Richard Mennear has been speaking on The Roar podcast about how Alex Neil will have made Sunderland’s Kristjaan Speakman uncomfortable.
Neil took charge of his first game as Sunderland manager last weekend as they travelled away to AFC Wimbledon, but were disappointingly held to a 1-1 draw.
Will Alex Neil get Sunderland promoted?
Yes!
No!
The new Sunderland boss was quick to point out the flaws in his current squad, claiming that he thought they were ‘naive at times’ and urged his side to get ‘better quality into the box’, and Mennear believes this will have left sporting director Speakman sweating, as these comments will shine an even brighter light on the Black Cats’ shortcomings.
Mennear spoke about his delight at the way Neil conducted his post-match interview.
“I thought he spoke very well on Saturday, I think Kristjaan Speakman would’ve been wincing when he heard his post-match interview given some issues he highlighted quite quickly.”
TIF Thoughts on Sunderland’s situation…
The Black Cats will be hoping that Neil can extract that ‘better quality’ he alluded to from his squad, as they clearly need something to take them to that next level, with the two teams occupying the automatic promotion spots at present seemingly in a league of their own given how far ahead they are of Sunderland.
Neil will know that he has players such as Jack Clarke, Patrick Roberts, Jermain Defoe and Ross Stewart who should be able to perform in League One – with the latter already proving he can with 18 goals this term. But it remains to be seen whether players such as the other ones mentioned can do it when the pressure is on to at least secure a play-off spot.
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