Thursday, April 20, 2006
Niall Quinn's bid.
Will Irish eyes be smiling?
There seems to be more than just a hint of light at the end of the tunnel for long suffering "black cat" fans, and Niall Quinn may have more than just a glint in his Irish eyes as he prepares to make a bid with his consortium to take over the reigns of the North-East's sleeping giant. Quinn was quoted in the Irish Independant today to be almost ready to table a bid to buy out Bob Murray's controlling interest in the club.
Murray, who was not at the ground to witness the embarassing defeat to arch rivals Newcastle United, has stated in the past that he would willingly hand over the club to the right bidder if the price was right and the deal was in the best long term interests of the club. Having taken Sunderland A.F.C. from the decaying Roker Park to a new state of the art 48,000 seater Stadium of Light, and built the prestigious Academy of Light at Cleadon to nuture the club's young talent, the chairman has been rocked by the poor performance of the team and it's managers over recent years. He has also been the target, in recent weeks, of sustained protests from season ticket holders after home games.
After a roller coaster ride under the management of Peter Reid the club eventually attained Premiership status and in two consecutive seasons ended in seventh place, after sitting in second place in January each year. However, fortunes turned after that, Reid's teams were unable to sustain the challenge and when investment was needed it was not forthcoming, perhaps when they were in second place in the Premiership quality stars might have been prepared to come to Sunderland, but the cheque book was firmly closed. The current problems can be traced back to this point, failure to invest then resulted in the team slipping towards the relegation zone. The following season saw more poor performances and when the cheque book was opened in panic, a lot of money was spent by Reid bringing in players of the quality of Tore Andre "Slo" on huge salaries.
Reid's dismissal, which came about 18 months too late, was quickly followed by Howard Wilkinson's and Steve Cotteril's as the team was relegated to the Championship, under the guidance of Mick McCarthy. McCarthy was never given the benefit of decent finances to rebuild a team to challenge for promotion, indeed before he could really get his teeth into the job, he was required to relieve the club of the services of 23 players, however he manfully set about his task and won the Coca Cola Championship last season with a squad of players, the majority of whom were virtually unkown at the onset of the season.
Meanwhile off the field the club's finances were heavily hit in the expenses column following high pay off costs to the stars who had left and spiralling debts to the bankers, whilst the income column was depleted through lower gate receipts and the lack of BSkyB money, Murray's problems were mounting on a weekly basis. To compound matters the club had agreed to repay it's debts within a seven year period (despite the banks agreeing to a repayment "holiday" and accepting interest payments only) where other clubs had refinanced their debts over longer periods, Sunderland's hang around Murray's neck like a millstone. Current liabilities are estimated at about 40 million pounds.
The current season started badly and degenerated, McCarthy's record as a Premiership manager was dreadfully poor, yet he was allowed to continue in the position until we had passed the point of no return, after appointing former club captain Kevin Ball as caretaker manager, Murray seemed quite happy to see the season out, watch the team be relegated again (probably with a new unwanted record as the worst Premiership football team ever), and then think about acquiring a new head coach. This close season would be one that the faithful fans of the club would not be looking forward to, and once again it appears that investment in the team would be minimal if Bob Murray remains as Chairman.
So it is with some feeling of hope thet fans read of Niall Quinn's bid to wrest control of the club from Murray, this fan at least wishes him "all the luck of the Irish".
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