Coming in to this past weekends set of EPL fixtures Sunderland were enjoying Champions League form. We are tied with Arsenal for taking the most points since Martin O'Neill was appointed successor to Steve Bruce. When I read that on Sunday morning I was somewhat surprised, overjoyed for our current success, and a little wary of what's going to happen when our form takes a dip.
I think it is safe to say we are beyond the short term lift a club gets when a new manager comes in. QPR didn't seem to get one of those at all when they got Mark Hughes (glad we avoided him this time around). So Martin O'Neill clearly has us playing much better football. We are more organized, purposeful in defense and attack, and don't seem fazed by any opposition (except West Brom apparently). My question is: how far can O'Neill take the club? It's a little late for us to challenge for Europe this year unless we get in to the Europa league through our finish in the FA Cup, but moving forward, how far can we go?
I'm assuming this summer we'll see some turnover in the squad. Sessegnon apparently still isn't settled in England, there was talk of Richardson wanting out, and Kilgallon has been rumored to be on the move as well. O'Neill will get the chance to put his personal mark on the actual personnel of the squad and not just how Steve Bruce's squad plays. With a full season under O'Neill and a slightly revamped squad it will be interesting to see how we do in the league. I'm trying not to get my hopes to high, but I'm optimistic that we have the makings of a team that will no longer be in relegation battles but will be doing battle for spots in Europe instead.
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