Sunderland sack manager Martin O'Neill

Sunderland have sacked veteran manager Martin O’Neill just hours after a hard fought 1-0 loss against Manchester United on Saturday.

Sunderland lie precariously at the 16th position in the English Premier League table, with 31 points from as many games and just 1 point clear of the relegation zone. Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa, at 30 points each, have a game in hand.

Sunderland earlier released the following statement:

“Sunderland AFC has announced that it has parted company with manager Martin O’Neill this evening.

“The club would like to place on record its thanks to Martin and wishes him well for the future. An announcement will be made in the coming days regarding a successor.”

O’Neill managed Sunderland in 62 games since taking over in December 2011 winning 21 and drawing 20 of them. The 61-year-old Northern Irishman was in charge at the Stadium of Light for just 16 months having succeeded Steve Bruce in December 2011.

Sunderland have now gone eight games without a win, picking up just two points in the process, with just seven games remaining in the Premier League season.

O’Neill becomes the fifth top-flight manager to lose his job this season following the sackings of Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea, Mark Hughes at Queens Park Rangers, Nigel Adkins from Southampton and Reading’s Brian McDermott.

Bookmakers quickly made Di Matteo the favourite to take over with Hughes the second-favourite.