Clarke playing it cool but O’Neill feeling the heat

Sunderland 2 West Brom 4 One manager was left to dampen talk of challenging for Europe, the other to dismiss suggestions he’d offered to resign.

The Stadium of Light had seen as many goals in 90 minutes as it had done in the previous six hours, and even though the hosts had mustered more than one in a league game in front of their own fans for the first time in seven months, the mood on Wearside was hardly a celebratory one.

When Steve Clarke took charge at West Brom in June to a distinctly lukewarm fanfare, it seemed safe to assume that, with winter beginning to bite, the above scenario would see the Scot as the individual facing mounting speculation about his future.

In fact, it’s exactly the opposite.

“I’m mildly happy,” the understated Clarke confessed after a fourth consecutive victory left them just four points off the summit of the Premier League. This is the club’s best start to a season in 59 years.

For Martin O’Neill, mild happiness seems an overly optimistic aim at present. The Sunderland manager is yet to celebrate a year at the helm, but was nevertheless forced to deny strong suggestions he was ready to stand down shortly after this latest defeat for a side who have gone backwards since March.

Clarke’s reluctance to accept the plaudits is based on the knowledge that in, so far at least, taking to his first managerial role like a natural, the 49-year-old is well aware he’s following a little-trodden path of assistants who’ve gone on to flourish after so long as a number two. The transition appears effortless, but there are the unfulfilled careers of many predecessors to prove he is the exception to the rule.

Sammy Lee, anyone?

“There have been a number of instances where someone who has been a constant number two has failed to make the step up,” Clarke added. “Obviously people will make that comparison, but I was always quietly confident I’d be okay.”

Albion soon established a two-goal interval lead by exposing Sunderland’s brittle lack of self-belief through Zoltan Gera’s crisp 20-yard finish, and a seventh goal in 10 games for Shane Long, who pounced on a rare error from Simon Mignolet, who spilled an aimless pass from Chris Brunt at the feet of the Republic of Ireland international.

“The first target is reaching that 40 points,” insisted Long, trying to out-do his manager for dead-bat answers. “That’s still the first target, and we’ll try to get to it as quickly as we can and kick on from there.”

The defence slipped somewhat when Long added: “It does cross your mind that it (Europe) could be us next year. You can dream, everyone can dream.’’

Sunderland were given brief hope thanks to Craig Gardner’s deflected free-kick, but where O’Neill could bolster the quest for victory from the bench with only Louis Saha, a forward who hasn’t scored in the league since February, the visitors had in reserve Romelu Lukaku and Marc-Antoine Fortune, who both found the net after their introduction.

In between Stephane Sessegnon poked home from two yards but Sunderland were well beaten.

O’Neill is under mounting pressure. He admitted: “We need a little bit more strength and depth.”

SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Mignolet 4; Bardsley 6, O’Shea 4 (McClean 46, 3), Cuellar 4, Rose 5; Larsson 6, Colback 4 (Saha 73, 4), Cattermole 5 (Gardner 35, 5), Johnson 4; Sessegnon 7, Fletcher 6.

WEST BROM (4-2-3-1): Myhill 5; Jones 7, Olsson 8, McAuley 8, Ridgewell 8; Yacob 8, Morrison 8 (Tamas 90, 5); Odemwingie 6 (Fortune 70, 8), Gera 8, Brunt 8; Long 8 (Lukaku 70, 8).

Referee: Mike Dean.