You are either going to be a hero or hopeless – boss Neil
ALEX Neil leads Sunderland into this weekend’s play-off final admitting ‘nobody cares who gets the silver medal’ – and only a win will do.
The Black Cats take on Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley on Saturday afternoon, with a place in the Championship at stake.
For Sunderland, this will be their second play-off final in four seasons having lost in 2019 against Charlton Athletic.
Neil’s job is to prevent a repeat of that Wembley woe, and he accepts that the nature of the play-offs is that the result is the only thing that matters.
The Scot took charge in February when the club was sliding down the table but he stabilised the situation and ended the campaign on the
back of a 13-game unbeaten run, which has since stretched to 15 games following the two-legged play-off semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday, which brought a renewed sense of optimism on Wearside.
“The main objective when I came in was to get results, to make sure we try and be successful, and when you have success everybody wants to be there and come and watch and be a part of it,” said Neil.
“We’re in a really good place at the moment but the difficulty you have with play-offs is that there are only two possible outcomes – you’re either going to be a hero or you’re going to be hopeless. There’s no inbetween.
“If we don’t win the next game, it’s not going to look good, is it? There’s no middle ground – that’s it in a nutshell.
“Nobody cares who gets the silver medal, do they?”
Sunderland finished fifth in League One last term, one place and one point above the Chairboys.
The Black Cats were relegated from the Championship in 2018, while Wycombe were relegated 12 months ago after a single season in the second tier following their promotion in 2020 when the EFL algorithm awarded them a place in the play-offs.
If we don’t win the next game, it’s not going to look good, is it?
Alex Neil
MATT Ritchie has echoed Kevin Keegan’s words from the ’90s by insisting: “The sky’s the limit at Newcastle United”.
The experienced winger has been the consummate professional this season as he’s trained hard every day and never made a fuss when not selected.
Instead Ritchie has waited for his chance with the Magpies and could play some part in the final two matches of the campaign.
Ritchie, one of the key figures of Newcastle’s fight back from relegation in 2016, has spoken enthusiastically about the future at
St James’ Park even though it is unclear whether he will be part of the long-term project.
Speaking in association with Boyle
Sports, Ritchie said: “The sky’s the limit, the manager talks about that a lot, don’t ever put limits on yourselves or collectively, so that’s a huge message from him.
“I think we have to be very aware that we’re in the best league in the world and there’s many teams wanting to achieve what we’re trying to achieve so it’ll take time.
“We have to manage that carefully because as all football fans, along with the media, they get carried away so the expectation needs to be managed. “Certainly, in time, this club has the potential to be one of the biggest clubs in England again.”
Ritchie’s pitch time was reduced by the arrivals of players such as Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Matt Targett and Bruno Guimaraes in January. But all four have played a big part in the revival.
He said: “Obviously the new lads that have joined in January have slotted into the group, the dressing room and the way the manager wants to work seamlessly and it’s been a real recipe for success.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised to find us in the position we’re in now, I knew what he was capable of as a manager and as a man.
“I think I speak for everyone when I say that, as a man, his personality, his principles – working with him previously taught me an awful lot, so I knew him as a person and as a manager.
“I think as a manager, to see what he’s done with this group of players – I knew this group had a lot of potential
– but if you look individually, everyone to a man has raised their game and come on leaps and bounds and managed to produce performances that have given us points and pushed us up the table.”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised to find us in the position we’re in, I knew what he was capable of as a manager Matt Ritchie