He’d only been in the job for around three months, but already Peter Reid had made his mark as the new Sunderland manager.
The ex-Everton midfielder arrived at Roker when it looked inevitable we’d drop into the third tier for the second time. Still, in seven games he turned around our immediate fortunes as well as our optimism for the future.
The original deal was set to expire at the end of the season, but Reid soon put pen to paper on a new contract and set about assembling his backroom staff. Paul
Bracewell quickly arrived from Newcastle United as his assistant manager, although his influence might be more on the pitch, as he would have his third spell at the club as a player as well as Reid’s number two.
On the coaching front, former Blackburn Rovers and York City boss Bobby Saxton arrived to work with the first team, and on this day in 1995, former player Bryan “Pop” Robson took his place as the new reserve team coach.
The then 49-year-old took his first training session at the training ground at Whitburn and was full of praise for his new boss and spoke of how he was pleased to be back at Sunderland:
I’m delighted to be back, working for Peter Reid. He’s a manager full of enthusiasm and he plays football the way I want to.
I know Bobby Saxton well too, and I’ve known Paul Bracewell since his first spell at Roker Park, when I coached under Alan Durban. It’s a good team to be working with, and I’m hopeful of a bright future for the club.
Robson arrived after playing a major role behind the scenes at Manchester United, which he talked about, but it was the pull of returning to Wearside that sealed the deal for our former striker:
I had four good years at Old Trafford, working with the Director of Youth, Eric Harrison. I’ve learned a lot, and I’m happy to have the chance of working here again. There’s a special feeling for Sunderland. I was born here and had some good times as a player.
Along with Saxton and Robson on the training ground, Sunderland also employed fitness instructor Steve Black to put the players through their paces during pre-season training. Black put the players through an arduous first day back at training to have the team in shape for the Irish tour, and Reid specifically talked about the performance of Martin Smith on his return after the summer break:
There was no problem with Martin’s weight last season. He was fit but not as fit as he might have been, but after seeing him yesterday, he looks in great shape. We all were given a thorough workout and the aches haven’t gone away I can tell you!
I don’t think too much emphasis is placed on physical fitness these days. You cannot be fit enough. The best footballer in this country is still George Best. If he was fit, he would still be a great player. But he is just not able to play 90 minutes.
Look at how England did in Australia last winter. Fitness is important in any sport. We had Gooch and Gatting lumbering around while the Aussies had fit young lads turning twos into threes. The days when you could just be a great ball player are over.
If I were ten years younger, I might still back my ability in Premiership football.
After that quote, Reid refused to rule out the possibility that, at 39 years old, he might consider pulling on his boots for the following season:
I don’t know. I will just have to see how it goes. I know Glenn Hoddle, Ray Wilkins and Bryan Robson very well. They were all players from my era, and I can well understand how they could be tempted to go back on the field. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
In other news…
After being freed by Sunderland the previous week, keeper Tony Norman returned to the First Division, as the 37-year-old former Welsh international teamed up with former Hull City team-mate Brian Horton, the new manager of Huddersfield Town. Norman agreed a one-year deal with the Terriers, who won promotion to Division One through the play-offs in May top flight.
In the Premier League, Brian Little was on a spending spree at Aston Villa. On this day in 1995, Mark Draper made the move from Little’s former club Leicester City to take Villa’s total to around £9m – which I can assure younger readers that this was a decent wedge back then – but it was a blow to the East Midlands club, who Sunderland would play on the opening day of the season.
Draper signed for £3.25m and came soon after Villa smashed their club transfer record by signing the Yugoslavian striker Savo Milosevic for £3.5m, which came days after snapping up Crystal Palace defender Gareth Southgate for £2.5m, and he was heavily linked with a move to sign Chris Coleman from Palace.
Also in the Premier League, Tottenham chairman Alan Sugar told Manchester United, linked with a £5m offer for winger Darren Anderton, that he was not for sale.
In Europe, Roberto Baggio joined AC Milan from Juventus in a deal worth around £12.9m, and Dynamo Dresden, who won the old East German championship eight times, were demoted to regional leagues from the Bundesliga for failing to meet financial requirements demanded by the German FA.
