Bruce was sacked ‘for the good of the club’

The Black Cats chief has revealed the former Birmingham City boss wasn't axed as knee-jerk reaction to last weekend's Wigan defeat, as O'Neill tastes victory against Blackburn.Sunderland chairman Ellis Short claims former manager Steve Bruce’s sacking was not a knee-jerk response to last Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Wigan.The former Birmingham City boss has since been replaced by  ex-Leicester, Celtic, and Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill, with the American insisting the board intervened 'for the good of the club'.Short told The Sun: "It wasn't specifically the last home game against Wigan that determined we would change manager, because we outplayed Wigan for most of the game."However, once again, things didn't go our way and ultimately we were left to reflect on the fact that, over a long period of time, we have been underperforming."We believe the club should be in a better position and consequently the board took the action we believed was necessary for the good of the club."New manager O’Neill got off to a good start at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, with a 2-1 win over Blackburn thanks to David Vaughan’s late long-range effort and Sebastian Larsson’s stoppage time free kick.