Steve Bruce will start the 2010/11 season as manager of Sunderland Football Club, even if find themselves starting the campaign in the Championship.

A 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday was their first in the Premier League for fifteen games, a run during which the future of Bruce was heavily speculated upon.

However, Black Cats chairman Niall Quinn insists his summer appointment of last year has never been in any danger of losing his job, and continues to enjoy the backing of the board.

"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,” he said.

“The way he carries himself and projects our club is everything we wanted. We're trying to make a step up in the toughest league in the world. He's the right man to get this club where we all want it."

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