Build it and they will come, insists Methven
DIRECTOR BELIEVES CATS’ FORTUNES CAN BE TURNED AROUND
CHARLIE Methven believes he and Stewart Donald can turn Sunderland’s fortunes around quickly – because they have the football knowledge former owner Ellis Short lacked.
American Short ploughed somewhere in the region of £250m into the club during his decade in charge but his money was frittered away by managers, directors of football and the boardroom regime, with the Black Cats suffering back-to-back relegations which will leave them playing League One football next term.
Donald’s £40m takeover was confirmed last week and he, along with executive director Methven, have wasted little time in implementing their ideas.
They appointed Jack Ross from St Mirren as the new manager and have also made a series of redundancies in the footballing and administrative sides of the club as they look to reduce running costs which were too high in the Championship, never mind at League One level.
The key infrastructure is already in place with previous owner Sir Bob Murray, who spent two decades in charge before passing on the baton in 2006, having built the Stadium of Light and the Academy of Light training ground.
Methven has revealed that he spoke to Murray to seek his advice about the club during the takeover.
Hes aid: “I think Ellis has been pouring money into this place for some time but the foundations have not been right.
“I think Ellis would say he does not know a great deal about football administration.
“I would like to think Stewart and I know a great deal more.
“The infrastructure is there, the fan base is there, the academy is strong. “These are things which cost a vast amount to put in place, the job Sir Bob Murray did – and I have spoken to him a lot during this process. He did the hard bit. “Our part is being professional, clear and executing a plan. “We think we can turn it around reasonably quickly. “We are in a decent position to get it to a blank sheet of paper, which I think has been hard in the last year or two with all the baggage which has been carried. “Some baggage is still there but it is another year down the track.” Murray’s reign included the club’s best league performance since the mid-1950s, the Black Cats finishing seventh in the Premier League for two successive seasons in 2000 and 2001. While Sunderland’s current situation is a world away from those heady days, Methven and Donald appreciate they have taken over a club with a proud history and a huge fan base which, while it had grown disillusioned and disenchanted under Short’s tenure, will need no encouraging to return if the new regime produce a team they can get behind.
Methven added: “You look at football clubs and you look at their potential first.
“You cannot create that potential, it takes a long time to build.
“If you speak to chairman Tony Bloom at Brighton he would probably tell you it took around 15 years to build a crowd - that is the hardest thing to do in football.
“That is something which Stewart and I have been engaged in, Stewart at Eastleigh and at Oxford in both our cases.
“At those clubs, you look to build the fan base and that is at times a heart-wrenching, time-consuming and sometimes defeating thing to do when you put on the show and people don’t come.
“Here, we believe if we put the show on, people will come.
“To put on a great show, this place needs to be lean, hard and mean.”
We believe if we put the show on, people will come. This place needs to be lean, hard and mean Charlie Methven