Sunderland's clash with Norwich is our first live game on Newstalk Sport. That game kicks off at 1.30pm with commentary from Dave McIntyre and Wolves and Ireland winger Stephen Hunt.
Back in December, Sunderland were in something of a rut, just a point and a place above the relegation zone. But after picking up 17 points from a possible 36 between December 8th and the end of January, the Black Cats managed to go clear of the relegation zone.
However a dire February saw the North East club lose three matches in succession, followed by a draw at home to Fulham and a 3 – 1 defeat to bottom club QPR this month which has dragged Sunderland closer to the drop zone.
Ahead of their match against Norwich at the Stadium of Light, the Black Cats are only six points above the relegation places, and just three ahead of manager Martin O’Neill’s former clubs Aston Villa.
There is no question that the Northern Irishman has had a successful coaching career, winning trophies in the SPL and at Leicester City, while he also came close to becoming England manager and was also seen as a potential successor to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
Unsurprisingly those rumours have faded into the background. Three months ago football journalists Gary Doyle and Jonathan Wilson (of ‘Inverting the Pyramid’ fame) believed that he is on the wane.
Yet, the British media and the Irish one by extension have not seriously questioned his position in the same way that they have done to many other Premier League at both ends of the table this season.
Underwhelming signings
When O’Neill first arrived at Sunderland, taking over from Steve Bruce midway through the 2011-12 season, they were not in great shakes. But he did well in the initial months to drag them towards mid-table safety, although performances dipped towards the end of the season.
But he had significant amounts of cash to spend in the summer and in January, splashing out the guts of €40 million on England winger Adam Johnson, Steven Fletcher, Danny Graham and French midfielder Alfred N’Diaye, while Louis Saha and Carlos Cuellar arrived on free transfers.
Although, Fletcher has been productive, bagging 10 league goals, O’Neill’s other signings have been underwhelming to put it mildly.
It is a pattern that first emerged at Aston Villa. The former Celtic boss took over the Villa hotseat in August 2006, just a month after American billionaire Randy Lerner bought the club.
Lerner was generous with his cash during O’Neill’s tenure. Villa’s net spend was €100 million between 2006 to 2010, outgunning the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal as they chased the carrot of Champions League football.
Poor record in the transfer window
But despite three successive 6th place finishes in 2008, 2009 and 2010, that objective was never achieved. And the finger can be pointed at O’Neill’s poor record in the transfer window.
His strategy of bringing in primarily British players for exorbitant fees did not pay off.
Ashley Young for about €9 million was a good deal but when you consider that Villa were aiming for the Champions League by signing the likes of James Milner, Nigel Reo Coker, Steve Sidwell and Stewart Downing for a combined fee of €40 million, it does not appear to be smart business when better options were available – and it must be remembered that O’Neill had free reign in the transfer market.
If Manchester United or other big clubs had any inclination of hiring O’Neill in the past, that patchy transfer record would be a black mark against his name.
But the question now is whether Sunderland’s hierarchy should be concerned in the long run despite the lack of media scrutiny.
His man management is not an issue but can they trust O'Neill with the funds needed to revitalize the Black Cats?
Based on his record in the transfer market, it is a decision they cannot take lightly.
