The appointment of Martin O’Neill was one of the most anticipated in the history of the football club as the boyhood Sunderland fan came to the club he revered so much.
His first game was magical, as the team trailed 1-0 at home to Blackburn but turned the game on its head in the final 10 minutes which culminated in a stunning last-minute winner from Seb Larsson.
Form dramatically improved as the team beat QPR, Manchester City, Wigan, Swansea, Norwich and Stoke City within O’Neill’s first 10 league games.
Progress in the FA Cup also followed, and the team made the quarter-finals for the first time since 2004 – but were knocked out by Everton in a replay at the Stadium of Light.
Form tailed off towards the end of the season, with Sunderland failing to win any of their last nine games, though they did draw five of them including a 3-3 draw at soon to be champions Manchester City.
The summer of 2012 saw O’Neill reshape his squad with big money signings, but the team were struggling to win games early in the season.
Four straight draws to start the season was a sign of things to come, and the team had just one win in their first 10 games of the season.
A good Christmas period saw the team win three games in four against Reading, Southampton and Manchester City which left the team comfortably sat in midtable.
Wins against West Ham and Wigan in January left the team placed in 11th, but O’Neill would never taste victory again at the helm of the club, as the team went eight games without a win and picked up just three points in that time.
A 1-0 home defeat against Manchester United spelled the end of the O’Neill reign and left the club in 16th position and clinging onto their safety.
Overall, the O’Neill reign could be seen as a missed opportunity as he seemed to be the right fit for the club, but it never quite clicked after those initial few months when he came in.
Ultimately, the team struggled to score goals and win games during his final season and it could be said that they were sleepwalking to relegation.
