JACK TO A KING
SPOTLIGHT ON LEAGUE ONE & TWO Now Tis the season to be jolly A YEAR OF HELL Black Cats owner Donald backs new boss Ross to revive fortunes and says: We’ll give it a real go Barton’s raring to get bossy
MK DONS are once again craving stability and they’ve hired a new manager who enjoys nothing more than getting his feet under the table.
Paul Tisdale had been the longest-serving manager in English football before ending his 12-year stay at Exeter this summer.
The Dons are favourites to win instant promotion and Tisdale said: “We know where we want to go and what my brief is here.
“But I’m here for the long haul. And I won’t change my philosophy. I’ve not wasted money in my previous job and I don’t intend to here.”
Tisdale can expect NOTTS COUNTY to be challengers but LINCOLN, who also missed out via the play-offs last term, will also fancy going one better.
Expectation is high at Sincil Bank with the in-demand Cowley brothers signing new long-term deals to extend their stays in the hot-seat.
Skipper Luke Waterfall said: “We’re a League One club in all but name. Now we just have to get there.”
In contrast, TRANMERE, returning to the league following a two-year absence, will be seeking a season of consolidation. April 2017: A 1-0 home defeat by Bournemouth ends the club’s 10-year stay in the Premier League. May 2017: David Moyes resigns as manager. June 2017: The club announce that talks over a potential takeover have broken down and appoint Simon Grayson as manager. October 2017: Grayson is sacked after only 18 games. November 2017: Chris Coleman takes over after quitting Wales. April 21, 2018: Relegation to League One is confirmed with two goals inside the last four minutes – one from former striker Darren Bent – giving Burton a come-from-behind win at the Stadium of Light. SUNDERLAND’S new owner Stewart Donald has swapped the relative peace and quiet of the south coast with non-league Eastleigh for the mayhem of the Stadium of Light.
Donald (below), who invested around £7million attempting to propel Eastleigh into the EFL, is charged with reinventing the Black Cats, who, under previous owner Ellis Short, have slipped from the Premier League into League One.
It was once said that the two things which should never have left Southampton were The Titanic and Lawrie Mcmenemy, who was at the tiller when Sunderland last lurched towards football’s third tier in 1987 after moving from the Saints.
Donald, whose Eastleigh are based just down the road from Southampton, could be excused right now for expressing the same feeling.
Whirlwind
It’s been a case of all hands on deck slashing an excessive wage bill which stood at £35m when he took over – crippling for a side beginning a season in League One.
And that has included getting rid of players who clearly didn’t want to be on Wearside and backing his new manager Jack Ross.
The former St Mirren boss is only on a short-term contract and earning considerably less than the £1million a year his predecessor Chris Coleman was pocketing.
Donald has been desperately searching for investors to aid his ambitions of lifting the stricken club from the lowest point in their history.
In the meantime eight players – and still counting – have been recruited as Sunderland prepare to face Charlton live on Sky Sports on Saturday at the Stadium of Light.
It was Charlton who denied Sunderland a place back in the Premier League in a then-division One play-off final at Wembley in 1998.
It’s been a whirlwind for Donald, 43, since taking over from the unpopular Short in May.
“For a club with one of the largest fan bases, stadiums and academies in the country to find itself in League One is unacceptable,” he admitted.
“We know we have to hit the ground running at the beginning of the season.
“I must admit that I’m feeling like a cat on a hot tin roof, but we’re going to give it a real go.
“It’s been a big job for Jack, too, because he was confronted with senior pros who showed no interest in playing in the third tier.
“We knew, if we were to compete, we needed to bring in more quality players, which has been hard. “But, with the money I’ve brought to the table, I know a lot of Championship clubs would like to have our budget for players.”
There is an acknowledgement that Sunderland can’t hang around in League One. The Black Cats hit the rocks under the previous ownership and, according to UEFA’S latest annual report, they are saddled with the 13th biggest debt in European football.
Gary Bennett, who was in the side that bounced straight back after their last relegation to the third tier, has observed, at close quarters, the latest Wearside crisis as a radio pundit.
“Last season, Sunderland were a laughing stock when you look at the record – finishing bottom of the league for a second season running is a joke for a club of Sunderland’s size and tradition,” he said.
“Nobody could believe the squad Sunderland had at their disposal would finish in the bottom three – never mind rock-bottom.
“In the summer after we went down we brought in a manager, Denis Smith, who had the vision and knowledge to win promotion at the first attempt.
“Hopefully, that can be repeated.” JOEY BARTON knows there will be few tears shed if he falls flat on his face at Fleetwood.
The outspoken one-cap England star returns to football not as a player but as an untried manager in League One – after a 13-month ban for breaking the FA’S betting rules.
Barton, 35, said: “Lots of players are guilty of staying on to play too long and I didn’t want to be one of them.
“And since I turned 30 I’ve been thinking about coaching and wanting to give something back.
“I realise Fleetwood have taken a chance on me. Now it’s down to me to repay that faith.”
Barton’s record includes serving a jail sentence, stubbing a lit cigar into a team-mate’s face and verbal run-ins with rival players and managers.
He added: “Proving all the doubters wrong – that’s when I’m at my best.”
Barton’s Cod Army are not fancied to launch a promotion push – but PORTSMOUTH are.
Pompey, FA Cup winners only a decade ago, are back on the rise after three relegations. In Kenny Jackett they have a manager who knows how to plot a tilt at the top.
LUTON are another club in a hurry to restore former glories.
The ambitious Hatters are a good shout for the play-offs, and you can expect PETERBOROUGH, BARNSLEY and SCUNTHORPE to be in the shake-up too.
ACCRINGTON, who won the League Two title ahead of the newly promoted Hatters last term, are favourites for the drop.
Playing outside the basement for the first time since 1962, John Coleman will be out to silence the snipers who claim the club with the division’s smallest budget will just be cannon fodder this season.