Have Sunderland really improved under O'Neill?

Failure to beat the 10 men of Norwich last weekend has ensured Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland really are in a relegation fight.

A combination of dull football, lack of goals and without a win since the 19^th January is far from the recipe for success. When you throw into the mix season ending injuries to both Steven Fletcher and captain Lee Cattermole, survival really is in doubt.

O’Neill’s appointment in December 2011 was the catalyst behind an incredible rise from 17^th to the top half of the Premier League. The feat was made all the more impressive given the fact it was achieved in just two short months. However since then the club have struggled and have won just seven of their last 38 Premier League games. Meaning should the season have started at the time of Sunderland’s decline, they would have been relegated.

Home matches against Manchester United and Everton are sandwiched with trips Chelsea and local rivals Newcastle, a daunting fixture list for any side! After these four games Sunderland, in all likelihood will find themselves below the dreaded relegation line, which beggars the question, have they really improved under O’Neill?

The sales of Darren Bent and Jordan Henderson severely hampered former manager Steve Bruce. And although numerous faces came through the Stadium of Light doors, not many commanded a high transfer fee. Despite a poor start to the season, Bruce deserved more time, with the high turnover of players always ensuring developing his side that season would take time.

It took Sunderland 18 months to really replace Bent

The people’s choice was then appointed in the form of the O’Neill, who supported the club as a boy. In the short-term it worked, Sunderland were never in any danger of going down.

However this was the season Sunderland were supposed to kick-on, which evidently they haven’t. Big name and money signings arrived in the form of Adam Johnson and Fletcher, meaning expectation levels at The Stadium of Light were high. Whilst Fletcher has done the business for the Black Cats, scoring a third of the clubs Premier League goals, his fellow capture hasn't done so well.

Johnson promised much and given frequent game time, many expected him to flourish at Sunderland. Yet inconsistency has blighted his season, a theme common amongst young British wingers.

O’Neill has struggled to address Sunderland’s real problems in the three transfer window’s available to him. The sale of Michael Turner to Norwich was strange. Turner is a solid if not spectacular Premier League centre half. Yet the injury prone Wes Brown is yet to feature this season, whilst the likes of Carlos Cuellar and Titus Bramble have proven to be inconsistent at best. 

Turner has helped Norwich keep nine Premier League clean sheets

The lack of a real creative playmaker has heavily exposed how unimaginative the Sunderland midfield is. Stephane Sessengon has the ability to be this, however similar to Johnson, a real lack of consistency has blighted his season. Having seen Sunderland a few times this season, I can assure you they aren’t the most pleasing on the eye. It’s not that they play long football, but their inability to string a succession of passes together is all too obvious. 

With just eight games remaining, Sunderland are only four points clear of Wigan in 18th, who also have a game in hand of the Mackems!

You only need to read O’Neill’s CV to see he’s a very good manager. However for some reason it’s not working at Sunderland at the moment. Neil Warnock once said it was harder to manage a club you supported and maybe that’s proving the case for O’Neill. 

Sunderland to push for top half finish.

Sunderland’s transfer activity really picked up as the window went on, and the additions of Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson were brilliant. Martin O’Neill also added experience in the form of Carlos Cuellar and Louis Saha, both of whom were out of contract with their previous clubs.

Johnson will get more first-team action with his new club

O’Neill came in last year and turned Sunderland’s season around. Under Steve Bruce it appeared the Black Cats would be in a fight against survival; however the former Aston Villa manager made an immediate impact, as the club won seven out of the first 10 games under O’Neill to propel them from 17^th to 8^th! A poor end to the season saw Sunderland fail to win any of their last seven League games and eventually finished 13^th, but things looked a hell of a light brighter then they did at the start of December.

In Fletcher’s first game for his new club, he scored two goals, both superbly taken, and having scored goals for a struggling Wolves side last year, I expect Fletcher to at least get double figures, and maybe even get close to the 24 League goals a certain Darren Bent scored for Sunderland in the 2009-10 campaign. Johnson, their other key signing is also another one who should have a good year given a run in the side, something he never get close to at Manchester City.

Defensively Sunderland have a number of injury prone players; however in the form of John O’Shea and Wes Brown, both of whom fall into that injury prone bracket, they have two quality defenders with Champions League experience. The addition of Cuellar from Aston Villa is one that has slipped under the radar, as his versatility and solid defensive work will ensure he plays regularly for Sunderland this year.

Key player: Stephane Sessegnon – The Benin international is technically superb and should feature off Fletcher in a good looking forward line for Sunderland. His creativity shone through even during the disappointing periods of the Black Cats season, and if he can improve his goal tally then Sunderland should have a good year.

Sessegnon is a class act!

Prediction: 12^th – Before the additions of Fletcher and Johnson I did worry for Sunderland as I wasn’t sure where the goals would come from, and to be fair they’ve only scored twice so far this year, and both were from the man Fletcher! But with these two excellent additions they’ll be fine and Martin O’Neill will probably get them close to a top half finish!

View from a fan – Glenn Kidger @glenn_safc

What would be a brilliant year?
A great season would be finishing in the top eight as well as seeing Fletcher top the goal scoring charts.

What would be a nightmare season?
A nightmare year would be seeing our best players injured and losing against the scum Newcastle!

How would you rate your transfer window?

I am very happy with what Martin O’Neill has done this window, some quality transfers have been added and good money has been spent!

Do you have the right man in charge?
O’Neill is definitely the right man for the job! He plays mind games with the opposition and catches them on the attack.

Is Steven Fletcher worth the £12million Sunderland paid?
Fletcher is certainly worth the money! He’ll prove himself, and started brilliant with the double against Swansea.

Villa are in trouble of being dragged into the relegation dog fight?

In 2009 Aston Villa beat Chelsea 2-1 under Martin O'Neill and despite never really being in contention to qualify for the Champions League that season, the previous two seasons they were genuinely close to finishing fourth in the Barclays Premier League.

The team they fielded that day was as follows: Brad Friedel, Carlos Cuellar, Richard Dunne, James Collins, Stephen Warnock, James Milner, Steve Sidwell, Stiliyan Petrov, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew.



Fast forward to Saturdays Aston Villa side that, all be it bravely, lost to Chelsea: Shay Given, Eric Lichaj, James Collins, Nathan Baker, Stephen Warnock, Gary Gardner, Chris Herd, Barry Bannan, Stephen Ireland, Andres Weimann, Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Not only has the side changed completely, its changed for the worse. The former European Cup winners have gone from top four contenders to relegation candidates.

Less then three years apart are these matches, and only three of the Aston Villa side that beat Chelsea, the champions of the league that season, played on Saturday. Them three (Collins, Warnock and Agbonlahor) are all out of form and nowhere near as good as they were three years ago.

Looking at the Villa side that lost on Saturday there are no leaders. Local boy Agbonlahor captained the side. He is not a leader.

Despite captaining the side on the weekend, Agbonlahor's form has been poor since the turn of the year

I appreciate Villa have lots of injuries; however the side that lost on the weekend is poor (Barry Bannan, Stephen Ireland and Shay Given aside)

It's fair to say McLeish wasn't the fans number one choice to replace the retiring Gerard Houllier. And despite a decent start to the season, they've won just seven league games this season, collecting just 16 points at Villa Park.



If things wasn't bad enough for Villa, their football this season has been dire. Though Roberto Martinez rejected Aston Villa, if the club really wanted him, they could have got him. There was the chance to bring in a young manager who could be at the club for years and genuinely approach the game in the right manor. However Villa took the easy option and appoint someone who has been there and done it, despite just an OK track record in England.

In December of this season Villa went to Stamford Bridge and played them off the pitch in a 3-1 win. The next game they lost 2-0 at home to Swansea. What is the point of winning at Stamford Bridge if you can't win at home against of QPR, Swansea, Wolves and West Brom? Their inconsistency is there for all to see, something even mirrored in the managers past who won the Carling Cup with Birmingham last year; however they ended up being relegated to the Championship.

Currently Aston Villa sit three places above the drop zone; however the difference between them and QPR is just three points. The club are in trouble make no mistake about it, and I can't see them getting ANY points from their next three matches (Liverpool away, Stoke home, Manchester United away).

Villa's remaining fixtures (predictions in brackets)

Liverpool away (loss)

Stoke home (loss)

Manchester United away (loss)

Sunderland home (draw)

Bolton home (win)

West Brom away (loss)

Tottenham home (loss)

Norwich away (draw)

The bottom five sides (with the exemption of Wolves) are in decent form, Aston Villa are not and the Midlands club are worryingly looking over their shoulders. With just 10 points from their last 10 games (most of them favourable fixtures), Villa are in poor form and despite me writing a piece about last week about the bottom five, for me now its a bottom six.

I think the five points I've predicted them to get from their remaining fixtures will be enough to keep Villa in the league; however the club should never have been dragged into the dog fight to remain in the Barclays Premier League. I feel the club at the end of the season should relieve their manager of his duties and attempt to bring in either Brendan Rodgers, Owen Coyle or Paul Lambert.