MARTIN OâNeill hopes Sunderland can return to the top half of the table with victory over Wolves tomorrow. But he says that wherever Sunderland finish this season, heâll still regard it as a successful campaign for the club â especially given the plight of tomorrowâs opponents. OâNeill watched from the stands at Molineux as a typical Sunderland horror show of the time unfolded. The Black Cats threw away a 1-0 lead in the second-half after Seb Larssonâs penalty was saved and the West Midlanders scored two quick goals to leap-frog the Wearsiders and leave OâNeill taking over a side in the bottom three. The tables have turned dramatically since then though, with Sunderland now 20 points ahead of the team they were three points behind when OâNeill took over the reins. And while the Sunderland manager remains desperate for his team to make the most of the remaining five games, he believes that everyone at the club can take satisfaction from the relegation battle avoided. He told the Echo: âThere is still a lot for us to play for this season because the final position we end up in the table is important and the changes up and down can be quite dramatic because of the way the table is. âWe have been eighth and ninth recently with a chance to go sixth or seventh. âBut you can drop down to 15th or 16th very easily on any given week at the moment and we have to work hard to ensure that we donât âWe want to finish in the top half of the table and a win over Wolves this weekend will help in that direction. âBut wherever we finish this season Iâll look back on my time here in this campaign feeling delighted. âThat first day I took over we had 11 points from 14 games â not even a point a game â and the first job was to get us to that point where we had parity in terms of games played and points scored. âWe achieved that quicker than I expected but I was still mentally prepared to be fighting a relegation battle at this stage of the season. âI would have settled for having parity with games and points played and the chance to get up to 40 points with the five games remaining. âBut to do it as quickly as we did was fantastic because, as other teams have found, it is not easy. âIâm still very, very keen to see us pick up more points and I want us to go out looking to win every game. âBut Iâm delighted with what the players have given me this season and delighted that for a long time now weâve been looking up the table and not down it.â
Was going to post this... The tables have turned dramatically since then though, with Sunderland now 20 points ahead of the team they were three points behind when O’Neill took over the reins. Puts things into perspective
But just in fairness, them teams have under-achieved and we are finding our level now after a fantastic start to his managerial career.... But to counter balance the arguement...when he took over ****ing mags were only 12 points ahead (i think) and now they are 17....... see what i'm getting at?
If Bruce had stayed as manager, they would probably be 27 points ahead or more..... The Mags have had a ****ing unbelievable season considering the players they sold in the summer, nobody could have (and nobody did) predict that. Their scouts have done very good work, cos the players they have brought in are bargain buys for the quality they have added (very hard to admit that) If we can bring in the same kind of quality this summer (part of the reason I am torn on the Gyan issue is cos at least we know he is a good player though a greedy twat), we should be up there with them next season.
Enough said mate, i totally agree..... Anyone know who are or how many scouts we have (apart from pop), and do they spend much time over-sea's?
Sorry commachio, I didn't read your post. I always find reading Martin O'Neill's words fullfilling as he is a great thinker. I always feel inspired which is a great feeling to have as a fan of Sunderland. On a side note, I notice a lot of the Villa fans who hurled abuse at Martin before he left Villa are certainly wishing they had Martin as their manage today.
He does make you think about what type of person he is like in normal circumstances..... Reckon he'd be great on a pub quiz team......also a good night on the piss. As for Villa iv'e just watched the high lites from 2009 when Man U v Villa in April... MoN was manager, and O'Shea was playing for Utd. Utd won 3-2 but Villa gave them a game.....But reckon this weekend Utd will murder them....Oh well.
considering what sunderland have put me and thousands of others through the last 35 years, a top half finish is definitely a success, if i was offered tenth next season and the season after etc, i'd take it like a shot
