A wise old head once said that football is a funny old game and anything can happen. Very often, the unexpected happens. Another new chapter has just begun at Sunderland, approximately eighteen months after the last one and twenty-four months after the one before that.
Gus Poyet’s tenure came to an end after another humiliating defeat which finally convinced owner Ellis Short to put the final nail into the proverbial coffin after weeks of uncertainty, poor performances, and pressure from the fans and press alike.
Dick Advocaat was quickly appointed head coach on a contract until the end of the season and, as things stand, will leave when his contract ends no matter what happens. At the time of his appointment he had nine games to save Sunderland from relegation in what would be a great escape akin to that of last season’s.
Dick Advocaat is a respected coach throughout the football world but with no experience in the English Premier League, have the Sunderland hierarchy taken one gamble too many? It worked when appointing Paolo Di Canio in that he kept Sunderland in the Premier League but with various difficulties on and off the pitch his reign lasted only a few months. It also worked with Gus Poyet: he performed a miracle keeping Sunderland up and also reached a cup final, but can it happen a third time?
Everyone connected with Sunderland is desperate for it to happen again, but there will be plenty of “what ifs” niggling at the back of Black Cats fans’ minds. What if Sunderland have done what Fulham did in appointing a manager with a decent record in another European league but without Premier League experience? The appointment Fulham made, Felix Magath, who did have an impressive CV in German football was ultimately out of his depth and Fulham were relegated without much of a fight and with little sign of bouncing back any time soon.
In Dick Advocaat, Sunderland do have a head coach who has coached at the highest level, be it in European leagues with the likes of PSV or World Cup Finals and European Championships with Holland. He also coached Rangers in Scotland, winning many trophies, so he has sampled the British Culture to a degree.
Does it matter though that he has no experience in the Premier League? He has vast experience in other leagues and on the international stage. Look at Ronald Koeman at Southampton, many experts and football supporters predicted a difficult season ahead for them and possibly relegation but Koeman hit the ground running at Southampton and even now at the latter stages of the season they are still holding their own at the top end of the table.
But for now though after a cruel defeat to West Ham United in his first game in charge, his next game is the massive and always eagerly anticipated Wear-Tyne derby versus Newcastle United on April 5th at the Stadium Of Light. After that, Sunderland only have seven games left, including difficult fixtures against Arsenal and Chelsea, so the Black Cats face yet another fight to stay in the Premier League for another season.
