Alex Neil reveals bullish Sunderland stance

Alex Neil has a task on his hands to win Sunderland fans over, with supporters becoming increasingly more and more disillusioned with the club after some failed promotion bids and ownership issues.

The Black Cats have been desperate to finally land a spot back in the Championship this season but have so far had to settle for a play-off battle rather than an automatic spot. That ultimately led Lee Johnson to lose his job and Neil was drafted in as his replacement.

The former Preston manager has plenty of merit and has managed to pick up some results in recent weeks too – and he’s now admitted to the Sunderland Echo that he is ‘not here to please’ but instead is here to ensure the club ‘win games.’

He’s done that so far too. Since managing the side, Neil has claimed victories against the likes of Wigan and Fleetwood and they are now unbeaten in their last five league outings too.

It’s left the side in fifth place and they are currently two points clear of Sheffield Wednesday in seventh too (although the Owls do have two games in hand on the Black Cats).

With the points now racking up then and the play-off race most definitely in their own hands, Alex Neil has spoken out to the Sunderland Echo about his tactics and formation, claiming that he will ‘take each game on its own merit.’

That means he may continue to mix things up in terms of his lineup – but as long as it gets results, the former Norwich boss seems happy to do so.

He said: “I think you have to take each game on its own merit, and equally we have to look at how we are trying to defend. What we did against Wigan is keep that [back] four when we attacked, the full-backs didn’t really venture forward so much, and we played with a mid-block which meant that