Gus Poyet – Sunderland boss making a case for Manager of the Year

January Dealer

The new manager has seen his share of victories off the field too. Primarily, Poyet resisted temptation in the January transfer window to sell midfielder Lee Cattermole to Stoke City for a hefty £5 million despite the offered fee being more than generous.

Poyet understood, though, that keeping Cattermole was worth more than £5 million. This is not because of Cattermole’s abilities on the pitch, which may be replaced by new signing Liam Bridcutt, but because he understood the topography of his team.

Players like Cattermole had been and continue to be strong contributors to the transformed team spirit, and losing his influence in the dressing room might have a negative effect on the squad. What’s more, selling to Stoke would be gifting a crucial player to a relegation rival.

Poyet added to the team this past window with five new players, addressing the most pressing deficiencies in the squad. A left-back was at the very top of Poyet’s list and, in Marcos Alonso, the Sunderland boss looks to have found a short term solution to the problem area. Meanwhile, Argentinian trickster Scocco will look to add a flash of creativity to a team starved of goal scoring chances.

Outgoing transfers have also been a success for the new gaffer. Two of Paolo Di Canio’s failed signings, David Moberg Karlsson and Modibo Diakite, were both shown the door via the loan market, while David Vaughan finalised his exit from the Stadium of Light after joining Nottingham Forest until the end of the season. Encouragingly for Sunderland fans, he is washing away the past and carving a new future for the North East club.

Getting the best out of his players

Nobody could have expected what Poyet has been able to do with this Sunderland squad. Taking over in October, and with a number of new players having arrived in the summer, Poyet took the job with one hand tied behind his back. He had to take players gathered by a previous regime and mould them into the team he wanted them to become.

Sunderland’s Adam Johnson (#11) has really shone in Gus Poyet’s system, accounting for 6 goals and 2 assists in 2014

Because of that, a quick fix would have been an unrealistic expectation. Sunderland fans knew that, and were bracing themselves for a tough transition period that almost always comes with a mid-season coaching change. Poyet’s brilliance, then, has been in avoiding that uneasy transition stage. He has taken this group of players and figured them out quickly, doing what he needs to do to get the best out of them.

Adam Johnson has flourished under his tutelage, picking up the January player of the month award and exciting England fans nationwide with the FIFA World Cup around the corner. The Middlesbrough academy graduate has had a hand in eight goals in his last four Premier League appearances, more than any other EPL player in 2014.

Phil Bardsley, who has become a key cog in Sunderland’s defensive efforts, was training in the reserves under Di Canio. Ki, the on-loan midfielder from Swansea, stands just behind Johnson as one of the most on-form players in the premier league. He has solved the riddle of his team, figuring out the formula for success that Paulo Di Canio never could.

Looking forward, and over the shoulder

The opportunity is there now for Poyet to keep the momentum going. Sunderland find themselves in 14^th place ahead of this weekend’s fixture at home to Hull. They have one of the most impressive runs of form in the country and Poyet himself has now had the January transfer window to shape his squad the way he wants.

Standing only two points above the relegation zone, the Black Cats are by no means out of the woods. However, given the side’s healthy position and swelling confidence, they would be forgiven for looking ahead instead of over their shoulder in the table from now on.

Poyet himself, however, has not let the recent success distort the team’s ultimate goal of survival.

The Uruguayan told the Daily Star before a recent 2-2 draw with Southampton that “I was trying to think of how much of the job we’ve done so far and I would say maybe half. We were far away from everybody not so long ago and being written off completely but now we are there in the mix.

So that means the job is half done but the other half is going to be just as difficult as the first. We have proved we can do it and if we can maintain our recent level on Saturday, then we are going to be in a great position to stay in the Premier League.”

A Manager of the Year candidate

When Poyet succeeded Di Canio in October, the Black Cats were in danger of being cast adrift. Not only have they closed the gap on those teams above them; they have actually leap-frogged them. Poyet has dragged his team out of the relegation zone and into the League Cup final using nothing but what he was handed by Di Canio when he walked into the building in October.

What he has done is nothing short of remarkable. Roberto Martinez has impressed at Everton (although the heavy defeat at Anfield has left some questioning his pedigree) and whoever wins the title will have navigated a gruelling and competitive race.

There will no doubt be plenty of candidates come season’s end, but if Gus Poyet’s efforts translate to Sunderland’s survival this season, and perhaps a trophy in the cabinet case, there will not be a more suitable candidate for the Barclay’s Manager of the Year award.