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The joy of Sunderland fans this week at the appointment of Martin O’Neill is matched only by their hatred of the maligned Steve Bruce. In the football management pantomime, the latter is the incompetent, bumbling villain; the former is the knight in shining armour that makes everything alright again before the season is out. But football is never quite as simple as that. At the beginning of another (prospective) rags to riches tale with O’Neill as the star, have the other parts simply been recast?
Starting with the hero of the piece, Martin O’Neill’s reputation precedes him, with stints at Wycombe Wanderers, overachieving Leicester City and Scottish giants Glasgow Celtic bringing silverware and glory to each respective club. His Villa side finished 6th three times in a row in his tenure – a position Villa hadn’t reached since 2003/4. However, it is worth looking at how much this relative success cost the 1981/82 European Cup winners. O’Neill spent overall, when taking into account transfer income as well as expenditure, a staggering £84 million pounds in four seasons, reshaping the squad with names like Ashley Young, James Milner, Stewart Downing, Carlos Cuellar and twenty-three others.
The successful years at Villa Park were no doubt bankrolled by new owner Randy Lerner, whose financial clout allowed O’Neill to build himself a team over the next two years. He rejuvenated the prospects of the Villans, but spent almost as much during his first season in charge as David O’Leary did throughout his entire three season tenure. That’s not a defence of the former Leeds United manager, who had to go amidst poor performances and a disastrous league finish. Instead, it’s an appreciation of the context of failure and success in the Midlands. The same applies up north; the likeable Geordie had to go after just two home wins in 2011, but Sunderland’s failure to build on previous seasons was not entirely his fault. On the face of it, Bruce was given plenty of opportunities to reinforce his squad, but in reality, said opportunities only came about off the back of the selling of key players.
The days of big spending at the Stadium of Light may seem to be behind them, and since Ellis Short became owner in 2009, the club has cashed more cheques than they have written. Despite splashing out £40.3m and £20.15m in 2007 and 2008 respectively, future net transfer fees haven’t been over the £6m mark; they spent £5.75m overall in 2009, recouped £14m in 2010, and brought in £500k in 2011 (when taking into consideration Gyan’s hefty loan fee). In every season, players considered to be important to Bruce were sold for various reasons: club captain Dean Whitehead, replacement captain Lorik Cana, forwards Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent, and finally prospective England hopeful Jordan Henderson. Player-manager rifts, homesickness, written transfer requests and the lure of European football at other clubs are just some of the factors that worked against Bruce during his time in the North East.
Comparatively, O’Neill had little trouble retaining his stars: only Gareth Barry left against his manager’s will, though the Ulsterman was on the verge of losing James Milner before he resigned. Other than that, the squad he had lavishly built remained as intact as he desired. Consider O’Neill’s main reasons for leaving Villa: his perceived lack of support in the transfer market, despite a hefty £21m annual net spend on average, and his evident distress at the sale of key players. In these respects, he could not be at the helm of a less suitable club.
The flipside, of course, is that with a new manager also comes a new budget, often regardless of previous outlay – not that Sunderland have spent wantonly in recent seasons. O’Neill will also benefit from the fact that the North East club have no star players left to sell. Most of Sunderland’s recent signings, bar the ever-improving Sessegnon, haven’t turned any heads with their performances, and the few players that show potential ability to perform at a better level are often found in the treatment room, or in the showers well before the game has ended. The position of Sunderland in the footballing world – an underachieving team, a solid squad, plenty of promising youth prospects, a wealthy American chairman and a passionate, loyal fan base – is not dissimilar to one particular West Midlands club five years ago. I’m not talking about Birmingham.
The crest on the gates may have changed, but for the idolised Northern Irishman, the basic challenges and criteria have not changed dramatically. A man who thrives under such conditions is just what Sunderland need, but they will also need the chairman to back his new man with the required funds. With consistent top-half finishes the realistic aim for Sunderland and O’Neill, few fans on Wearside will be complaining if history repeats itself.
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