Job's a good 'un on Steve's return to City
JOB done and we move on. As pleasing as last night's win over Norwich City was, it's important we don't get carried away.
It's all too easy, in these days of knee-jerk reactions, to overreact.
Had we lost 4-1 to Norwich City, then it would have all been 'Bruce out' or 'we're all doomed'.
So let's not start giving it the big one after the victory over the Canaries or start predicting that we are going to win the cup.
That's not to say there weren't positives to take from last night's encounter.
Andy Reid looks a shadow of his former self in terms of his frame.
But thankfully, while the extra weight has been lost, his skill with a football hasn't.
His first goal last night – Sunderland's second – was sublime.
Had a lob of that quality been scored by Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard or Wayne Rooney you can bet it would never have been off our screens for the next week.
However, had Fraizer Campbell's effort not been palmed on to the bar by our former keeper Ben Alnwick then it would have been an early contender for goal of the season.
Despite the 4-1 scoreline, the Canaries made a decent fist of things, and, had it not been for some excellent saves from Craig Gordon, it may have been a lot closer. So there's still work to be done.
Steve Bruce made nine changes for last night's cup tie, and will have been pleased with the way the fringe players acquitted themselves.
But the Black Cats boss has admitted that his tenure is very much a work in progress, and, with that in mind, his feet will be firmly on the ground.
I have to say I was fairly impressed with what I saw of new signing Paolo Da Silva last night.
It wasn't the greatest debut I have ever seen, but he was steady away and looked fairly assured for the most part.
Obviously, it's going to take a while for him to settle in and find his feet.
With that in mind, last night's game was probably the ideal time for him to make his bow.
There was some cause for concern last night when Campbell was injured in an awful looking collision with Alnwick.
However, Bruce said after the game that nothing is broken and the striker is just sore.
That's a real boost as he looked very lively last night, and, while he didn't manage to open his account, he did well to set up Reid for his second goal of the night.
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Weather for South Shields
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
