Sorry that should be, "He shouldn't have taken the job if he couldn't manage .......... Poyet isn't demanding a highly paid sidekick to do all the hard work." You shouldn't be taking a job, where you know you can't manage without a sidekick, unless it's been agreed. He let us down.
New Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill has declared that simply being a fan of the club will not save him if results are not forthcoming. http://metro.co.uk/2011/12/06/marti...rland-fan-wont-save-me-i-need-results-249800/
Not by me they ain't. I've not seen Sunderland play since 2000 due to life's ever winding road. I guess the fact I don't go makes me less of a fan in your eye's. Where as to me it just makes you lucky your circumstances allow you to go. My boyhood hero was Bally and I too look out for Sunderland...Only reason I do that is cause I support Sunderland.
not arguing with that, he should have been certain JR was going to come, my point is mon still has my respect, pdc's is long gone
To be perfectly honest that's the Metro headline saying that and not O'Neill. I've never heard him say directly that he's a Sunderland supporter. What was said in the article was, "The Northern Irishman admitted that he followed Sunderland when he was growing up because the team featured a big Irish centre-half called Charlie Hurley." All O'Neill said, in the article was, "I don't want to play too much on the boyhood hero thing." All he's saying is that Hurley was his hero, nothing more. We all wanted him to be a Sunderland supporter but I just don't buy it.
Not at all. I just don't believe O'Neill has ever been to support Sunderland and don't believe he ever will. He's had plenty of opportunity over the last half century and have never bothered. BTW, my circumstances aren't lucky, I move heaven and earth to be able to go to matches ...... it's far from easy. I've just been on to Villa to get tickets for the Sunderland game at their place and will probably be in the home section again.
From 2007 MARTIN O'Neill has, for almost 50 years, reserved a special place in his heart for Sunderland Football Club. It may not have been "special" enough to tempt him into managing them when they reportedly came calling when he was out of work 18 months ago. And while Villa may not be travelling up to Roker Park this weekend, the Irishman may still experience something of an emotional journey at the Stadium of Light. O'Neill was a young lad in his school shorts when he baulked an Irish trend of following Manchester United and Spurs by taking a liking to the club nicknamed The Bank of England Club" in the 1950s after a succession of big-money transfers. But Sunderland had fallen on hard times and by the time he turned six they had been relegated for the first time in their history. It was because of the captaincy of club legend Charlie Hurley - a 40-times-capped, Cork-born Irish centre-half, who made 358 league appearances from 1957-69 - that O'Neill turned to Sunderland and his memories of a period when they battled to regain their status are as vivid as ever. Does he still feel the same for Sunderland? Partly. "The sparkle never leaves you but it (the passion) has to do with growing up and becoming a professional," he said. "Because of where I was brought up and the type of background in Ireland, where you were Celtic or Rangers, I was a big Celtic fan. "But in England, when everyone was choosing their side, mine was always Sunderland. They're my old team. I supported them as a kid and Charlie Hurley was my hero." O'Neill remembers Boxing Day, 1962, a day that brought nothing but misery for Brian Clough and Sunderland. Clough, who had scored 28 goals in 28 games, charged in for a rebound after Hurley had missed a penalty against Bury and damaged his cruciate ligament, an injury that would keep him out for two years and eventually end his career. "I remember Hurley missed that penalty and Sunderland lost their first game at Roker Park for two years," said O'Neill. Then there was the time Sunderland needed to draw against Tommy Docherty's Chelsea on the last home game of the season but lost 1-0 and when Chelsea beat Portsmouth 7-0 Sunderland missed out on promotion on goal difference. "Chelsea came up and kicked hell out of them and a wee boy called Tommy Harmer scored the goal,'' recalls O'Neill as if it were yesterday. "There were 62,000 at Roker and Sunderland needed one point to go up into the First Division. Chelsea beat them and then finished the season by beating Portsmouth. So Chelsea went up instead." Back then there were no armchair fans. An avid supporter like O'Neill had to pick up what he could from the newspapers and the airwaves. "I never got to see them play because it was too far to travel," he said. Sunderland flirted with the idea of winning the FA Cup in 1964 but lost a quarter-final to Manchester United after drawing 3-3 at Old Trafford and 2-2 at Roker Park - then losing the third game 5-1 at Huddersfield. "As a Second Division side they went to Old Trafford and led 3-1 with seven minutes to go and drew 3-3. They went to Roker Park for the replay and led 2-1 with a minute to go, Jim Montgomery kicked it to Denis Law which made it 2-2. "The third game went to Leeds Road and they led 1-0 but got beat 5-1, and United got beat in the semi-final by West Ham, who went on to beat Preston in the final! "John O'Hare (a former team-mate of O'Neill's at Nottingham Forest and now part of his scouting team at Villa) was an apprentice at Sunderland at the time of that game against Manchester United and he said although the gate was 62,000 - because that was what Roker held - there would have been closer to 80,000 in there. Amazing." O'Neill's first trip to Roker Park as a player was not such a joyous occasion, however, as his Nottingham Forest team were beaten 4-1 in September 1972. "It was the year they won the FA Cup," recalls O'Neill. "They were inconsistent, but they were a very good footballing side with Dennis Tueart and Bobby Kerr. "We were wretched at the time - it was 'BC', Before Clough!" O'Neill was Leicester City manager in April, 1997, when he bade farewell to the grand old stadium that was Roker Park. Again the flashbacks are as vivid as ever. "They got beat 1-0 by Southampton (Egil Ostenstad scored the only goal), who were managed by Graeme Souness. I think it was the second-last game they played at Roker." Correct. Sunderland beat Everton 3-0 a week later. O'Neill will be hoping they do not fare quite so well when Villa are in town on Saturday.
Both failed us mate, I see your sentiments but both managers failed us miserably. MON & PDC were both **** for Sunderland, one was a fan and wanted to manage his boyhood team, the other just wanted a job and wanted to flaunt his ego. Both failed and although I saw an improvement when PDC took over, I can't say the same as when MON did. Gus knocks spots off them both and has done it in a dignified way, AND, is showing results at the same time. Early doors I know but the signs are good.
Just stating facts, not fantasy mate ......... Sunderland supporters desperately wanted O'Neill to be a Sunderland supporter just like I want to believe in Santa. I'll be posting my Christmas list tomorrow
so long as it asks for an undefeated new year like mine, santa has to listen to multiple requests, its in the rules
Read the whole thing. Not just the bits you agree with and remember, all this was said in 2007. Absolutely no reason for him to say anything back then. "I supported them as a kid"...Case closed.
Of course I read the whole thing ...... how could I have highlighted those bits if I hadn't? If you choose to believe that a boyhood hero worship of Charlie Hurley, while admitting to being a big Celtic fan, and never watching Sunderland play constitutes being a supporter then that's your choice. I just can't agree. "I supported them as a kid," .......... but not as an adult he may as well have added.
Your interpretation as you are entitled too. That said his knowledge of all things Sunderland when he was interviewed in 2007 suggests to me he was a Sunderland fan. It may well have been Hurley that lit the spark but hey. For me it was my Dad. In the words of MON from 2007 talking about our club .."The sparkle never leaves you but it (the passion) has to do with growing up and becoming a professional," Obviously Professional Footballers will always carry a torch for their boyhood team but that can't get in the way of their careers. MON supported Sunderland..End of.
