Neil delight at Black Cats promotion
ALEX Neil was delighted to bring the good times back to Sunderland after they returned to the Championship for the first time in four years.
The Black Cats deservedly beat Wycombe 2-0 in the Sky Bet League One play-off final at Wembley, with goals from Elliot Embleton and Ross Stewart sealing promotion in front of 46,000 fans.
Those supporters have not had it easy in recent times, with back-to-back relegations and four years of third-tier obscurity.
Neil, who was appointed in February following Lee Johnson’s surprise sacking, was proud to be the man to reverse the slide.
“When you come to a club like Sunderland, people love a fallen giant and love to stick the boot in,” he said.
“It was such a challenge for me to come here because this club has hoovered up managers, but I have always had confidence I could go to a big club.
“I’m not the one dancing around, people think I’m miserable but I’m not, I’m content. I’m extremely satisfied I have been able to deliver so much to so many people that it matters to and that for me is the most important thing, because it has been tough for this club for a few years.
“The team-talk today was talking about moments in your career, this is your moment in time, you could be a hero. For Sunderland fans, this team they will be heroes and they will be remembered forever and I’m so, so pleased for them.
“It has been a really good day for us. That is the most pleasing thing for me that you could imagine.”
It was a deserved success at Wembley, with Embleton’s early drive putting them in front before Stewart’s 26th goal of the season sealed promotion late on.
For Wycombe, their hopes of an instant return to the Championship were dashed and boss Gareth Ainsworth had no issues with the result.
“I am gutted for the boys but we were beaten by the better team,” he said. “I’m not going to say we were unjustly done.
“They definitely had the spoils early on and got the goal, then the game was very close. The second goal really killed it off, that was a sucker punch we took.”