Salut Sunderland’s 13 years, 13 managers (4) Martin O’Neill and hopes unfulfilled

With thanks to Jake for adapting Kartun Malaysia’s caricature

John McCormick writes: Jer posted this comment in response to Colin’s piece on Charlie Methven’s resignation as a director: ‘Stopped reading after the left wing diatribe. Keep your views on Brexit and politics out of football. Last I heard you don’t have to be a Remainer Labour lefty to follow Sunderland I live in a safe Labour seat’

Well, I live in a safe Labour seat in a pro-Remain city and I’m making what I think will be my 23rd hospital visit of the year on election day. I can’t think of anything worse than Boris returning to government. Perhaps people would like me not to say so, and perhaps they would like all of us to be, as Andy posted in  in response to Bob Chapman’s report from Gillingham:

Very mellow and passionless at a critical time ..

Andy did continue … for the football club and its supporters. Why even bother? Hope you have a great holiday and the cat gets to keep the mouse next time.

If we were mellow and passionless we’d never have kept Salut! Sunderland going for 13 years and Pete Sixsmith would never haver formed opinions on the 13 managers we’ve had in that time, the fourth of which is Martin O’Neill.

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A rocking manager, Martin O’Neill glory days, Luke O’Nien: the Wycombe Wanderers ‘Who are You?’

Jon Dickinson: on stage (right) accompanying the Wycombe Wanderers boss and former player Gareth Ainsworth

Monsieur Salut writes: I may have said it before but League One is a treasure trove when it comes to Who are You? interviews, or is once I can locate a warm, witty and/or wise supporter from each club. There will be stumbles as the season progresses – the FA Cup draw left me with the task of finding not one but two Walsall candidates (it was often hard enough to get one when we were in the Championship), the Barnsley game has crept up on me and I haven’t even started thinking about Accrington Stanley and Bristol Rovers. Walsall (one fan covering both the forthcoming games) and Barnsley are sorted after a burst of energy yesterday, but recommendations for other coming games would be appreciated.

Jon Dickinson‘s* Who are You? makes the effort worthwhile. I love the pride he takes in supporting his own unfashionable local team but most of all, I love his responses about Martin O’Neill, Wycombe Wanderers’ amateur football history, what colleagues made of Sunderland when he conducted a straw poll at work and the manager who, when not managing, belts out rock music ….

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Choose Sunderland’s next manager: at least one O’Neill in the frame

Jake: ‘you don’t talk to the likes of us, Ellis, so how can we be blamed if we get something wrong?’

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

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Aston Villa vs Sunderland Who are You?: ‘a tenner on finishing 10th’

Welcome back, Stuart Jinks*. Jinksy, as some will remember, is a past winner – first prize no less – of what we now call the HAWAYs – Highly Articulate Who Are You? awards. That was back in 2012 and we thought it would be a good idea to invite him to have another bash. Sharp memories will also recall that despite the chummy picture you see below of Jinksy with Martin O’Neill, he had serious misgiving about MON’s managerial abilities. Oh, and the headline gives his Villa prediction; we’ll be a lot lower but stay up, says Jinksy. Now let the man behind the Villa Boy YouTube channel speak for himself …

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The art of managing Sunderland: Quinn to PDC minus one

So who’s next? Will Ellis Short stick with Bally or go for one of the candidates we’ve seen mentioned – for example Gus Poyet, Rene Meulensteen, Gianfranco Zola and Stuart Pearce – or someone else entirely? Whoever it is, we should expect it to mean work for the Sunderland-born, Sunderland-supporting artist Owen Lennox, who now describes his labour of love …

In the 83/84 season when Alan Durban was the manager, Sunderland made an important signing, Chris Stevens. Rarely had Roker Park seen such artisty. Not since the board had commissioned the Hemy painting that now hangs majestically in reception at SoL had the club invested in so much money in art. Chris Stevens was appointed as artist in residence on a year’s contract valued at £7,000.

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And our best manager is ….. : an analytical review of SAFC bosses

John McCormick: master of dodgy numbers.
Jake says – John McCormick: master of dodgy numbers.

John McCormick writes: In a response to one of my posts Sobs wondered if it might be possible to use substitutions and tactical changes to rate our managers. No chance, I thought, as I headed off to Spain. But, one baking hot day, when I was idly contemplating the frothy, chilled bottles calling my name from the fridge and wondering if it was too early, Sobs’s comment came back to me out of the blue. I began to wonder how we might compare managers. What stats would be needed, what would someone look for?

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Salut Reflections: Westwood, Mignolet and Bramble make for interesting week in Sunderland.

Jake detects thinking
Jake detects thinking

 

During Martin O’Neill’s final months as SAFC manager, it became increasingly hard to gather and comment on news for a Reflections piece for Salut! Sunderland, writes Stephen Goldsmith. It seems unlikely Di Canio’s reign will be similar. The end of season is generally a bit of a lull for bloggers and writers, who try their best to avoid getting carried away with bogus and erroneous transfer targets. There have been a couple of interesting developments in the last week, though, “that’s for sure” (Bruce: 2009/2010/2011).

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