Sunderland chief Short hails arrival of 'passionate' Poyet on two-year deal... just six months after lauding 'passionate' Paolo (and we all know how that went!)







New man: Gus Poyet was unveiled on Tuesday

Sunderland chairman Ellis Short has hailed the 'passion' of new boss Gus Poyet – just SIX months after lauding the ‘passion’ of Paolo Di Canio.

It was back in March that the Italian was unveiled at the Stadium of Light amid a sea of controversy because of his previously confessed fascist leanings.



Di Canio, though, was billed as the man to save Sunderland by Short, the club’s owner declaring that the new man was ‘passionate, driven and raring to get started’.

Now, with the firebrand Di Canio having been sacked following a brief and tumultuous tenure, Short has wasted no time in praising the 'passion' of his replacement, again stating ‘this is the right man to take us forward’.



Speaking on Tuesday following Poyet’s appointment and ahead of his first press conference at 2.30pm, Short said: ‘We analysed a wide range of candidates and believe that Gus's track record, experience, commitment and passion make him the right man to take us forward.

‘We welcome him to Sunderland.’

These were remarkably similar to the American’s words in the wake of Di Canio’s arrival.

Reservations: Sunderland supporters won't be unanimous in wanting Poyet to take the club forward

Front page news: The Sunderland Echo splashes on the arrival of Poyet

‘Paolo is hugely enthused by the challenge that lies ahead of him. He is passionate, driven and raring to get started,’ he said.



‘The sole focus of everyone for the next seven games will be to ensure we gain enough points to maintain our top-flight status.



'I think that the chances of that are greatly increased with Paolo joining us.’



Di Canio did manage to preserve Sunderland's Premier League status but, after a return of one point from the opening five matches of the current campaign and talk of dressing-room unrest, he was fired by Short last month.

He is replaced by the 45-year-old Uruguayan, who penned a two-year deal on Tuesday.

And, speaking to SAFsee, Poyet urged the fans to trust him as he bids to drag the team away from the bottom of the table.

'Trust me, believe, connect with the team,' he said.

'We are all together in this, we are all together, so it is important that we stick together.



'It's a big, big challenge, but I am really excited. I thought I would have an opportunity in the Premier League and now I have got it.



'I need to make sure that I prove they picked the right man to get us from the situation we are in, so I am absolutely delighted.'

And, when asked what his priority would be, Poyet said: 'Well it is to address the problems quickly, make sure we train and we convince the players to get better, and slowly that will make us pick up points.



'The sooner we win, of course, the better, but the idea is to make sure that we understand the way that we would like them to play football.



'We think it's the best way, so there has to be very good communication with the players, understanding, trust - we need to commit as a group.



'We need to make sure that we are all together, players, staff, fans, make sure that we are very strong to make sure that we can win football games.'



Poyet's first match at the helm will be a trip to Swansea City a week on Saturday before the small matter of his opener on Wearside - the visit of North East rivals Newcastle United.

Sunderland’s director of football Roberto De Fanti has landed his No 1 target to replace Di Canio, eight months after failing to secure the former Brighton manager as Martin O’Neill’s successor.

Tyne-Wear test: Poyet's first home match will be against North-East rivals Newcastle

POYET'S FIRST SIX MATCHES

Sat Oct 19 - Swansea City (A) Premier League

Sun Oct 27 - Newcastle United (H) PL

Wed Oct 30 - Southampton (H) League Cup

Sat Nov 2 - Hull City (A) PL

Sun Nov 10 - Man City (H) PL

Sat Nov 23 - Stoke City (A) PL



Poyet is joined by backroom staff Mauricio Taricco and Charlie Oatway.

He now has less than a fortnight to prepare for his first game at Swansea. Like Di Canio, his second game will be the Tyne-Wear derby, although he will have home advantage for the clash which cemented Di Canio’s place in Mackem hearts.



On Monday, as Sunderland finalised Poyet’s contract and he travelled up to the North East, bookmakers were no longer taking bets on his succession, but whether he would repeat Di Canio’s famous celebrations and slide on his knees during the derby.

Former Chelsea and Tottenham midfielder Poyet was the original choice of the Sunderland board in March but the club were unwilling to pay Brighton the compensation to release him from his contract. De Fanti has pushed for him again, rather than caretaker Kevin Ball, because of his bilingual skills.

Keeping up appearances? Paolo Di Canio was sacked by the Black Cats in September

POYET'S COACHING CAREER

July 2006 - Assistant at Swindon with Dennis Wise taking over as manager

October 2006 - Both Poyet and Wise moved to Leeds keeping the same roles

October 2007 - Becomes first team coach at Spurs under Juande Ramos

November 2009 - Takes over as boss at Brighton, winning the League One title in 2011 June 2013 - Sacked as manager of Brighton after a club inquiry October 2013 - Appointed Sunderland boss Poyet was in charge at the Championship club for four years until his controversial sacking in June. The circumstances surrounding his exit a month earlier were one of a number of reasons why Short appeared to be stalling on offering Poyet the job. More than two weeks ago a player delegation called Short and chief executive Margaret Byrne pleading for Di Canio to be sacked. The American businessman agreed to curtail Di Canio’s disruptive and dictatorial reign and appointed Under 21 coach and former Sunderland captain Ball as the caretaker manager. In that time, while taking advice from De Fanti, he vowed to carry out a full background check on the likely candidates. Temporary solution: Kevin Ball has been caretaker manager but wanted the job full-time

Full club statement confirming Gus Poyet appointment as head coach

Sunderland AFC has today announced the appointment of Gustavo Poyet as head coach. The 45 year-old has agreed a two year contract at the Stadium of Light and will take charge of the Black Cats with immediate effect. The Uruguayan began his coaching career in England in 2006 at Swindon Town, before joining Leeds United as assistant manager. After a year at Elland Road, Poyet returned to his former club Tottenham Hotspur as First Team Coach, before becoming Assistant Manager to Juande Ramos. In 2009 he was appointed as manager at Brighton and Hove Albion. During his tenure on the south coast, he led the club to promotion to the Championship and reached the play-off semi-finals. At the end of the 2010-11 season Poyet was awarded the title of LMA League One Manager of the Year. Speaking about the appointment, Sunderland AFC Chairman, Ellis Short, said: “We analysed a wide range of candidates and believe that Gus's track record, experience, commitment and passion make him the right man to take us forward." “We welcome him to Sunderland.” Poyet first arrived in English football as a player with Chelsea in 1997 where he went on to make 105 appearances, scoring 36 goals for the Blues. He then moved to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in 2001, where he spent three years as a player. He was capped 26 times for his country. Poyet will be joined at the Stadium of Light by his backroom staff Mauricio Taricco and Charlie Oatway.

Poyet was installed as favourite from day one, after his one-time Chelsea team-mate Robert Di Matteo ruled himself out, and he made no secret of his desire to return to management and take over a Barclays Premier League club. Steve McClaren, Rene Meulensteen, Tony Pulis, George Sutter and Ralf Rangnick were all linked with the job.



Ball, who had put his name forward for the permanent role, is expected to return to his Under 21 job although Short is eager to see him more closely involved in the first team after bringing some much-needed stability to the club.

Poyet travelled up to Sunderland on Monday night and will meet some of his players for the first time on Tuesday, although the majority are on international duty, leaving him just days to familiarise himself with a squad which includes 14 De Fanti signings from the summer before the trip to Swansea.



Former Newcastle United keeper Steve Harper, who played under Poyet on loan at Brighton, said the 45-year-old was destined to manage at the top level.



Harper said: 'I enjoyed my brief time at Brighton and Gus Poyet played a big part in that. He was very impressive.



'He will want Sunderland to play total football, playing out from the back beginning with the goalkeeper because he encourages his players to go out and express themselves.

'He wasn’t scared to let players know where they were going wrong or when they weren’t doing what he expected of them, but he was approachable and friendly and tactically astute with it. He would join in with training on a Friday afternoon - he wasn’t shy about doing a demo and he was still good, too - and sessions were hard work but enjoyable.

'He is a likeable man. I know Sunderland’s players will like working with him and I could tell from the start that he was destined to go on and do a big job in the Premier League. He hoped to do that with Brighton, of course, but I’m not surprised that he’s getting his chance now.



'It feels like the North East can chew managers up sometimes - I had about 300 of them during my time at Newcastle - but I think he’s got the character to do well. It certainly won’t faze him. When you’re a manager you want to be in the Premier League and he’ll relish the opportunity he’s been given.'

Contenders: Steve McClaren, Roberto Di Matteo and Tony Pulis were also linked with the Sunderland post



Impressed: Former Newcastle favourite Steve Harper has backed Poyet to succeed at Sunderland

The lost boys: Craig Gardner (right) celebrates putting Sunderland ahead against Manchester United on Saturday but they were defeated thanks to two goals from Adnan Januzaj (below left)

Clinical: Adnan Januzaj's goals condemned Sunderland to another defeat