Premier League: More than bad luck stands in the Black Cats' path

The Black Cats need some leadership right now

Romilly Evans wonders at the patience afforded to Martin O'Neill amid some serious Sunderland struggles...

Martin O'Neill is a man under pressure. But not under fire. Just look at the Sunday papers. Sure, Sunderland's weekend loss to Chelsea did generate a few column inches. After all, it saw the Black Cats drop into the relegation places for the first time. Yet, in the overall scheme of things, commentary on the Wearsiders' desperate plight - and in particular their manager's increasingly desperate run of results - has been kept to a media minimum.

Which is odd, considering the instant-blame culture in which we live. It's even been a season in which Arsene Wenger's perennial good judgement has been questioned. So just how has O'Neill managed to avoid the slings and arrows which should inevitably follow outrageous misfortune?

Well, leaving aside the fact that scribes are simply more interested in covering Arsenal than Sunderland AFC, O'Neill is a savvy exponent of keeping the press onside. But no amount of spin or Fleet Street bonhomie, can paper over the cracks of a woeful run which must rank as lowest point of the Northern Irishman's long managerial career.

Not that O'Neill himself officially agrees. "I've had tougher time at other clubs," asserted the 60-year-old. "Latterly with Aston Villa, things started slowly, then I turned it around. And before that Leicester City, the first 10 or so games I couldn't win a match to save my life."

It's a moot point. And the bare results suggest that matters are already twice as bad at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland have won just two of their last 23 Premier League games, and one of their last 11 games in total. Their slide had become a serious slump.

Bad luck can account for a blip. But a cluster of Black Cats must have repeatedly crossed O'Neill's path to have cursed him for so long. And we all know what the collective noun is for wild black cats, don't we? Well, I had to look it up. It's a "destruction". And that's a fate which could await Sunderland, now that the gaping abyss of the drop zone is beckoning.

A year on from the optimistic fanfare of hope which greeted O'Neill's arrival, only the wheezing bag pipes of doom are playing for his not-so-happy anniversary. Previous incumbent, Stevie Bruce, must be wondering what he did wrong - sacked after a comparatively jaw-dropping run of five wins from 27 top-flight tussles. O'Neill would welcome such failure, so far has his side fallen under his tutelage.

Granted, Bruce's swift beheading owed more to his Newcastle roots, which meant that he was never warmly embraced at the Stadium of Light. O'Neill, on the other hand, was courted by club and fans alike. Perhaps they should've been careful what they wished for.

O'Neill has not even been able to hide behind a chairman reluctant to spend. Many have pointed to QPR's desperate supermarket sweep in the summer, but O'Neill's new acquisitions already appear well past their sell-by date. Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher cost a proverbial packet (a collective 22m) but both have failed to deliver.

In other news, the team has been further destabilised by the ligament damage recently sustained to Lee Cattermole's right knee. This talismanic captain now looks set to miss another two months of play at a time when Sunderland desperately need leadership and conviction on the pitch. Their manager has certainly struggled to instil either faculty.

Make no mistake, the dangers of demotion are now very real. And the odds of 3.711/4 to back for Sunderland to be relegated are very appealing. O'Neill is a towering ego whose reputation has been founded on a no-nonsense approach and a commitment to keep it simple and source local produce. If it sounds like a recipe from Gordon Ramsay's playbook, there are similarities. Both in terms of achievement and breathtaking arrogance, but also in his short-sighted stubbornness.

O'Neill's myopic refusal to sign foreign players, for example, can either be viewed as good old-school values, or an ageing relic running out of time. And his reported interest in Spurs defender, Michael Dawson, for the upcoming transfer window smacks of more uninspired market manoeuvring at premium prices.

The seeds of discontent are normally sown on club message boards. So it's interesting to note that Sunderland's are now trending towards "a manager the game has left behind" where proclamations of "Sunderland's Saviour" once rang out. Most messiahs are false ones, remember.

Still, O'Neill hasn't got where he has without weathering some choppy seas. And his CV reminds us that he typically leaves a club with a trophy to show for his efforts (Wycombe Wanderers, Leicester City and Celtic). However, unless the league are about to offer some inaugural silverware for Greatest Achievement In Underachievement, that tendency seems unlikely to continue on Wearside.