which in turn invites teams to attack them. The fear of having a go back leads to a footballing paralysis, the team simply forgets how to win.

Bruce has certainly got his work out at probably his biggest managerial role so far. Up until November, Bruce could honestly be pleased with the sides progress and they seemed to playing a good, high tempo attacking game. Beating Arsenal had seen them continue to re-affirm their ambitions of an outside chance of European football, but suddenly the confidence evaporated.

Bruce was in bullish mood earlier this week, coming out and defending his signings and perhaps he would point to Kenwyn Jones having his head turned by Liverpool’s underhand transfer methods in January, and the loss of Lee Catermole has certainly shown just how important he is to the Sunderland side.  Yet, two signings do not make a team and several players simply have not performed not just for Bruce but over the last couple of years.

What has happened to Keiran Richardson? He seems to have completely lost his way again after picking up last season, so much potential and promise seems to be shackled with a fear to work hard and show the talent he has. Michael Turner has struggled to justify his £10 million transfer fee (as quoted in the court documents in the Hull City v Paul Duffen case). Anton Ferdinand has looked like he’d walk back to London if he could get a transfer, but he at least made me smile with this peach of a quote this week.

“It would be naive to say that we’re not in a relegation scrap. The league is so tight that a couple of results either way can make a massive amount of difference. No one is mentioning the R word around here, and we don’t want to start having to talk about it.” Priceless.

Of course, the bottom of the table is so tight at the moment, anyone from West Ham, in 13th could go down right now. 4 points separate 7 clubs and Sunderland’s goal difference is a real bonus despite the situation they are in. Unfortunately, they’ve a dreadful run of fixtures after Tuesday’s clash with Bolton. Only one of the next 6 games is against a side in the bottom half of the table and that could be crucial. It is not a run of games to take such a dreadful run of form into.

Yet, it could be what they need. Gaining three points in any of those matches would be a massive boost for Bruce and the club, giving them a much needed shot in the arm. No-one wants to say they’re too good to go down, we’ve seen it from sides such as West Ham United and Newcastle before. Now Bruce has to prove his reputation and really earn his stripes at the Stadium of Light.

It was not the start that England’s Under 21 side wanted, but it could have been a whole lot worse after today’s close shave against a Finland side full of surprises. By finding themselves in the toughest of the two groups with Spain and Germany, this was the game that Stuart Pearce would have targeted as a must win match. With a side full of Premiership regulars including Micah Richards, Theo Walcott, Lee Catermole and captained by West Ham’s prodigious midfielder David Noble, this is a squad that great things are expected of.

The Finns certainly made sure that no-one in the camp will forget this clash in a hurry as England were fortunate to escape will 3 points. England looked shocked and reverted to type by simply humping the ball forward and hoping for the best. With Walcott and Agbonlahor in the side, pace is a weapon the Under 21′s can utilise but they’ll need a different perspective to get past the other two sides. It’s so frustrating when you see such talented players revert to type and the dreaded long ball game.

The fact they were playing side that were taller all through the side, especially the impressive striker Sadik, made the long ball a waste of the ball. Sadik was impressive throughout the game and he caused the back four of Cranie, Mancienne, Richards and Gibbs problems all game. The Young Lions had been on the back foot from the kick off and were extremely fortunate to take the lead through Cattermole’s drive but they were caught out when Mancienne was correctly shown a red card for a professional foul after a mix up between the Chelsea prospect and Joe Hart in the England goal.

Former Southampton youngster Tim Sparv made no mistake from the resulting penalty and it looked like the writing was on the wall for Stuart Pearce’s boys but they hung on until half time. Walcott who had another disappointing 45 minutes was replaced by Frazier Campbell and amazingly England took the lead when Micah Richards powered the ball home from a corner. After that, it was a case of desperate defending with Martin Cranie, the Portsmouth prospect, superb after being moved to centre back after the sending off. Finland probably deserved the win, so must be feeling so low after losing this game in Hamlstad.

For a side brimming with so much top level experience it was a strange display. Maybe it was nerves, perhaps they were over confident but England were lacking any real drive and quality in possession. Noble tried his best in midfield, but once they went a man down it was all hands to the pump. Cranie though can be delighted with his performance as he seemed to be everywhere in defence, breaking up moves, throwing himself at the ball and tackling back consistently well.

Pearce was candid and honest after the game, saying that it was nowhere near good enough but he’ll be happy to escape with the three points. Yet he must be frustrated with some of the players who started the game whose reputations certainly preceded them to Sweden for this tournament. He’ll certainly need to get the players going for Thursday’s clash against the favourites Spain, a repeat performance could see England humbled in Gothenburg