Lee Johnson delivers verdict on Alex Neil and Sunderland’s promotion chances

Ex-Sunderland boss Lee Johnson believes his former side can achieve promotion to the Championship this season, also going on to praise his successor Alex Neil as he spoke on the BBC’s 72+ Podcast.

The 40-year-old was on course to guide the Black Cats to another top-six finish following play-off semi-final heartbreak against Lincoln City, enduring a successful couple of months prior to his dismissal.

In fact, he only lost one game since the start of November before his final match in charge of the Wearside outfit, but a 6-0 away humiliation at Bolton Wanderers persuaded the third-tier side’s board to part company with the former Bristol City manager and move elsewhere.

This initially looked set to be a bad call from Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and other shareholders with the club seemingly not having anyone lined up to succeed the 40-year-old, enduring a poor run of form after his sacking.

But former Norwich City boss Neil has since come in to steady the ship at the Stadium of Light, with his side going unbeaten in their last five matches.

Securing an impressive 3-0 victory away at automatic promotion favourites Wigan Athletic during this run, they are now on the right course once again and Neil’s predecessor has nothing but good things to say about him and his team.

He said: “They’ve got a good manager in Alex Neil. It’s a good squad.

“With the fans behind them, I truly believe that club can get promoted this year and I genuinely hope they do.”

The Verdict:

Many people would agree with Johnson’s assessment – because they certainly have the calibre of players needed to push for promotion once again and the fanbase will certainly make a big difference with their support.

With the experience Jermain Defoe and Bailey Wright have,