Sunderland Revel in Revival Under Sbragia With Impressive Win at Hull

Caretaker manager Ricky Sbragia earns players' support after Sunderland go on a spree at Hull


If there was a jarring note in the fanfare which greeted Ricky Sbragia's emergence as a genuine contender for the manager's post at Sunderland, it came when some of his players interrupted his post-match television interview with calls for the amiable Scot to get the job.

Obviously they were on something of a high at the time — Sbragia had described the mood in the dressing room as "ecstatic" — but while a more relaxed regime is clearly one of the reasons for Sunderland's improvement since the departure of Roy Keane, in the longer term discipline may be a more important quality. It was probably no coincidence that Sbragia went on to emphasize that while his philosophy was to treat players as adults, there were still lines that could not be crossed.

Both he and the impressive traveling support must have been aware that good luck was an important factor on Saturday, just as it has been in the timing of Sbragia's promotion, temporary or otherwise. With the score at 1-1 and less than 15 minutes remaining of an entertaining, if often flawed contest, Sunderland were very much on the back foot and Sbragia admitted he would have taken a point.

Instead, Kieran Richardson's speculative long-range effort took a huge deflection to wrong-foot the Tigers goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill, Hull's full-back Sam Ricketts got himself sent off for a second reckless tackle, and Sunderland picked up two more late goals on the break as the Premier League newcomers pushed forward to try and salvage a draw.

The fact the visitors got the breaks does not mean they did not deserve them. Hard though City worked, the extra quality on the ball of players like Steed Malbranque, Andy Reid and, in particular, the pairing of Kenwyne Jones and Djibril Cissé up front, ensured the visitors were consistently more threatening, and their refusal to sit back made for an exhilarating 90 minutes for a record crowd at the KC Stadium.

Jones's increasing fitness after missing much of the first part of the season through injury — this was just his sixth start — and his growing understanding with Cissé have been vital in Sunderland's resurgence, so much so it is hard not to believe Keane would still be in charge had he been available sooner. But such is life, and if Sbragia is getting the benefit, few would resent it.

"Ricky is a really good guy," said Cissé. "He is quiet on the training pitch and doesn't really like to talk about himself much. He doesn't really like to be overly expressive, but he is really good and, for the moment, there is no reason for us to change the situation. It is working at the moment so we should give him a chance.

"When I was at Marseille, the same thing happened to me. When we changed manager, we were in the bottom three. But by the end of the season, we finished second. That just shows how things can turn around."

His partnership with Jones, the Frenchman said, is based on friendship as well as respect. As well as being quick and strong in the air, the two share a similarly impressive musculature, and while Cissé's battle with Michael Turner ended with honours just about even, Jones definitely came out on top against Kamil Zayatte.

"Ricky's got a front two a lot of managers in the Premier League would take very happily," said the Hull manager, Phil Brown. Sbragia insisted he is simply working from game to game. "If you're winning, having a caretaker in charge doesn't do any harm. As I said last week, if they've got somebody planned, they've got some time to look at it, see the bigger picture. At present I'm just enjoying it."

Man of the match Kenwyne Jones(Sunderland)

Caretakers who stayed

Glenn Roeder Newcastle

Made caretaker in February 2006; by May he had lifted Newcastle from the dungeons to seventh and won a permanent job. A year later, fans were chanting 'Taxi for Roeder', and his chairman Freddy Shepherd listened - despite Roeder winning 45% of his games

Stuart Gray Southampton

Stepped up from first-team coach in March 2001, when Glenn Hoddle was lured by Tottenham. A top-half finish brought a full-time job; poor early results in 2001-02 - and a chairman fretting over their effect on investment in the new St Mary's stadium - won him the sack by October

Steve Wigley Southampton

The former manager at non-league Aldershot was caretaker briefly in 2004, before Paul Sturrock arrived for five months. To great surprise Wigley was then made permanent manager. To rather less astonishment, 14 games and one win later, he was gone as the skittish chairman Rupert Lowe rolled the dice once again

Malcolm Crosby Sunderland

Reaching the 1992 FA Cup final against Liverpool and fans' support won him the top job. A scrape with relegation to the third tier next season promptly lost it

© Guardian News & Media 2008
Published: 12/21/2008
 
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