In October 2002, a decision that nobody saw coming occurred when Bob Murray appointed Howard Wilkinson as the new Sunderland manager, with a curveball for good measure in the form of appointing the then Stoke City manager Steve Cotterill as his assistant manager.
The decision to appoint Wilkinson sparked shock and surprise amongst fans as Wilkinson had not managed for seven years at this stage since leaving Leeds United in 1996 and had only been recently working with the FA in a technical advisory
role.
Many whispers and murmurings have circulated since as to how the former Leeds manager ended up on Wearside, with the most famous one being that Murray sought counsel from Wilkinson on who he should appoint with the latter putting himself forward for the job.
Wilkinson and Cotterill got the job but ultimately failed in spectacular circumstances. Two wins from twenty games saw Sunderland languish at the very bottom of the league and it appeared morale and team spirit were at an all-time low with players reportedly rejecting his coaching methods from the outset.
Sunderland midfielder Claudio Reyna described Wilkinson as ‘too nice and boring’ whilst also suggesting that the manager was far too fond of team meetings with his squad. Further criticism came from Julio Arca who berated his methods of showing the squad a video of geese flying as a symbol of good teamwork.
“He had us watching the birds flying and said we had watched the best football team in the world. I wouldn’t say anything bad about him but he didn’t play me for his own reasons.”
Ultimately, the lack of victories in twenty games spelt trouble for Sergeant Wilko and on this day in 2003, Bob Murray put an end to what he described as one of the worst decisions he made in running this football club where he said he was “absolutely determined to arrest the decline” of the club.
“The club and its supporters have faced disappointment over a drawn-out period. This has been very difficult for everyone concerned, but we are absolutely determined to arrest the decline and revive the club. We will be appointing a successor before our crucial game against Bolton at the weekend.
“The fans have been incredibly tolerant and supportive in the circumstances and I would like to thank them for that. We understand how people are feeling and regret this. We all want to see the team get back to winning ways and putting in the type of performances that will give the fans something to cheer about.”
With the club already £23 million in debt, Murray appeared acutely aware of any further disillusionment for a fanbase that seemingly had almost reached rock bottom.
Murray’s final roll of the dice in his attempt to keep Sunderland up was the appointment of former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy. With Niall Quinn’s back essentially forcing him to retire along with Kevin Phillips’ time coming near the end, the Irishman really stood no chance of survival given how wretched the team at his disposal were.
