Black Cats Need To Beat Boro' For FA Cup Progress

The draw for the FA Cup fourth round was reasonably kind to Sunderland with a home draw against a team from a lower league. Shame though in a sense that Middlesboro' are in such good form and will be expected to put up a stern test in what is always a fiercely competitive local derby.
Boro' have been rebuilt under the canny management of Tony Mowbray and are currently sitting in fourth position in the Championship just two points from an automatic promotion place. With seven away wins already this season the Teesiders will relish the visit to the Stadium Of Light but the stats support Sunderland who have beaten Middlesboro on the last two trips up the A19 including the memorable 3-2 success in April 2008.
Against Sunderland is the fact that they have had an abysmal FA Cup record since reaching the semi-final in 2004 when Mick McCarthy's team were a shade unlucky to be beaten by Millwall at Old Trafford.
In the seven intervening season's prior to this SAFC have managed to lose in the 3rd or 4th round of the FA Cup to such leading teams as Brentford , Preston , Wigan , Portsmouth , Notts County and Blackburn . Everton also beat the Wearsiders 3-0 in 2005 , all in all a disastrous run by anyone's standards .
Much has been written regarding Martin O'Neills Cup record and Sunderland fan's are hoping that he has not lost any of his Cup magic , certainly Sunderland's Premier League form since O'Neill arrived would suggest that the Irishman is capable of delivering a decent Cup run this season.
The bookies are starting to take notice and having been quoted at odds of 50/1 to win the FA Cup prior to last weekend's 3rd round win at Peterborough , the Mackems are now no bigger than 20/1 and are ranked seventh in the betting .
With many all Premier League clashes in the 4th round including Liverpool against Manchester United this is surely Sunderland's best opportunity to progress for many years .

Come on Martin, show us how to win a cup

If you'd asked Sunderland fans what they'd hope from the appointment of Martin O'Neill, the majority would have replied with something along the lines of a solid mid-table finish and a good cup run. Supporters who have stayed loyal through the yo-yo years are pragmatic enough not to burden the new boss with over-expectation, despite his top class CV.

O'Neill himself will have recognised that Sunderland fans will be delighted to remain top dogs in the North East and for the club to make a concerted effort to win honours via the most obvious and practical routes, the two domestic cup competitions. By the time O'Neill arrived at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland had already made their traditional early exit from the Carling Cup when bowing out in extra time against Championship side Brighton and Hove Albion at the American Express Community Stadium in August. But having began his latest managerial episode in such sensational style with four wins and a draw from six games, cup fever is brewing on Wearside.

Quick! Martin O'Neill might have let slip a transfer secret.

With the exception of a handful of loanees, Martin O'Neill should have been able to see enough of his players in the last three weeks to judge whether or not the squad he inherited from Steve Bruce needs strengthening in the January transfer window.

A solid, if unspectacular, start to his reign at the Stadium of Light has seen Sunderland pick up seven points from a possible twelve thanks in part to the players willingness to keep going to the bitter end for their new boss. The late goals that secured wins against Blackburn and QPR would have been difficult to predict under the old regime. But a mark of O'Neill's immediate influence on the side has been the determination to keep plugging away and it has proved most worthwhile with the team gaining four points that would have been unlikely towards the end of the previous management.

Steve Bruce To Lead Korea To World Cup Glory

Interesting that Steve Bruce is now being hotly tipped as the next Manager of wait for it - South Korea. It is understandable that the former Birmingham, Wigan and Sunderland boss would want to get away from Wearside but Korea is surely taking it too far.

Geordie boy Bruce was rightly sacked by Sunderland earlier this month after a disastrous run of form and left the club with hardly any experienced forwards in the squad other than Nicholas Bendtner who has just being arrested!

Under Bruce the Black Cats managed just three home wins in 2011 and Bruce has clearly made the most of his trip to South Korea in October on which he was meant to be to promoting SAFC.

Magic Start For Martin O'Neill As Manager

A new era has dawned on Wearside with the arrival of Martin O'Neill whose appointment last week should herald the start of a more exciting and rewarding period for Sunderland fans . The Stadium Of Light has waited along time for an uplift but in yesterday's amazing win over a poor Blackburn side Sunderland fans had more excitement than they have had all through a desperate 2011.

Martin O'Neill was right to call the experience of his first game in charge a "dream" as with only six minutes remaining on the clock and his team trailing Blackburn by a goal to nil despite having 80% possesion in the most one sided second half ever seen at the SOL first David Vaughan and then Seb Larrson produced wonder strikes to grab a most unlikely and desperately needed three points.

Posh Start For O'Neill In FA Cup

The appointment of Martin O'Neill as Sunderland manager is great news for all those long suffering fans who have been subjected to a two and a half year reign of abject mediocrity under Steve Bruce.

What possessed Chairman Ellis Short to give Bruce a new three year contract earlier this year is beyond the comprehension of football fans throughout Wearside as Bruce was already clearly struggling in the job. Bruce will have pocketed a small fortune for his failure in the job but Ellis Short has made the right decision to quickly appoint O'Neill as his successor.

No Betting On Steve Bruce

Bookmakers are convinced that Steve Bruce's departure from Sunderland as manager is imminent and all betting on who will be the next Premier League manager to go is currently suspended. Bookmakers have been inundated with bets for Bruce to be sacked following Sunderland's embarrasing loss at the hands of Wigan on Saturday .

Joe Crilly spokesman for William Hill , one of the UK's largest bookies said today"Rumours have been swirling around, suggesting the possibility of Steve Bruce's imminent departure from Sunderland, leaving us with no real alternative to suspending the market pending an official statement from the club about his future"

Tim Clement spokesman for Skybet was of the same view "We naturally saw quite a bit of money for Bruce to go from Saturday afternoon onwards but initially assumed it was just a reaction to such a terrible result for his team.