Said that 2 months ago when Leicster were looking at O'Neil contact was made with people close to O'Neil to say that if it did not work out with Bruce that he was top target. Bradshaw said talking with Leicster stoped at that point, maybe we should have all had faith in Short afteral.
Did I not say he turned the leicester job down for a reason? Today is a momentous day for this club. In another 4 or 5 months we will see the o neill plan unfolding proper. I can't wait.
I know what you're saying Wigan, I remember when McEnemy took over..I thought then we were sorted, I was looking forward to sustained success...look what happened. But I do get the feeling that MoN is different, he has a track record at a number of clubs...its difficult not to get ahead of ourselves (although I know we shouldn't)
I think this season is just really experimenting with the players/formation etc, get 1 or 2 in in January and finish a respectable mid table, anything above 10th will e a bonus. It's Next season I'm looking forward to.
I'll pack up my old kit bag and retire if he flops here. I'm not saying we are suddenly going to become the top club in the land but I do feel our chances of establishing our club as a genuine top flight team have just taken a huge upward turn. Forgive me for that excitement but having waited 15 years to see this man become our manager I'm just a bit happy today.
Syd, you and I have both said in the past that Gyan was loaned out without Bruce being a party to it. I wouldn't say that people inside the club have been easing Bruce out, but they have considered this a make-or-break season for him, and contingency plans have been in place for some time now. If Sunderland were far enough along that thinking to give O'Neill the whisper "two months ago" (i.e. the beginning of October) then that train of thought must have been developing in September. I've been saying for weeks and weeks that Asamoah Gyan and either Quinn or Short knew this was in the wind at the time of the loan. People on here were remarking in August that Gyan was flabby and didn't look interested. Yet when Al-Ain wanted to buy him outright, we turned them down flat. Why? If you had an unhappy player, and a club came with a bucket load of oil money, wouldn't you sell? Gyan never did put in a transfer request, and shook Bruce's hand on the Thursday. On Friday, Al-Ain came back offering £6 million for a year's loan. So the club doesn't want to lose Gyan and Gyan doesn't want to leave the club - but they both agree that there is a problem. The ideal solution was to 'put Gyan on ice' for a year to see what happened. We make £6 million, Gyan gets to make a packet and take his family off to the sunshine. And the loan went through without a hitch. Both SAFC and Gyan have known that Bruce was 'on trial'. The deal? - if the new manager wants Gyan, he will be coming back next summer. It's entirely up to O'Neill and Gyan now as to whether that happens or not. I believe Bradshaw - I've suspected something similar from the time of the loan.
The lesson for me, one I learned some time ago, is getting worked up about the manager and seeing blood pressure rise does no good. Have faith in Short or not, the fact is we cant affect a lot on here. And Wigan, we all know it could go tits up but can we not just enjoy the moment.
Well as for SB you can bet he did not want Bent, Gyan or Welbeck to leave (it was lack of goals that did for SB at the end) and for various reasons that may have been beyond his control they did. So granting that and the need to score goals and replace what was lost why he he spend what money he had on 2 young lads and a midfielder he has hardly played? The point being that Bent left last jan and we did not replace him, that is down to Bruce. Now we will only know how much money MoN has to spend when we hopefully bring in a striker in the Jan window, scoring goals is our problem, Bendtner seems to decided to play out on the wing (something some gooner mates warned me about they, were happy to get shot), so one of MoNs first jobs is to get him playing better. Then to assess whether Ji or Noble can step up or Connor when fit. I cannot see him going beyond Sess and Larsson on the wings as for midfield we will probably not see Catts over much (imho Meyler and young Jack are better defensive CMs) but we badly need some creativity and that must mean Vaughan or Gardner until the check book is out. SO although I do not think MoN is any sort of miracle messiah etc. I do hope the foibles that SB displayed will be stopped plus the ill-luck of an albatross that SB had will be lifted.
I can now see that elusive "5 year plan" coming to fruition with MON at the helm and he has restored my faith in the club.
I've made my views on Gyan on another thread 'Gyan' - I don't want him back - but I think you make some interesting points here CB. What I'm not clear about though is whether Al-Ain actually made a bid to buy or whether their interest just came too late in the window to sort out a permanaent deal, if indeed Gyan would have wanted that permanent move to them anyway even if the money was top drawer the football isn't. As for the MON comments elsewhere on this thread - surely all our expectations remain realistic but hells bells we must be allowed to enjoy this moment.
I've never doubted Ellis Short at any point in time and after observing what has unfolded over the last week, I doubt I ever will doubt his intentions. He is cleary very interested in football and SAFC. Whether there is any truth in these comments or not is unknowable to the vast majority, however, if they are correct they reveal that our chairman is not only a very fair man (by providing Bruce with his opportunity to improve) whilst also ensuring a contingency plan is in position in the likelihood that Bruce failed to improve. This would also reveal that Short experienced genuine concerns in alignment with the observations that us BoB's were highlighting for most of the summer. We are very fortunate to have such an excellent structure to our club, very fortunate.
Cestria - You threatend retirement once before son. You 'promised' a momentus signing which never materialised (just who was it meant to be?) I remember several posters publishing the descriptor 'bye' after some of your postings. Well said Wigan - let's wait and see. There are a lot of difficult choices for O'Neill to make. He is not a miracle worker. Don't forget that no bugger ever seems to want to join us. Maybe O'Neill can change that?
Even though I backed Bruce until the last couple of weeks I always thought when O'Neil turned down both the N.I. and Leicster jobs that contact had been made I've already said this on a couple of other threads. To Wigan and MJEllis77 do you honestly think that O'Neill will not be a breathe of fresh air in the club and if he utilises all the Players we have we will be a top 10 team this season look where he took Celtic.
****ing hell what the hells the reason for this attack? The ones who posted "bye" should be ashamed of trying to drive out a fellow Mackem who clearly loves the club nearly as much as me! As to the OP Syd I'm pretty sure the moving aside of Quinn was building up to this moment in our history.
Hiya Blackcat. I think it was the club web-site that said Al-Ain had come earlier that week with a straight offer to buy, but they had refused it. (Gyan's view of the offer wasn't stated so I can't help you with that one. It didn't say how much was offered either, but if they paid £6m for a one year loan, I doubt that it was peanuts). On the Friday, they came back with the loan offer, and we took it. £6m and we've still got a player MON might well want to look at. It wasn't a bad deal, and if there was a problem with Bruce/tactics/service, etc., it saved us from another Bent situation where he eventually banged a transfer request in. Agree on enjoying the moment. God knows, we've had a pretty dismal time lately. Why not enjoy it?
Martin O'Neill joined us.... Touted for every high profile vacancy that becomes available. Even Steve Bruce managed to recruit high profile playes such as Bent, Gyan, Zenden, Muntari, Brown and O'Shea... We are living in a new era and the fans need to adapt their thoughts to where we are today and not dwell in the past. If we fill ourselves with self belief, who knows what may become of our dreams and aspirations?
