Sunderland fans have reacted to the news that Alex Neil is closing in on becoming the new Birmingham City manager.
It is just over two years since Alex Neil guided Sunderland back to the Championship, beating Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 in the play-off final.
The Black Cats looked set for big things, with spirits extremely high on Wearside.
However, fans were brought crashing back down when it was confirmed three months later that he was abandoning the club to join Stoke City.
Since then, Neil took the Potters to 16th place in the Championship and was eventually sacked before Christmas.
The 42-year-old now looks set to return to management though, having held talks with Birmingham City over a move to replace Tony Mowbray and is now said to be a ‘serious candidate’.
Despite their relegation to League One, many Blues supporters have been left underwhelmed by Neil’s potential appointment and have taken to social media to share their frustrations.
Despite their dislike towards Neil because of how he left the club, Sunderland fans also took to socials to give Birmingham some promise.
The feeling around Wearside is that Neil will do a very good job for Blues, despite him not being particularly likeable.
Sunderland fans react as Alex Neil nears Birmingham City job
The downfall of Alex Neil
Alex Neil was deservedly hated in Sunderland after he left to join Stoke and there was a feeling of ‘I told you so’ when he failed to kickstart his spell at the bet365 Stadium at all.
It would have been very intriguing to know how he would have done in the Championship, but the success of Tony Mowbray in his first season surely couldn’t be topped.
Neil was an excellent manager for Sunderland and we wouldn’t have won promotion without him, but it is hard to see him as anything other than a serial-winner in the third tier.
He’s perfect for Birmingham and they shouldn’t be too disheartened when he jumps ship after he gets them promoted, because he probably still isn’t going to do much better than them.