Stolen from the Journal. Long but a canny read and spot on IMHO. My highlighting by the way. Sunderland have pulled off a significant double deal. Chief Sports Writer Mark Douglas believes moves for Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson prove Ellis Short is as committed as ever to the club. JUST over a year ago, a fortunate photographer was in the right place at the right time to capture a candid picture of Ellis Short on the pitch at the Stadium of Light. It was taken just before a lame home defeat against Chelsea, a matter of minutes after the club had confirmed Asamoah Gyanâs barely credible departure to Al-Ain. It is a picture worth a thousand words. Flanked by Niall Quinn and then-manager Steve Bruce, Short looked troubled. His body language â arms folded, fingers clamped to a face etched with worry â spoke of a man for whom football was not the utopia he had been sold. Short has subsequently admitted that, at the time, his enthusiasm was starting to ebb away. Whispers of boardroom discontent with the Black Catsâ direction were swiftly dispatched, but within a few months both Quinn and Bruce were gone. Short appointed himself chairman and re-asserted his control, moving to appoint â in Martin OâNeill â a manager who was more in line with his own approach to business. Every transfer deal now requires the green light from him, he is back in the thick of every decision the club makes. # Twelve months on from that scenario, Short is as committed as ever and ready the roll the dice again. The stakes are big â bigger than an any point in Sunderlandâs recent history, in fact. After too many false starts this summer, Short is ready to bankroll OâNeill in an second concerted effort to break into the Premier Leagueâs top-six elite. The biggest message sent out by the Black Catsâ £22million double deal for Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson was the one which emanated from their Texan owner. Arguably, there has not been a more ambitious capture in the modern history of the club and this watershed moment for the Black Cats should be viewed as the beginning of a new era. There have been big buys under Short, not least when Darren Bent was signed from Tottenham in a capture which confirmed Sunderland had finally shed the âyo-yoâ club tag which blighted them at the start of the decade. Gyanâs purchase remains the clubâs record signing, but neither of those moves comes close to this double deal in terms of significance. Short has finally moved â and you can feel some of the tension easing from OâNeillâs shoulders. He is not a man prone to big, rabble-rousing statements but as he sat before the assembled press yesterday afternoon he was no longer facing a flurry of queries about the clubâs inability to land its top targets. Instead, he challenged the idea that Sunderland should not shoot for the stars in their summer recruitment efforts. Why shouldnât the Black Cats look to bring in internationals like Johnson, Fletcher and Ivan Strinic? OâNeill said: âYou have to have ambitions. âSomewhere along the way a bit of realism has to be attached to it all, but for us we should try to look to do things. âIf we havenât been able to do something, even though weâve tried everything we possibly can, then that is just the way it goes. âI will feel better if weâve done everything possible but still been unable to make it for whatever reason. âIf it becomes too much financially or something like that, so be it, but letâs try to do the deals first.â Johnson was the name of everyoneâs lips at the Academy of Light. Sunderlandâs interest in the England schemer has been known for a while, but when it was first floated at the start of the summer the usual concerns about wages, the lack of European football and bigger clubs circling prevented Black Cats from getting too excited. Something changed in the intervening period. Big wages are one part of it, but big ambitions are equally as important as Johnson last night became the most important capture of the OâNeill era. The winger will get a substantial fee from Manchester City to cover any shortfall in wages but Sunderland were prepared to offer him one of the biggest contracts in their history â as well as giving him the platform he lacked at the Etihad this season. Still, a central tenet of the talks has been whether the player could be convinced by the OâNeill project. He wanted time to think about it, but last night the deal became reality. The late Johnson news rather overshadowed the capture of Fletcher, an underrated striker who perhaps looks a bit over-priced at £12million. Not a bit of it, argues a bullish OâNeill â who rallies at some of the snobbishness surrounding his new signing. He added: âSome people might dispute whether we were that much better than Wolves last season, but weâre trying to improve and I think heâll improve us,â he said. âHe will get a bit of time to settle in and I have no problem with that. âDeep down we have definitely struggled to score goals. âOur top scorer last season had seven and I could nearly beat that myself. I would expect us to improve on that score, but there are not that many strikers who got 20 league goals last season.â Read More http://www.journallive.co.uk/safc/s...ambitious-ideas-61634-31694272/#ixzz24ar09poV
Hey You lot know me. I read all that! Good read. Mr Ellis is in it for the long haul. Not only that. He is trying to do the long haul as quick as possible. x
Odd fact, it was the mention of Strinic in another thread reminded me of reading this earlier today. The only way I can see Short giving up on SAFC is if the fans do. As we all know we are some of the most loyal supporters in the land, he should be here a long long time.
ENJOYED THAT READ MR also raised my eyebrows seeing Ivan Strinic as a definite L/B **** me an international class one, that stiffy rising again 5 stars from me
He needs to return on Bruce's poor investment and the quickest way to do that is to invest heavier in MoN. This window isn't shut yet and I fully expect more investment and not just players that make up the numbers.. I firmly believe Short and MoN are plotting an assault on the top 6 and European football next season.
I hope so bonny lass. My cup runneth over, but MON knows we need a couple more positions filled and ES has clearly given him the green light. Dear me I really can't remember ever being this positive over the club I love.
The writing was on the wall when Quinnie left, and Ellis took the helm. A hands on aproach from a ruthless buisnessman,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,****IN CLASS.
Hahaha As soon as the Skunks read the 5 stars bit, they dived in like rep whores to lower it. Gotta love the sad gets. Where were they yesterday? Oh yeah licking their wounds and hiding.
HK MM and MW. What fills me with joy is that ES clearly wants SAFC to move forward. Of course in the long run he will want a return on his investment, he's a business man after all. But you get the feeling with him and SAFC it is personal and not a just hobby or business, as it seems with certain other clubs.
Whats the crack over there about Llorente mate. Lots of tweets/internet rumours and us making stuff up as well but has he gone to Juve. He looks terriffic but you maybe saw more of him than us. What sort of money are we talking about? Whats your shout here with this one?
