Poyet reveals Argentine inspiration for the ‘Great Escape’
Former Sunderland manager Gus Poyet appeared on the Big Interview with Graham Hunter recently and during the talk he discussed his team’s escape from relegation in the 2013/14 season.
With just six games to go the team were seven points adrift and still had to visit Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United but picked up 13 points from 15 to confirm safety.
Those two dropped points were thanks to a last minute howler by Vito Mannone which gifted City a point but Poyet revealed that Mannone’s understudy that night, Oscar Ustari, gave him and the team inspiration for the run of results that followed thanks to a post-match plea to his Sunderland boss:
It was looking so bad that our ‘keeper, the sub Oscar Ustari because Mannone played, he came to me before I went to the dressing room - and this is something very special - he asked me ‘please, please gaffer, don’t say nothing bad. The boys, they were outstanding. Even if we conceded in the last minute and we drew 2-2, please’.
Because he was thinking that I would go into the dressing room really upset like ‘in the position we are, how can we not win this game?!’. I look at him and I was cut up to be honest but it was pleasing. Someone would care so much for the team.
I don’t know if that made us win or not at Chelsea three days later but any kind of things you can say as a manager in certain moments can effect the team, the morale of the team and I remember going into the dressing room and talking to them like ‘How unlucky that goal was and how well we done and bla bla bla’ and looking at him [Ustari] and he was so happy that I am not really being hard on the players.
You can listen to the full Big Interview with Gus Poyet HERE.
Frustration at Sunderland debt
After a difficult season for Argentine side Newell’s Old Boys, in which they struggled in both the league and cups, an opponent of the current board of the side - Daniel Giruado - has gone public to criticise the direction of the club.
Giruado pointed to the fact Newell’s failed to profit from star striker Nacho Scocco when he left for River Plate in 2017 due to the fact the club still owe money from when he was bought from Sunderland back in January, 2014:
They sold Scocco and did not recover a single peso of what Newell’s spent and we owe $300,000 to Sunderland for a fee that expires on September 30 of this year. The situations are unusual.
The best that could be done is to ask for help and recognize the mistakes. Here nobody accuses them of being thieves, nobody accuses them of anything, without proof they can not. But it seems to me that it would be convenient to recognize reality, although I do not think they will.
Loan roundup
Ethan Robson scored a terrific goal for Dundee but that was not enough to prevent them losing 4-3 in a must-win game at Motherwell.
Ex-Sunderland man Martin Woods put Dundee ahead early on but they were pegged back quickly by David Turnbull for the home side, then Ethan Robson ran from the half way line to get onto a through ball, cut back inside and hit a fantastic right foot shot from outside the box to put his side back in front.
That was the last time Dundee were ahead, as James Scott equalised and Gboly Ariyibi made it 3-2 to the home side. The Dee may have thought they had a chance when Nathan Ralph equalised and Sunderland academy product Alex Gorrin was sent off for Motherwell but Turnbull scored his second in the fifth minute of injury time to win it and almost certainly condemn Dundee to relegation.
You can watch full highlights of the 4-3 defeat for Dundee HERE.
Luke Molyneux played his final game on loan at Hartlepool and signed off with a win, two assists, a man of the match performance and a place in the National League team of the day as his side beat Salford City 3-2. Afterwards the winger took to Twitter to thank the Pools for his time at the club:
Also want to thank everyone involved with @Official_HUFC making me feel so welcome since joining on loan & was a honour playing in front of the amazing fans week in week out, as well as the top set of lads I have been playing with, will miss all of yous ⚪️ ⚪️ ❤️
— Luke Molyneux (@LukeMolyneux3) April 27, 2019
Jack Diamond featured in Spennymoor Town’s 5-0 win at Curzon Ashton which secured his side a National League North play-off place but Spennymoor had to finish with 10 men when Diamond hobbled off late on after his team had used all their substitutes.
Connor Shields came on with half-an-hour remaining in Alloa Athletic’s home clash against Inverness Caledonian Thistle but to no avail as the visitors won 2-1.
Finally, Lamine Kone returned to action after a missing a month of action with a groin injury as Strasbourg drew 0-0 at Amiens.