Former Sunderland striker and now BBC pundit Marco Gabbiadini says Alex Neil has been ‘proved right’ about one thing at the club.
Neil, 42, was the man to finally guide Sunderland to promotion from League One. But he would leave the Stadium of Light just a few weeks into the 2022/23 season.
The Scot jumped ship, taking charge of Stoke City before being sacked in December 2023, after winning 22 of his 66 games in charge.
That’s compared to his record of 12 wins in 24 games as Sunderland manager, with Neil arguably setting the team up for Tony Mowbray to come in and oversee the eventual top six finish last time round.
There’s often been murmurs among supporters of Neil returning to the club, with Sunderland still on the hunt for their next manager.
But the Black Cats look to have their sights set on other names, such as Will Still, and now Bo Svensson who’s emerged as a new candidate.
Alex Neil has been ‘proved right’ about Sunderland model
Neil reportedly left Sunderland because of a fall out with the Sunderland owners over the resources that he was being given to rebuild the team.
According to The Athletic, it was made clear to Neil that the Black Cats hierarchy would be focussing on youth recruitment and development, whereas Neil wanted experienced players, and ones already boasting Championship quality.
And discussing Neil’s exit from the club on Total Sport, Gabbiadini said: “The issue that the club [Sunderland] are encountering is that money talks.
“I think, not only for his own salary, I think Alex Neil’s issues were what the board was going to spend, or not going to spend.
“And actually, he’s sort of been proved right, hasn’t he? In some respects, in that this model is risky.”
Alex Neil, Michael Beale, and Mike Dodds now all proved right about Sunderland
It seems clear that Neil’s exit from Sunderland was largely in part to the club’s transfer strategy.
Neil may have thought he would’ve struggled with a side lacking investment despite Mowbray going on to succeed, with Neil then going to Stoke City where they spent more than £22million last summer, albeit with poor results.
And now Sunderland are paying for a distinct lack of experience in the side, as well as a lack of quality; Michael Beale said Sunderland are lacking experience and Mike Dodds went on to say the same thing as well.
So there’s a common theme emerging here and like Gabbiadini says, it’s one of the key risks, or flaws, of this current Sunderland model.
The coined ‘obsession with progression’ has arguably seen Sunderland regress, with Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman now under huge pressure to deliver results this summer.
So Neil does seem to have been proved right about Sunderland and their recruitment. But even if Neil was still in charge, Sunderland may be in the same predicament, as multiple managers have now proved that the team just isn’t worthy of a top six finish.