Mick McCarthy starts his new 'day job' at the weekend when he takes the reins for Sunderland's SIX POINTER against Bolton and many of the fans who will see his Premiership debut, as a manager, will be slowly shaking their heads wondering why on earth that debut had not come back in October.
Only one Premiership club has sacked its manager this season, Sunderland, and they have done it TWICE. They disposed of Peter Reid, who not only guided the club from the ignominy of another drop into the Second Division but very nearly into Europe. Then the club appointed Howard Wilkinson and Steve Cotterill, against the judgement of many, including incredulous fans who just didn't see that partnership working.
How right they were to be proved as the duo won just two games of the 20 they were in charge. And a ball park cost of those two victories is a staggering £1.6 MILLION, which brings me to the point and that point is the incredible haste clubs in which clubs ditch managers, who were appointed in similar hectic fashion, without too much forethought as to the costs involved.
The club is haemorrhaging money and now they face more outgoings. On top of the money they allowed Peter Reid to spend on transfers, Sunderland agreed to pay £1 million compensation to Reid who was sacked last October. Now the club must sort out compensation for Wilkinson and Cotterill, who both had two and a half years left on very lucrative contracts.
Ironically the new manager, Mick McCarthy, could have been appointed to succeed Peter Reid but Sunderland baulked at the million pound compensation sought by the FAI for the release of McCarthy from his international duties. With the powerful weapon of hindsight that looks to have been a very expensive false economy because there is a very real probability that Sunderland will be relegated and risk greater fiscal loss with a stay in Division One.
No-one, least of all McCarthy, expects the new manager to miraculously rescue Sunderland from the drop but you have to wonder if Mick's managerial style and man-management skills had been in situ, back in October, would the club be in its current situation.
All in all there have been some very grave errors of judgement in the boardroom at the Stadium of Light and there is a certain paradox in that no lessons seem to have been gleaned from the situation at Leeds United, a former club of Mr Wilkinson, where David O'Leary's spending, around £90 million, didn't generate success and so United were left reaping the bitter harvest of having to sell their top players, some at knock-down prices, and still face a lack of success this season.
Thinking back to Lee Bowyer's move to West Ham. The player did have talks with Liverpool about a £10 million move to Anfield. Next thing we hear is that he goes to Upton Park for £90,000. INCREDIBLE, but I digress.
John Barnwell of the League Managers' Association has long advocated greater thought in the appointment process of managers AND, this is just as important, conversely, better preparation by his members for the role they covet. It's a pity that Mr Murray and the Sunderland board didn't heed the lessons from just down the A1 and take a longer-term view that speculation, in terms of compensation to the FAI, might well have meant accumulation, in terms of Premiership points and, quite a few million pounds going in the right direction.
But, to finish on a positive note, there is another saving grace that Sunderland can build upon, as well as a manager who can actually communicate, with both players and fans, indeed with anyone who cares to listen and that is the Sunderland crowd. Whatever happens come May and whether or not those fans can look forward to trips to Norwich and Gillingham or Highbury and Old Trafford those fans are the lifeblood of the club and it is their support that will carry the club to a phoenix-like recovery in the Premiership or carry it back to the top flight after a brief reality check in Division One.
Mick McCarthy is of the same stock that permeates the fan base at the Stadium of Light, that is the envy of 98 per cent of all football clubs. Down-to-earth, pragmatic and not one to take any nonsense from anyone, be it chairman, fan or player. All those associated with Sunderland know that and Mick is probably grateful that he starts with a game in front of those very supporters who see him as a messiah.
Bolton, on the other hand, are expecting a backlash from the Sunderland players who will be out to impress the new gaffer. As a club Sunderland will be grateful that Mick McCarthy has enough nouse to see beyond one-day wonders but just importantly enough man-management to ensure that if the team produces against Bolton they will be, shall we say, encouraged, to reproduce for the rest of the campaign.
