The revolving door cavalcade of stars that is top flight football management has gotten ridiculous. In the Premiership, managers like Steve Kean can hold on to their jobs, even though relegation looms menacingly on the horizon. Yet managers like Steve Bruce have a rough calendar year, and as soon as the opportunity becomes available; he promptly is shown the door. Bruce’s replacement, Martin O’Neill has quite a bit of work cut out for him at Sunderland. But, given O’Neill’s philosophy toward management, I get the feeling he will start to see results by the end of this current season.
Humorously, the joke is that Venky’s, current owners of Blackburn Rovers, believe that Kean can take Rovers back to the summit of English football. That is all well and good, except that I doubt that Venky’s took the time to do some research into BRFC’s history. Prior to 1995, when Rovers won the Premier League title, they had not won a top flight championship since 1913-14. They have not won the FA Cup since 1928. And the most recent piece of hardware in their dusty old trophy cabinet would be their League Cup from 2002. Other than those two trophies in the last 16 years, Blackburn have not done much in terms of resembling a contender. But the faith of Venky’s, in putting their backing in Steve Kean is to be commended. If not to howl with laughter at. Blackburn, as of the writing of this piece, are currently sitting on 18th in the Premier League. They currently have an abysmal two wins, to go with four draws, and 8 losses. Luckily for them though, Rovers are joined by two Lancashire neighbors, Bolton and Wigan. It seems like this season may prove to be a difficult one for Steve Kean. But, if Venky’s are going to give him time to build the team as he wants them to, and not pander to the trigger-happy media and supporters, then I get the feeling in two to three years’ time, BRFC may be mid-table finishers in the Premiership.
Sunderland under Steve Bruce was a team with promise. Promise that a lot of people accuse Bruce of pissing away. Read any one of the articles that appeared in places like The Guardian, where painstaking characters were spent belittling and mocking the limited legacy that Bruce had left at the Stadium of Light. The point that the articles, like Louise Taylor’s mentioned previously, drive home is that Steve Bruce was a man out of his league. I cannot say I completely agree, or disagree, with this statement. There were times where it did look like Bruce could not have led a horse to water, much less make it drink. Then there were times where his Sunderland squad could make believers out of fools, as opposed to the fools out of believers stance that so many in the media want to take. Bruce had Darren Bent, one of the more prolific English strikers in recent history. He also signed Asamoah Gyan, Connor Wickham, and got Danny Welbeck on loan. Those four would make for a formidable striker rotation, at any club. But it also sort of belies one major point, very little was done to shore up the rest of the squad. Wes Brown is a affable defender in his own right. But he can have positioning problems, and give up own goals. Lee Cattermole? As captain? That is nearly as laughable as Titus Bramble going to Barcelona. Actually, now that I think of it, that decision defines Steve Bruce. He is the embodiment of the absurdity of football. He seemed to genuinely believe that someone like Lee Cattermole, with a disciplinary record that makes him more enforcer than leader, is captain material. And that was supposed to solve the Mackems’ problems? Only Steve Bruce knows. Currently, Sunderland are 16th in the table. Doing better than Kean’s Blackburn. But the Black Cats are teetering dangerously close to the relegation zone. Maybe a bit too close for Sunderland’s board’s comfort.
So what does Sunderland do? They send old Steve Bruce packing. I am of the mindset that managerial changes should not be done during the season. It disrupts the team. It kills any continuity to build from, because it means that the players have to learn a new system, and how to deal with a new manager. While it could potentially turn results around, this sort of upheaval and rash decision-making should not be done while the season is still going. But, Sunderland wanted Steve Bruce out. So, they got their wish. Who did the choose to pin their hopes on now? Martin O’Neill. I like Martin O’Neill. I think he was a fantastic manager at Aston Villa, before his team was sold out from under him. I think had Milner and Barry stayed at Villa, they could have continued to fight to break the Top Four oligarchy. But it was not meant to be. So O’Neill went on a bit of a hiatus from football. Now, he is back. He is taking charge of a team that is underachieving, and in dire need of direction. Well, they need a direction that is not freefall. And I believe that Martin O’Neill could be that man. But I believe this to be the case if a few things were to happen. First, he needs time to sort through the squad, and to get rid of any dead weight that may drag the team down. Cattermole, your days as captain may be numbered. Second, he needs money to bring in players. This could be necessary come the January transfer window. When O’Neill could bring in a couple of guys to stabilize the defensive and midfield ranks. Then, in traditional Martin O’Neill fashion, he takes his team “back to basics”. Maybe, by March or April, there will be improvements shown by Sunderland and its players, and their supporters will once again believe that this club is capable of producing, like they did in flashes under Bruce.
Martin O’Neill got Aston Villa to the Europa League, and the League Cup final in 2010. I cannot see why it may not be possible for Sunderland to set their sights on trophies like these, maybe next season or two seasons down the road. I also cannot see this happening this season. The gulf of points, even at this stage of the Premier League, will mean that Sunderland would just about have to win every match between now and the end of May, to be able to qualify for Champions League. The Roker Men are 27 points adrift of Manchester City, at the top. And 17 points adrift of Champions League qualifying. With 25 matches to play yet, it will be a grueling test of Martin O’Neill’s mental acumen, and man-management skills, to see if he can right the ship enough to finish in mid-table respectability.
