An Open Letter To Mr Ellis Short Dear Sir, I'm afraid that you've got it all wrong. By sacking an honest bright, passionate man, all you have achieved is to prove that you are not quite as brilliant a business man as you pretend to be. Sacking Paolo was a spectacularly poor piece of business. Yes, he made some glaring mistakes, made more so by the unrelenting microscope of the press trained on him 60/60/24/7, I.e. not just everyday of the week for 24/7, but every second of every hour of each of those days. After the disaster of MON, I can't bring myself to call him Mr or use his full name, who allegedly thought he could manage a football team from long distance and only showed up as and when he felt like it, you were right to ditch him, and look for a captain to steer our ship back on its course. I cannot fault your actions at that point. The plan laid out looked right. You bought into a scheme headed by some individuals knowledgeable of the European scene and you came up with a bright, honest, passionate, enthusiastic and energetic manager who had been there, done it, had the medals to show and you went for it. You must have known you were never going to get perfection, and that Paolo also had his flaws. You knew this, don't deny it, but you chose to gloss over them. Paolo took over what was basically a shipwreck, leaking like a sieve and going down. He was right, the crew he inherited was unfit and none of the team could last for a whole match. Just look at the records. He dragged us up against all odds and he saved our club an absolute fortune. What was his reward for filling Sunderland's coffers with a reported £50 to £70m we would have lost if we'd been relegated? Not to put too fine a point on it, you stabbed him in the back. You saw a bowl of cherries with one bad cherry and you threw out the whole lot. Shame on you. In American terms that even a Yank can understand. You had a game winning quarter back who developed a pimple on his nose and you got rid of him. If you examine everything that went wrong with Paolo's tenure, it all came down to one factor and one factor alone and that was communication. You as an industrial mogul should know better than any of us how important it is to isolate your prize asset by putting a mouthpiece or PA between him and the press. In other words you should have gagged him and given him an interpreter for his everyday business. Let's go over some of the salient points 1) The team: He saved you £50m, what did he get? Nada. Generate cash and you can spend it. That's what he got. Paolo asked for certain players. Did he get them? No. no, no. The transfer problems? None of his doing. He had to work with whatever De Fanti and his sidekick foisted on him. All you could whinge about was 'Get the wage-bill down'. That's why Mignolet and the rest had to go. Mignolet had to go when an improved offer would have kept him. That was inept and crass. He alone was worth at least 15 to 20 points per season, priceless. This season alone, after 5 games we would be at least 9 points better off and nearer the top than the bottom. Who's fault is it we are where we are? Yours. 2) The gym, 2nd team, and canteen: all these things are psychological ploys to build a team spirit. The gym's ours, so get out? Great, it shows we are special and I don't want any distractions when we're working. What's wrong with that? The only thing wrong with that is the fact that there was no one in place to explain his actions to those with less brains to understand. Who's fault? Undoubtedly Paolo's and modern thinking. In the old days a boss told you to jump, and you asked how high. No longer. The problem is Paolo is old school. You know that, you work round it, and you should have worked round it the moment it reared its head. So, youâre bad for not doing anything earlier. 3) The team: ah, the poor team? If I pay someone £1m plus per annum, I own him outright, and I can and will call him whatever I like. You cock up badly and I call you names does not give you the right to sit on your bum sucking your thumb and whinging like the little spoilt brats that you are. Grow up. Paolo ostracized Bardsley? So he should. What you should have done at the start is withdraw this man's contract and kick him out. Then let the lawyers fight it out. Not act like a coward. Doing nothing was not an option, but it was the one you chose! 4) Tactics: yep here we have a problem. 14 new players to assess. You are not going to sort that out in 5 minutes or 5 games. You see them in training, practice matches and in the gym. There are players out there who can give you all the tricks and fancy routines where it doesn't matter, and there are others who don't shine in training but pull out the stops when the chips are down. Case one: A Johnson. How many meaningful crosses does he provide per match? How many passes go straight to the other side? Check out videos of this yearâs games. It's not pretty. Case 2: Cabral. Paolo says himself that he didn't do it in training, but let's be honest, how did he do in the thick of the battle? Sessegnon? Fancy Dan who turned it on in training, but generally only showed what he could do in spurts, and only when he felt like it. Of course Paolo made mistakes, but what he needed from you was some balls, a bit of understanding and some help. On all three counts, I'm afraid you have been found wanting. What sort of leader are you who caves in at the first sign of your workforce trying it on. Do you think you have been isolated from blame by having a so-called middle-men of De Fanti and his side-kick? Not from my point of view. I don't know where you got your advice from before bringing in these grey men. You pick advice from a clique who have little or no idea what the English game is about. Oodles about the south European scene, but that cuts no ice over here. You've been conned, and you should have spread your net wider looking for knowledge. Read a few history and biography books about our game and the best we can offer I'm over 70, have followed Sunderland for 65 plus years I have seen the greatest players Britain has ever produced. I played for a short while in Belgium before knee troubles finished me. I can recognise good players as well as bad. The same goes for management. In you I see someone who has ventured into a war zone without any ammunition. Sorry. The right thing to do is to be the big man, correct your mistakes, get Paolo back, but with some safety nets. Do I think that will happen? Not a chance, because you don't have what it takes. Sorry, but this whole mess is your mess. I am writing this letter, but am prepared to repeat it all and much more to you in person if you wish. Jan Drago
"Sacking Paolo was a spectacularly poor piece of business. Yes, he made some glaring mistakes, made more so by the unrelenting microscope of the press trained on him 60/60/24/7, I.e. not just everyday of the week for 24/7, but every second of every hour of each of those days." Gave up after reading that bit, as it's obviously a load of bollocks.
That saving of £50m - £70 m should have been spent on 5 top quality players, look at Spurs now, who next WHU ?, we have fallen behind and each season even further, the top 4 must be the target, but Ancelotti has gone to PSG now, so who now ?.
"If I pay someone £1m plus per annum, I own him outright, and I can and will call him whatever I like" Hahahahaahahahaha
An open letter to Mr Ellis Short, from Sid T Mackem Esq: Dear Ellis You must be aware by now of the problems at the club. What? Oh, you are. Er, OK then. But as a self-made billionaire, you must want advice from blokes like me, who think we know it all. You don't?? Oh. I'll get me coat. Yours etc. Sid
CBA to read all that but Short needs to show some balls and speak to the fans and let us know what the **** is going on. It was his appointment, M. Bryne is utterly useless as well, dont believe a word that comes out of her mouth, shes a solicitor ffs. Too many people high up in Sunderland know nothing about football, get Quinny back!
He does, admit he was wrong to appoint PDC. The man has been great for SAFC but surely he is not criticism free? We are being left in the dark at what his plan is at the minute but he need to come out and speak to us and let us know what is going on, that what I mean by showing balls ha
The club have said PDC has gone, we're looking for a new manager and Ball is in charge at the moment. What do you think Short is hiding?
Would just like the man himself to give us some explanations, I think we deserve it, dont you? Its been a mental 6 months.
Me Short, an alternative open letter. I couldn't be more opposed of all of this if I tried to and would rather have Bruce back than PDC whilst in earnest I want neither. We should have stuck with MoN or Mr Martin O'Neill as I have no problem in saying but we've moved on from that. The club have just dodged the biggest bullet in its history in sacking PDC and we now actually have a chance to stay up, even without a manager we are still better off.
Did you actually enjoy the dreary 'surrender football' style or was it the inevitable relegation battle that attracted you to MON? Or perhaps it was his signings such as £5 million pound Danny Graham who's proving to be just as poor at his new club. Just asking ...........
