Bruce Takes Gamble on Bramble

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce looks set to sign Titus Bramble from Wigan. Bruce was in charge of Bramble when the pair were at Wigan, which makes the transfer even stranger.

Any Premier League betting pundits who have seen Bramble play know that this is a risky move by Bruce. If Sunderland are looking to tighten up their often leaky defence then this is hardly the best way of going about it.

The fee is believed to be in the region of £1million. Not many Sunderland fans will view the deal as a good piece of business. They know they won’t be signing players to make them Favourites to win premier league silverware, but they might have expected better than thois.

Despite his limited talent, Bramble has spent the majority of his career in the top flight. He was part of the Ipswich team that finished 5^th in the Premiership. That was followed by a move to Sunderland’s main rivals Newcastle for £6million. He played over 100 games in his five years at St James’s Park. Bruce then brought him to the DW Stadium on a free transfer, where Bramble had the best spell of his career during the 2008/09 season. Surprisingly the centre back picked up the Wigan Player of the Season award.

It remains to be seen whether Bramble will be a starter in the Sunderland team. Big Titus plays best when sat on the bench. Bruce is still deciding on whether to sign Ghanaian captain John Mensah. The Lyon defender was on loan at Sunderland last season and had a good World Cup in South Africa last month. The only issue is the African’s history of injuries. It’ll be Bramble’s history of gaffs that will be worrying Sunderland’s fans most before the upcoming season.