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.