Sunderland have moved quickly to appoint a new manager and these are some of the things that Steve Bruce has to do in his first summer at the Stadium of Light.

1. Forget about Newcastle United

Bruce has made no secret of the fact that he supports Newcastle, but most Sunderland fans are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Now that Newcastle have been relegated, Bruce will not have to worry about facing them next season – unless they are drawn against each other in one of the cups – which should give him plenty of time to win over the one in ten fans who are reported to be underwhelmed by his appointment. Bruce can also remind the doubters that Bob Stokoe, who played for Newcastle, led Sunderland to FA Cup glory at Wembley in 1973.

2. Attracting the right players to the club

Bruce is expected to have up to £50 million to spend on new players, although in reality he may get less than half of that to spend this summer. That should not be a problem for a manager with good contacts around the world – while at Wigan Athletic, Bruce picked up bargains such as Luis Antonio Valencia and Wilson Palacios.

3. Hold on to what he has got

Sunderland players such as Kieran Richardson, Dean Whitehead and Kenwyne Jones will be linked with other clubs in the off-season and Bruce has to decide whether to cash in or keep his best players. The futures of Craig Gordon and Paul McShane will also need to be sorted out.

4. Plan to stick around

Bruce has been a manager for 11 years but he has already changed jobs six times. How long will he stay at the Stadium of Light? Sunderland fans will have every right to be angry if he does walk out on the club because he has everything a manager needs – money, rich owner, sensible chairman, loyal fans, modern stadium. And he's back in his native North East, just 30 miles away from where he was born.

5. Put his arm around Anton Ferdinand

Great things were expected when the centre half agreed to swap West Ham United for Wearside last year, but so far he has done little to justify his £8 million price-tag after a promising start. A horrendous mistake away to Portsmouth in the penultimate game of last season could have relegated Sunderland and Bruce, a former centre back himself, will need to work the same magic that he used on Titus Bramble at Wigan to turn Ferdinand into a top-class defender.

6. Answer his phone

Apparently, the writing was on the wall for Roy Keane in December last year when he ignored a couple of calls from Ellis Short, the American businessman who bought the club last month. Steve, if your phone’s ringing and Ellis Short’s name comes up on the display, take a deep breath, press answer and say, “Hello, Mr Short. What can I do for you?”