Former Sunderland captain Michael Gray feels they made the right decision sacking Steve Bruce.

Bruce was shown the door last night.

Gray, who played for his hometown club from 1992-2004, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "No-one likes to see a manager get the sack but the time is probably right.

"Its unfortunate but the players haven't been performing to their best and results aren't what were expected.

"He brought in 10 players in the summer. People have said they need time to gel but how long do you need?

"It's all about performances and results week in, week out.

"The buck stops with the manager and the result at the weekend (a 2-1 home defeat to Wigan) was probably the last straw.

"When you don't get the results the fans turn and that happened on Saturday. They were going crazy."