Sunderland chairman Ellis Short has admitted he fired Martin O'Neill 'because of poor results.' The former Celtic and Aston Villa manager left the Stadium of Light at the end of March after just 15 months in the post. He was replaced as boss by Paolo Di Canio and Short, writing in his programme notes ahead of Saturday's game against Everton, said: "The simple answer as to why we changed managers was because our results and performances on the pitch hadn't been good for over a year. "The decision to change manager was made with only one aim: To give us the best possibility of staying in the Premier League. "I am excited that we were able to bring in Paolo. Paolo is a real training ground coach. "His very choice of title of head coach, rather than manager, tells you a lot about him and his approach. "He's a real student of the game, spending hours on the training ground every day. "He had great success at Swindon Town in taking a team that he was given and training, organising and motivating them to win. "In my initial discussion with Paolo, I was very impressed with his enthusiasm, his passion and his love of the game. "I like his willingness to do whatever he and his team have to in order to give us a successful end to the season. "Additionally, his confidence is also an asset and in the brief time he has been here, the feedback from all areas of the club has only confirmed those qualities."
Got to hand it to Ellis... He clearly isn't one of these owners who sits back and lets the club run itself. He made a very brave decision and ultimately, appointed what could be the best manager we have had at the club in the last 50 years! It won't all be rosy, but Di Canio is just so suited to Sunderland... up and coming and moving on, perfect match. I'm very impressed by the words he chose regarding the feedback because that shows he is actively monitoring the situation on a regular basis. It could have been easy for Ellis to sit back and watch what happens, clearly he is viewing how the club develops with a very close interest. If Quinn hears the atmosphere we created today, he will be smiling. Proud today, so proud.
With the amount of ££££ that Sky will be throwing at the clubs next year, it means that much more to stay in it. Tony of QPR must be kicking himself. They spent soooooooo much money, and are going to be hit hard financially when they go down. Here's hoping they wrote in relegation clauses for Samba, Remy etc.
And thats your answer to lay it to rest,cant see us going backwards now, thats six points to be fair, most of had only dreamt of getting, work ,work work and more work,with a full squad next term , top ten got to be
It was a massive gamble but looks to have paid off with interest. Thats why people like Short are Billionaires. They take calculated risks when the rest of us hedge our bets.
He did the right thing. I said in another post that although I was a big mon fan I thought we were doomed under him but we had no viable alternatives and that this bunch of players were finished. Shows how wrong I was. Ellis obviously sensed the need for a change and I do wonder at what point he sourced Paolo? I think we are staying up now, I've got the Paolo bug and I love it!
We were heading in one direction under MON . . . . DOWN. Ellis has played a blinder getting Paolo for us.
