With Martin O’Neill getting Celtic back on track north of the border, it’s difficult not to think back on his time as manager of Sunderland – and think what a bloody shame it was that it didn’t work out.
Thinking back, it was potentially a case of being the right man at the wrong time. Maybe if he had been appointed when Niall Quinn gave him that call a few years earlier, it might have all been different – but then again, we got Roy Keane, so it kind of worked out.
It’s very easy when talking about
his time at Sunderland to try and work out the point where it began to go in the wrong direction, because his appointment in December 2011 gave us the lift we needed. Steve Bruce had a shocking ending the season prior and began 2011-12 with just two wins in the first thirteen league games, that include a home defeat against the visitors, which left us hovering dangerously above the drop zone.
Enter stage left, O’Neill, who had been looking for a job after leaving Aston Villa. After Seb Larsson scored that winner in his opening game at the Stadium of Light against Blackburn Rovers, he won seven in his first ten league games – and not only that, he also won three cup ties in his first three months to reach the quarter-final of the FA Cup.
Now, that quarter-final. In the first game at Goodison, we were brilliant, and David Moyes was lucky to get another crack at Sunderland in the replay. We’d just beaten Liverpool at home ahead of the replay, so all seemed well. But it was disastrous. Everton rolled us over and, well, we were awful, and maybe as a consequence, we didn’t win any of the remaining eight games of the season.
But, new season, new hope, and all of that.
However, O’Neill was told that the purse strings wouldn’t be opened and he’d have to pretty much make do – something he has said since would have probably steered him away from taking the job on in the first place. Two free transfers made their debut in the opening day goalless draw against Arsenal at the Emirates, with Carlos Cuellar in the starting XI and Louis Saha making an appearance from the bench.
We won just two of the first fifteen games.
There was, however, a mini-revival as we bounced back to win five of the next eight games, which propelled us back up to the safety of mid-table, just as Swansea City travelled to the Stadium of Light in the final game within the January transfer window.
The game against the Swans would end in a goalless draw, but perhaps the most significant event of the night was Danny Graham entering the field of play as a substitute for the final fifteen minutes of the game, as he was in talks to sign for Sunderland in a deal worth around £5m.
Next up was a trip to the Madejski Stadium to take on Brian McDermott’s Reading, who were nine points behind us and only out of the relegation zone via goal difference. Graham was named on the bench by O’Neill after his transfer was confirmed ahead of the game, and less than ten minutes into the gam,e most people assumed his services would be required at some point.
This was due to Jimmy Kebe’s opener, which arrived after seven minutes, after good work from Jobi McAniff cutting the ball across the box. Kebe wrong-footed the Sunderland defence to provide time to pick his spot to score past Simon Mignolet from around ten yards out.
But O’Neill’s Sunderland fought back, and Adam Federici was forced into good saves to deny Alfred N’Diaye and Larsson, but just before the half hour, the Lads were awarded a penalty. Pavel Pogrebnyak was adjudged to have fouled John O’Shea when defending a corner, and Craig Gardner levelled things up from the spot.
Both sides pushed to take maximum points, and with ten minutes to go, O’Neill brought off Stephane Sessegnon and sent on his new signing from Swansea City – and “a huge roar from the travelling Sunderland fans greeted Graham”.
Almost immediately, it paid off, but Graham’s close-range header was brilliantly saved to concede a corner – it could all have been so different had that gone in.
Because the sucker punch came with five minutes to go. Sunderland gave away a sloppy free-kick, and everyone’s favourite agent Ian Harte swung the ball in, and it was met by the head of Keb,e who scored his second goal of the game, which turned out to be the winner.
A point would have seen us take a place in the top half of the Premier League, but instead we lost four and drew two in the next six games, and O’Neill was sacked as manager of Sunderland.
Barclays Premier League
Madejski Stadium
Reading 2-1 Sunderland
[Kebe 7’, 85’ – Gardner (pen) 29’]
Sunderland: Mignolet, Gardner, O’Shea, Bramble, Colback, Larsson (Rose), N’Diaye, Vaughan (McClean), Johnson, Sessegnon (Graham), Fletcher Subs: Westwood, Bardsley, Mangane, Wickham
Reading: Federici, Kelly, Harte, Leigertwood, Pearce, Mariappa, Kebe, Akpan, Pogrebnyak (Blackman), McAnuff, McCleary (Le Fondre) Subs: Taylor, Shorey, Morrison, Karacan, Guthrie
Attendance: 23,829
