• Premier League

Gray backs Hughes to replace Bruce

ESPN staff
December 1, 2011
Michael Gray feels Mark Hughes will bring passion to Sunderland © PA Photos
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Former Sunderland defender Michael Gray has called on the club to bring in Mark Hughes as the replacement for Steve Bruce.

Sunderland chairman Ellis Short took the decision to axe Bruce following a run of form that has left them in a relegation battle.

Hughes and former Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill have emerged as the early front-runners for the top job on Wearside, although reports suggest former Real Madrid manager Carlos Queiroz and current Feyenoord boss Ronald Koeman have expressed interest.

Short is unlikely to panic in appointing a replacement, but Gray feels the ideal man is currently out of work: former Fulham and Manchester City boss Hughes.

"I was with him for four years at Blackburn and I know exactly how he works," Gray, who spent 12 years with Sunderland, told BBC Radio Five Live. "He gets the best out of players. The last 15 minutes of games was when it counted, he had us so fit. And that's what Sunderland are missing at the moment.

"He's certainly No. 1 on my list. I'd like to see either him or Martin O'Neill, but my No. 1 candidate is Mark Hughes.

"I know he would hit the ground running, getting positive results for Sunderland and moving them into the top half of the Premier League."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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