Newcastle battle plan gets Quinn Tooned up
NIALL QUINN wants Sunderland to copy bitter rival Newcastle’s template and bounce straight back up from the Championship.
The Wearside legend – whose strike partnership with Kevin Phillips in the 1990s helped Sunderland win promotion twice before an alliance with Roy Keane led to their Championship title in 2007 – is distraught the club closest to his heart has fallen apart.
Quinn spearheaded the Drumaville consortium which bought the club in 2006 and stayed as chairman for six years, providing stability in a turbulent environment.
But since leaving the Black Cats in 2012 they have been through six different bosses and as many relegation scraps. Finally this year they succumbed and today’s game at Chelsea will end their 10-year stay in the top flight.
And while Quinn has no interest in a return to the Stadium of Light he is desperate for the current regime to find a formula for Championship success – and reckons the way Newcastle and Rafa Benitez went about things is the secret.
He said: “I have been through relegation as a player and it is turmoil. There is no other word for it.
“Everyone suffers – fans, players, staff, the manager, the owner and as soon as it happened my thoughts were to take a deep breath, see if the group that’s in place there now, the football department, the coach, the owner, can find a plan that will have a positive effect.”
And he added: “I remember the buzz in the north-east in the late 1990s when Newcastle were challenging for the title and qualifying for the Champions League, when we were playing some good stuff and Bryan Robson built a great team around Fabrizio Ravanelli and Juninho at Middlesbrough.
“The atmosphere in the region was incredible.
“And I want that back. I want to see Sunderland back in the Premier League. And I wouldn’t be complaining if Sunderland walked down the same road as Newcastle did last year, sticking by their plans and backing their manager the way Newcastle backed Rafa Benitez.
“Hopefully they can do what Newcastle did this season on and off the pitch. Then the fans can buy into it and the positives will start to come back to the club.”
Niall Quinn spearheads the Dublin Bus Community Spirit Awards is looking to find a community group that champions community involvement.