Sunderland: 10 Most Costly Mistakes In Black Cats History
10. The Director Of Football
If the appointment of Peter Reid as manager in 1995 was a stroke of luck, then the signing of Niall Quinn for the good of Sunderland AFC was inspired. The Irish striker was sold the idea of Sunderland being a sleeping giant by Reid, agreed terms and the rest as they say is history. Arguably Sunderlands biggest failing under Reid would later be the inability to replace the iconic forward adequately; on his day he was unplayable and in the long term he was irreplaceable. Replacing Quinn was actually a problem twice in the club's history, and both times the mistakes made cost the club dearly. It can never be underestimated what he did as chairman did for the club: he wasnt only what attracted the Drumaville Consortium to buy the club, but he also convinced American Ellis Short to purchase and subsequently run things. And crucially, Quinns football knowledge was an invaluable asset, so when he stepped down for Short to become chairman, a void was created. Quinn obviously stayed on until he felt his job was done in capturing Martin ONeill as manager, and in hindsight, perhaps with Quinn as the buffer between manager and boardroom, ONeills tenure might have worked out. It obviously didnt, with transfer dealings the biggest concern. That was when the position of Director of Football was created to parachute Roberto De Fanti into that same gap between the volatile manager, Paolo Di Canio and Sunderlands directors. The idea in principle was good, but in practice it was a well-publicised disaster. De Fanti responsible for all signings last summer lacked the relevant knowledge of the English game not to mention the club and after just 7 games, it looked like the decision to hire him would cost Sunderland their position in the Premier League. Personalities werent seemingly compatible either, and quite why the Director of Football job couldnt have been created for Niall Quinn in the first place is beyond most fans' comprehension.
