NEWS: Patrick Swayze and pints of milk: why I don’t want Alex Neil back at Sunderland

admin | February 27, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

My girlfriend once told me that she will always remember exactly where she was when she found out, less than a week after her tenth birthday, that Steve ‘The Crocodile Hunter’ Irwin had died. I have a similar thing with Alex Neil and his Sunderland departure.

You know, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that Friday—the press conference that never happened, the first wave of breezy disbelief, the feeling of an uncomfortable reality creeping in, the depressing numbness of the settling dust. On August 26, 2022, the grim-faced Scot decided to leave the team he had just led to a long-awaited promotion in order to take on responsibilities at Stoke City, disappearing into the ether and creating a huge mess during a foolish dalliance near the pottery, like Patrick Swayze in Ghost. In the process, he also took a big ol’ roundhouse kick to my fragile sense of trust.

Sunderland would, of course, move on fairly quickly, and last season under Tony Mowbray, Neil’s replacement, became more pleasurable and buoyantly optimistic than many Mackems could have possibly hoped for. In fact, Alex Neil was not mentioned on Wearside for a considerable amount of time. But he’s back now. If stories are to be believed, he would certainly like to be.

Alan Nixon claims that the 42-year-old, who is presently without a job after his gamble on Stoke City failed, would be “open” to the idea of going back to the Stadium of Light. Sunderland is still looking for its next permanent manager after Michael Beale’s recent departure. The details are still a little unclear after that bold claim, but the fact that Neil was abruptly and carelessly thrown into the equation at all has created quite a stir in the Northeast.

Here he comes, waltzing back into frame like a previously-written-off soap opera villain, ripping the scabs from emotional wounds just as many in red and white had finally forgotten he existed. Alex Neil is the reason I have trust issues, and now I’m being told that I might have to find a way of putting all of that to one side so that I can get behind him once more? It’s a lot to take in.

And if I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t want him back at Sunderland The reasons for this are two-fold, mainly. Firstly, I would be lying if I said that there wasn’t an element of pride involved. Neil abandoned us at a time when things were universally quite pleasant, discarding a team and a fanbase who had his full backing in favour of an offer that he felt better suited his individual ambitions at that stage in his career. That was, of course, his prerogative – he was under contract, not chained to a radiator in The Montgomery Suite. But don’t come crying back to us when you’ve dropped the vase and smashed it into a thousand irredeemable pieces.

Even more relevant, though, is how things unraveled between Neil and the Sunderland board during his initial tenure on Wearside. Many speculated that the club’s transfer policy had been a major factor in his departure when he left. Furthermore, I mean “he basically confirmed as much himself” when I use the word “widespread.”

But allow me to let you in on a little secret, Alexander; things have not changed one iota. Kristjaan Speakman still parades around the Stadium of Light in a golden paper crown with ‘Transfer King’ daubed across it in Sharpie, we are still very much a buy-to-sell kinda operation, and somehow, improbably, we have even fewer functioning strikers than we did when you nipped out for a pint of milk 18 months ago and never came back.

All of the frustrations that supposedly led to Neil’s first departure will linger indefinitely on Wearside, and as such, it is difficult to imagine how he could earnestly return to his old job and expect the eventual outcome to be anything other than yet more acrimony. Whatever you as a reader or a fan may think of Sunderland’s current approach to business, the simple fact of the matter is that Neil has made it achingly clear he does not believe it is workable or sustainable. He voted with his feet, and now we’re meant to just accept him pawing at the back door, asking to be let in like a house cat in a snowstorm? It all rings a little insincere.

And to that end, it is worth reiterating that there may be no truth whatsoever to Nixon’s report on Neil’s apparent interest in a Sunderland reunion. Perhaps it is just idle speculation, or unfortunately relayed misinformation. Then again, perhaps it is the genuine article, so to speak – 100%, bona fide, weapons grade veracity. Either way, just for the avoidance of any doubt, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I’m not interested.

Post Views: 32