O’Neill: No talk of transfer pot

MARTIN O’NEILL insists he accepted the job of Sunderland manager without a single mention of the January transfer kitty.

The 59-year-old saw the team he inherited from Steve Bruce slip to within a point of the Premier League drop zone with a 2-1 defeat at Wolves on Sunday. A lack of goals is proving fatal in the wake of the departures of Darren Bent in January and Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck during the summer.

O’Neill said: “I had discussions with the owner of the football club. They weren’t very long and that wasn’t discussed, genuinely never discussed.

“Despite our discussions about things, that was never talked about.

“I am excited about taking the job, wanting to do something about it, and that’s not a discussion at the moment.

O’Neill, who took his first training session yesterday, is thrilled to be back in management 16 months after leaving Aston Villa. He admits he had no intention of staying away from the game for so long, but is relishing the chance to re-acquaint himself with it.

Asked if he has missed football, he said: “Yes, very much so. I hadn’t thought about it, but to be out for about 16 months is not something I had envisaged at the time. The last thing I wanted to do was get lazy. “But I am back here and I couldn’t emphasise enough, back with enthusiasm and determination and ready to put heart and soul into the job.