Soccer:Steve Bruce has been told he will keep his job as Sunderland manager even if the Black Cats fail to win another game this season. A bright start to the campaign saw Bruce's raft of summer signings settle quickly at the club but in the past of couple of months the club have stuttered alarmingly.
Tuesday night's 4-0 win over relegation rivals Bolton came as a welcome relief given it was their first maximum haul in 15 games. Chairman Niall Quinn has been unstinting in his support for Bruce and in a remarkable pledge has said even relegation would not bring him to question his manager's position.
"If we go down, he'll still be the manager. I just feel he shares the same passion that the fans have, the owner has, we all have. And he does it in a diligent way. The way he carries himself and projects our club is everything we wanted," said Quinn.
"We're trying to make a step up in the toughest league in the world. We know it's going to take guts and determination and hard work aligned with other stuff like a good transfer policy, getting things right tactically and in terms of motivation.
"There were some tough knock-backs but we think he's the right man to get this club where we all want it."
While Bruce's position at Sunderland appears to be watertight, Quinn has warned his underperforming players universal wage cuts will be made in the event of relegation.
"There would be a 40 per cent reduction in our salaries if we went down, players and senior staff like me. We could then breathe. People used to say you can't do it but we have for every new signing.
"We say to players don't come unless you are prepared to accept a penalty for failure. We have to have a performance-related wage structure."