Gustavo Poyet believes he shares âa visionâ with Sunderland chairman Ellis Short, but the Uruguayan knows he will have to keep proving himself if he is to have time to bring it to fruition. Poyet spoke last week about the need for stability at the Stadium of Light, and wants to be the man to provide it. But the Black Cats coach is not naive enough to believe that Shortâs patience is limitless. âI talk to him and weâve got an idea,â he said of his relationship with the Texan billionaire. âWe share a vision but youâve got to be realistic. âYou need to keep proving yourself. Itâs not that easy to say, âYeah, go on â ten years, whatever happens to you we stick with you.â It sounds great but it doesnât happen in football. âYou need to at least be showing with results that itâs working. I think he understands bad days at the office, terrible days. Itâs nice and I thank him for that because it doesnât happen in too many parts of the world. âIn a certain way heâs quite understanding and thatâs great but this is England, England.â Last month marked the third anniversary of owner Short taking over as Black Cats chairman and in that time he has sacked three managers â Steve Bruce, Martin OâNeill and Paolo Di Canio. The decision to dispense with Roy Keane in 2008 was also thought to be his. As yet, Sunderland have not made the progress Short and Poyet would have hoped for this season. They narrowly avoided relegation last term but the manner of their âGreat Escapeâ, the fact they reached this yearâs League Cup final and an influx of nine new players in the summer (plus free agent Anthony Reveillere last month), raised hopes the club could move to the next level. A traumatic October which saw them beaten 8-0 at Southampton ended with them in the relegation zone, but four points from two November games has lifted them to 14th in the Premier League. Sunderland boss Gus Poyet knows Ellis Short's patience is not limitless 16 November 2014 10:30 PM Stuart Rayner Sunderland's coach Gus Poyet believes he shares a 'vision' with Ellis Short - but he knows he has to earn the time to realise it JS48924218.jpg 2014 Getty Images Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet Gustavo Poyet believes he shares âa visionâ with Sunderland chairman Ellis Short, but the Uruguayan knows he will have to keep proving himself if he is to have time to bring it to fruition. Poyet spoke last week about the need for stability at the Stadium of Light, and wants to be the man to provide it. But the Black Cats coach is not naive enough to believe that Shortâs patience is limitless. âI talk to him and weâve got an idea,â he said of his relationship with the Texan billionaire. âWe share a vision but youâve got to be realistic. âYou need to keep proving yourself. Itâs not that easy to say, âYeah, go on â ten years, whatever happens to you we stick with you.â It sounds great but it doesnât happen in football. âYou need to at least be showing with results that itâs working. I think he understands bad days at the office, terrible days. Itâs nice and I thank him for that because it doesnât happen in too many parts of the world. âIn a certain way heâs quite understanding and thatâs great but this is England, England.â Last month marked the third anniversary of owner Short taking over as Black Cats chairman and in that time he has sacked three managers â Steve Bruce, Martin OâNeill and Paolo Di Canio. The decision to dispense with Roy Keane in 2008 was also thought to be his. As yet, Sunderland have not made the progress Short and Poyet would have hoped for this season. They narrowly avoided relegation last term but the manner of their âGreat Escapeâ, the fact they reached this yearâs League Cup final and an influx of nine new players in the summer (plus free agent Anthony Reveillere last month), raised hopes the club could move to the next level. A traumatic October which saw them beaten 8-0 at Southampton ended with them in the relegation zone, but four points from two November games has lifted them to 14th in the Premier League. Ellis Short That progress improved the chances of Poyet enjoying the sort of longevity he had at previous club Brighton and Hove Albion, where he oversaw 194 matches. It is something he is keen to replicate in the North East. To do that he knows he will have to enthuse the fans as well as impressing the owner. âYeah, if Iâve got the chance to keep improving dramatically, no doubt,â he said. âI know the potential and I know what football means to everybody here and how it is making people feel when they have a special team. I had that feeling at Brighton because I assure you they were feeling that their team was a different one, a special one, totally different to the rest. It was getting better and better, then something happened â I donât know why â and things changed. It was not the same. âWhen you heard those feelings from the fans as a manager or a football player â that they want to show you that theyâre feeling great, they believe in you and they like you, they want you to stay â thatâs great.â Sunderland will check on the fitness of Steven Fletcher this week after the striker was withdrawn from tomorrowâs Scotland v England friendly with a foot injury picked up against the Republic of Ireland. Fletcher, who has scored a third of Sunderlandâs league goals this season, was injured in a 55th-minute tackle with Aidan McGeady, and left Parkhead wearing a protective boot. The Black Cats are at Leicester City on Saturday. Jozy Altidore pushed his claim to deputise with a penalty and a performance which drew praise from coach Jurgen Klinsmann in the United States of Americaâs 2-1 defeat to Colombia at Craven Cottage, but Connor Wickham looks the more likely candidate. Altidore will have another chance to push his case in tomorrowâs friendly away to John OâSheaâs Republic of Ireland.
