Gus Poyet close to becoming Sunderland’s new manager

In the next 24 hours Sunderland are expected to announce Gus Poyet as their next manager.

Following Saturday’s narrow 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United, interim manager Kevin Ball looks to have fallen out of the running to take the top job at the Stadium of Light.

Reports from the UK suggest former Brighton and Hove Albion manager Gus Poyet is poised to take over at the Black Cats.

Former Chelsea, Tottenham and Uruguay midfielder Poyet has been linked with the vacant position ever since Paolo Di Canio was fired on September 22.

Poyet, 45, had worked wonders at Brighton over a three-year spell in charge on the South Coast. However, following allegations that he was actively applying and seeking a job in the Premier League, the Championship side decided to fire Poyet for breach of contract earlier this year.

We’ve spoken before about whether or not Poyet is the right man for the job, but I really don’t think it’s a case of that anymore. Only a manager out of work for some time, Poyet, or others who are young an inexperienced are really options. No successful manager would want to add Sunderland’s struggles to their resume. At this point, the Mackems are running out of options.

In his matchday program notes on Saturday, Sunderland’s American owner Ellis Short had the following to say.

We would like to see long-term success on the pitch and stability at the club. Unfortunately sometimes the quest for stability can be interrupted by the absolute necessity of staying in the league. This is because the long-term aim becomes irrelevant if we aren’t at the top level. We now have a very important decision to make. Our only consideration in making that decision is what is best for the club. In doing so, we feel the weight of the entire city and beyond, along with the history of this massive football club. The appointment of a replacement head coach is our priority and I urge you to ignore the speculation in the media about the selection process, because most of it is completely wrong.

So, the owner himself has stated that the sole aim of staying in the Premier League is the determining factor in the decision Sunderland’s board is about to make. Appointing Poyet makes sense in many ways, but he has never managed in the PL and throwing him in at the deep end with a team that has just one point from their first seven games of the season, may only fan the flames.

The Uruguayan manager should be given a chance, just like Di Canio was, but he should only get a contract until the end of the season. This way, Poyet knows he has 31 Premier League games to turn things around, and then he will be rewarded with a new deal if he pulls off the escape act.

Is Poyet the right man? Who knows.

As things stand, I don’t think many managers in the game would want to take the Sunderland job. Given a huge squad of players who are upset, low on confidence and out of form, it’s an unenviable task to try and turn that situation around.

But someones got to do it. And that someone looks like it’s going to be Senor Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez.

Good luck, Gus.

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