Many things happen every year.
Christmas, Easter, Trooping Of The Colour, Bonfire Night, but amongst all of these annual events there is one which has become almost habitual.
Sunderland’s ‘Houdini act’ every May is now a tradition, and it has been a showpiece of the Premier League for the past few years now.
Like him or loathe him, the marmite figure that is Sam Allardyce has kept his perfect record intact and is still considered to be a safe pair of hands.
Sunderland appointed the right man at a time when they were forced to find someone following Dick Advocaat’s departure last October, when the team failed to win a single game in the first eight matches of the new season.
At the time, Allardyce admitted that he had taken on a ‘challenge’ after being appointed manager of the relegation favourites, and the 60-year-old signed a two-year deal at the Stadium of Light having been out of work since leaving West Ham at the end of last season.
The club had a good January transfer window and brought in the likes of Lamine Kone, Wahbi Khazri and Jan Kirchhoff. All three have had an impact on the club’s fortunes, although Kirchhoff took a little longer to settle and had an horrendous debut against Tottenham.
After their win over Everton this week that guaranteed safety, Sam said: “I think the contribution of the players we got in January was really big for this team to come out of trouble.”
And so it proved. Kone scored two of the Black Cats’ three goals on Wednesday night and Khazri’s goal against Chelsea helped put the club on the road to three precious points.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing for a club that should, and could, be pushing higher up the table. Gone are the days of Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips, who have been replaced by awkward signings and managed by managers who just couldn’t raise the club higher than below midtable.
Thoughts go back to Paolo Di Canio who defended his time as Sunderland manager, calling the club weak and his former players cowards. The Italian was sacked by Sunderland in September 2013 after a tumultuous 13 games in charge and amid talk of a player rebellion against his disciplinarian style. The Italian replaced Martin O’Neill at the end of March that year and was credited with saving the club from relegation after inspiring a 3-0 win at North East rivals Newcastle in only his second match in charge. But despite bringing in 14 new players over that summer, things quickly turned sour.
You might have thought that the club had learnt, but no. Gus Poyet arrived with great expectations and was appointed in an attempt to bring stability to the club after Di Canio’s brief, but tempestuous, reign, and while he was disappointed to lose his job 18 months later, he had kept the Black Cats in the Premier League – just. Vital victories over Chelsea and Manchester United, plus a draw with Manchester City, helped their cause and surprised everyone.
With one win in twelve Premier matches, Poyet’s time was over and it should be remembered that the Uruguayan also led the Wearsiders to the 2014 Capital One Cup final, which they lost to Man City.
In that March, Dick Advocaat became the next manager, when the Black Cats were one point above the relegation zone. Again, the club were guided to safety and the 68 year old Dutchman was due to leave the club in the summer, only to sign a new one-year contract. But, his decision was to resign and once again this season, Sunderland have struggled.
No one appears to know why the club are perennial strugglers, but it must be the combination of recruiting poor players and managers with no Premier League experience.
The team have struggled defensively and relied on Jermain Defoe to score the goals, which, to his credit, he’s done. 15 league goals in a struggling side was the difference between Sunderland and Newcastle.
Why should any of the next few season’s be any different?
With ‘Big Sam’ and the right players in, he will improve the squad and make them hard to beat. His football may not be pretty, but it is effective and they will stay a Premier League team.
Remember – he’s done it all before!
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