Come on Niall, time to tell us if we drew the Short straw
From national newspapers to tiny provincial radio stations, everyone wanted a slice of the Royston pie.
But by the time the team bus set off for Old Trafford on Friday there was a sense the circus had packed up for the last time and left town.
Although I thought the managerial row may rumble on for another week or two, it seems the board have inadvertently let slip that much bigger things are going on behind the scenes at SAFC.
Until Saturday, I’d never heard of Per-Magnus Andersson, but depending on who you believe, he’s either the chairman of our majority shareholder’s (Ellis Short) company, or a “low-level advisor”.
Andersson gave an interview last weekend criticising Keane’s “unstable personality” as the main reason he’d never make it as a manager, adding: “The players did not respond in a positive manner to Keane’s coaching mentality. He is not an Alex Ferguson, which many people think... his team didn’t succeed on the pitch because of his pit-bull mentality. He had the outlook as a player that said, ‘If you knock me down I will kick you and then we can see who is still standing at the end of the game’, and that is the way he was as a coach as well.”
More frightening is Andersson speaking about Sunderland as ‘we’.
As far as supporters in the North East were aware, when the almost anonymous Ellis Short invested in SAFC earlier in the season, it wasn’t with a view to holding any major power base within the club. I suspect if he now has advisors giving ill-advised interviews, then at the very least, he has a closer eye on events on Wearside than was first thought.
And whilst he was spouting off, Andersson also claimed the Irish amongst the board are not as involved as they were and even refers to them in the past tense. He added: “The former owners were Irish and they were probably a bit more relaxed in their relationship with Keane because he is a legend in Ireland.”
Short himself was moved to making a statement distancing himself from the remarks, the first we’ve heard of the American since his dollars hit our bank account several months ago. He insisted: “Niall Quinn and his board are the only people authorised to speak on behalf of the club and they alone will be responsible for identifying a successor in due course.”
I think the fans need Niall to come out and explain exactly who Ellis Short is and exactly what power he holds. If I was the majority shareholder in a company, I’d expect the final say on events, yet all parties are stressing this isn’t the case here.
Thankfully the strange events in the boardroom have temporarily diverted our attention away from Keano’s successor. The betting reveals some interesting names as well as the frightening ones. If we’re to continue down the Irish route, then David O’Leary is the stand-out nomination. Ticket sales would plummet quicker than our league form if this was to happen and I can only pray that Niall is well aware of this as well.
Avram Grant would be an interesting appointment, but a bit of a long shot and Sam Allardyce would be very political. Sam was a player at SAFC for one season in the 1980s, but crossing the divide back from his previous job as Newcastle manager would be difficult, to say the least, despite him proudly hanging a Sunderland shirt in his study whilst being in charge up the road. I’m also not too sure we have the players or the desire to become a long-ball outfit.
We need to decide whether to take another gamble and go for a young manager, which failed last time around, or go for the safety of experience.
Unfortunately Alan Curbishley and Gordon Strachan are the only experienced managers possibly available, save for a cheeky punt to lure Sven from Mexico. That’ll leave the youth and enthusiasm of one Slaven Bilic, who I fancy.
He might not jump out as the sort of world class name that Roy Keane was, but he’s taken Croatia to quarter-finals of major tournaments via very tough qualifying groups and is the sort of bloke who’d shake our dressing room up and likes to see the ball on the ground, the way football should be played. He’s also turned down several approaches from the Premiership, so luring him away from his home country would represent the sort of coup that most Sunderland fans now want.
Come on Niall/Ellis.
The ‘Slaven for Sunderland’ campaign starts here.
* Martyn McFadden www.a-love-supreme.com
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