NEIL’S STADIUM OF DELIGHT
Three months ago Black Cats boss was on the scrapheap... now he’s on brink of promotion
BY
THREE months ago, Alex Neil was doing what most out-of-work managers do – he was sitting at home waiting for a call.
The 40-year-old had been axed by Preston in March last year and was struggling to find a route back into the game.
Then Sunderland, wobbling alarmingly in League One, came calling in February and offered Neil a lifeline.
He took it and led them on a stunning 15-match unbeaten run, which has fired the Black Cats to a play-off final against Wycombe on Saturday.
Neil, who guided Hamilton into the Scottish Premier League in 2014 before masterminding Norwich’s rise to the Premier League 12 months later, believes the scale of Sunderland’s resurgence – and his own revival – cannot be underestimated.
The fiery Scot said: “I’m not going to play this down.
“It was only three months ago I was sitting in the house and hoping that a big club might give me a chance to
prove myself again. In football, you’re quickly forgotten about and that’s not lost on me.
“I feel really privileged I got an opportunity and I want to deliver success because I’ve been given that chance.
“As a team, we want to do that, but I’m extremely proud that I’m here as manager and I’m leading this group of players.
“We’ve got an opportunity to try and get out of this league.”
Neil can identify with Sunderland’s working-class heart and is desperate to take them back into the Championship after four years of misery in League One.
The Black Cats have failed in all six of their previous play-off attempts, but Neil added: “I don’t really care.
“I just focus on my team and on the next game, which is the play-off final against Wycombe Wanderers. Sunderland is a proper club and any success we have we will share together – with the people who clean the hallways and cook the dinners.
“We’re on an unbelievable run in terms of the results we’ve put together and all the players deserve huge credit.
“But it’s only given us an opportunity – nothing more.”
Neil was born and raised in Coatbridge, a North Lanarkshire town eight miles east of
Glasgow, and has transmitted his desire to the Sunderland players during his brief reign.
He added: “I was made captain of Hamilton at 23 by Billy Reid and skippered them for nine years.
“I thrived on the responsibility and, when I got the chance to become playermanager, that probably spurred me on even more.
“I work as hard as possible every day and my upbringing has made me everything I am.
“If you want to achieve something for yourself where I come from, you need to get your finger out and work for it.
“That’s always been my mentality and I’d like to think that grit rubs off on my players.
“As a manager, I know what I want and will do everything I possibly can to get it.
“This Sunderland team represents me and how I want them to go about it. They have qualities, which, unfortunately, I never had as a player.
“But if I can take my work ethic and desire to win alongside their quality, then it’s a good recipe.”