1 comment NIALL QUINN has revealed how close new Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal came to being Sunderland boss. Quinn has confirmed that he pursued van Gaal during his stint as Sunderland chairman and that owner Ellis Short was prepared to back him. The ex-Black Cats striker also held talks with future-Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini for the job at the Stadium of Light. In a new book on North-East football called Up There, written by local reporter Michael Walker, Quinn says he spoke to Van Gaal twice in 2009 once the club decided Ricky Sbragia would not remain in charge. Quinn explains that when it came to Sbragiaâs successor: âWeâd always had Steve Bruce on the list. âMaybe some would say weâd delusions of grandeur but we had good feedback from Louis van Gaal. âI spoke to him personally a couple of times on the phone at home. One time his wife answered and told me: âKeep working on him, I want to go to Englandâ. âThat was adventurous but Ellis was all set to back it if it came off. âThat was after Ricky. Roberto Manciniâs people got in touch with us at that time too. Heâd been having English lessons. âIt was interesting. We opted for Steve and he got us a top-10 finish. He understood basic things like needing goalscorers â we had Danny Welbeck for a while.â Quinn also reveals in a long interview centred on the Drumaville takeover at the Stadium of Light in 2006 that he approached ex-Sunderland defender Steve Bould before any other manager. After Steve Bruce left in 2011, Quinn thought current Fulham boss Felix Magath could have been a suitable replacement had Sunderland been unable to recruit Martin OâNeill. Quinn says: âIt faded for Steve, he left November-time. âAll the August window we had chased Kevin Kuranyi at Schalke. I flew to see Schalke and I met Felix Magath there. âI always felt he was someone Sunderland could go to, to try to kick on. A couple of years later he ended up at Fulham. âI left a card but he never called. I met him twice and thought: âThis fella has somethingâ.â âUp There: The North-East, Football, Boom & Bustâ is published by deCoubertin Books, out August 18.
The book should be a canny read. Along with the big names, this one (i never knew he was offered the job) could have been interesting. Steve Bould. Quinn also reveals in a long interview centred on the Drumaville takeover at the Stadium of Light in 2006 that he approached ex-Sunderland defender Steve Bould before any other manager.
Regardless of who is the manager, I'm sure the usual suspects would be there to moan and criticise and create negative vibes that would have pulled us down..
LVG in my opinion would of made us a very good team would of at least got us to mid-table/just behind the two fighting for 6th-8th However due to success he would bring i think he would of been taken by one of the bigger clubs eventually, which would of led us to the place we have ended up anyway
LVG is a very good manager but has not had success everywhere he has gone, its easy to imagine what he might have done but there's no guarantees anyway. There are lots of stories of Newcastle trying to sign players like Baggio and Ronaldinho and people spout on about "what might have been" but I seem to recall we did sign Kluivert to play alongside Shearer and he was utterly atrocious. Would he have been given proper backing by the owner and the freedom he would have demanded to make the decisions (he seems like the type who wont take any interference)? Like people have said, if it had worked excellently then you would have had a season or two like Southampton have recently and then gone back to the status quo - I'm afraid teams like ours have simply got to hope that when we do somehow cobble together teams/squads that can compete we actually win something to show for our efforts before drifting back to mediocrity (or worse) as there is little chance of creating a legacy of achievement.
Yes not bringing Mancini in was a disaster Niall but plumped for saggy chops, like I mentioned, Murray not bringing Cloughy in back in 1985. WE could have won the premier league and F A cup. What will the next story be, we could have signed Bale !. I don't think Poyet will take us to the next level as he has not got the pulling power of top managers, but I hope I am wrong.
