5:33pm Wednesday 10th March 2010
By Paul Fraser
SUNDERLAND might not have safeguarded their top-flight future, but Ellis Short can rest a little easier until Sunday at least.
Relegation was not what Short signed up for when it was confirmed he would agree to buy out the Drumaville Consortium last May. Premier League football was a necessity and he harboured hopes of bankrolling a team into the top ten this season.
Instead it has not happened that way. His rare trip to the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night was arranged with anxiety rather than expectation.
He need not have worried. Fraizer Campbell and Darren Bent's goals helped calm his nerves, ensuring he left the club's home more confident of a brighter future.
You have to hope he is right.
Steve Bruce has done plenty of things correctly since agreeing to take over in the manager's chair last June. Bent's arrival is a notable one, while his other signings have shown plenty of reasons to be encouraged.
But at the same time Bruce has also admitted he might have reduced the size of the overloaded squad he inherited too quickly - causing real problems when injuries and suspensions have hit.
One victory - albeit a comfortable 4-0 win over Bolton - does not ensure Short's demand for Premier League status for next season has been met, but it does offer hope to the Irish-American that the battle can be won.
Short has been very much a background figure since his arrival, choosing to keep a low-profile and leave the day-to-day running to chairman Niall Quinn and chief executive Steve Walton.
Tuesday night, however, highlighted the need might have arrived for him to become more involved.
For the first time this season he strolled into the dressing room before the match to speak with the players. He might not have said much, but what he said mattered.
For all of the teamtalks Bruce has carried out in the dressing room during a dreadful 14-match winless run, Short's appearance acted as the spur the Sunderland team required.
"He came into the changing room before the game and said 'Hi, I'm Ellis Short'," said Bent, beaming after his first three-goal haul for the club. "I think a few of the lads were cringing, thinking, 'Crikey, we had better do something tonight."
Bent's comments might have been off the cuff, but perhaps they offer an insight into the minds of the players.
Short's appearance rightly struck the fear into the under-performing players, but so should the manager's teamtalks during the last three months of growing frustration.
The sight of Short sitting alongside Quinn in the directors' box in his club tie has been unusual since he did just that on the final day of last season to mark the start of a new era.
And personally I think this week's appearance in the dressing room was the main reason for such a staggering improvement in performance from the Black Cats.
Did the players fear for the manager's future? I reckon they did.
If I'm right the result shows the members of the Sunderland dressing room remain completely behind the manager - even if it did take Short's brief words to inspire Bruce's team.
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