Sunderland: 10 Most Costly Mistakes In Black Cats History
4. The Sale Of Marco
After the wreckage left in 1987, Sunderlands rebuild began by appointing Denis Smith as boss, and the best bit of business he did, was to persuade the young striker Marco Gabbiadini to join him at Roker Park from York City. From the doldrums of the humiliating relegation to the third flight of English football, Smith staged a rebirth of Sunderland football club, aided by his faith in Marco, who quickly became the toast of the town. With more young players emerging at the same time the future looked bright on Wearside once again as Gabbiadini formed an intelligent strike partnership with Eric Gates, the younger man providing the running and firing the club back to the top flight. But then when Gates left, something went wrong and Gabbiadini's astonishing rise floundered, and the club was relegated back to Division Two. Sunderland would not get the chance of an instant return either selling prize asset, Gabbiadini onto Crystal Palace for £1.8m. Sunderlands lack of investment or ambition left the side in free-fall, and Denis Smith was next to exit, while retaining the two might have created a very different outcome for the 1991/92 season as the Black Cats lost in the FA Cup final to Liverpool. But the chaos created by Gabbiadinis exit, which included the bewildering caretaker manager situation with Malcolm Crosby could have been handled far better. The fee agreed for Gabbiadini, given he failed to make it in the top flight was well negotiated but wouldnt have been as lucrative as being one of the founder clubs in the Premier League the following season. In the end, most of the club's troubles in the early 1990s can be traced back to this one sale.
