NEWS: There is a flame that burns above each of the gates outside the Stadium of Light. One of them was out yesterday morning. The other flickered meekly in the wind, but it flickered.
Sunderland are not extinguished yet. Having got rid of the man who failed to stoke the Wearside flame, Howard Wilkinson, they yesterday introduced the latest character charged with breathing life into the last embers, Mick McCarthy.
McCarthy has been engaged to try to save Sunderland from a relegation that looks inevitable. Failing that, he must engineer Sunderland's regrouping in the First Division and, longer term, a Premiership renaissance.
He has signed a rolling contract believed to be worth around £650,000 a year, a deal which can be terminated on either side. McCarthy said he wants to be on Wearside "for years and years and years". Ian Evans, McCarthy's number two with the Republic of Ireland, will again be his assistant.
But McCarthy's job yesterday was to alter the mood at a club visibly suffering depression. And this task he performed in style. If this was a match report the scoreline would read: McCarthy 3, Depression 0. "Old-fashioned passion works wonders," he said.
McCarthy's eagerness was plain to see. He had been out of work since November and is feeling "refreshed". This is someone proud to be manager of Sunderland.
The club's chairman Bob Murray is now ill with stress, so he missed McCarthy saying: "It's nice to be here, it's a privilege actually. It's a wonderful club, a proper football club. Everything about the club is right except results. But I went through the list of players and didn't realise how many internationals there were."
Meanwhile, Rangers were saying Sunderland had offered them two internationals, Emerson Thome and Kevin Kyle, in lieu of the £3 million owed on Tore Andre Flo.
Sunderland are pinning their hopes on McCarthy rekindling the faith of their large, enthusiastic support. "It's been tough for them this past 18 months," Roberts said. "It's so important to sweep that negativity away. Mick, with his charm and charisma, can do that."
It begins on Saturday against Bolton. Seven days later Sunderland are at Upton Park. Sunderland have not won two successive league games since December 2001. McCarthy said Premiership survival would be "a remarkable achievement", but even back-to-back victories would fall into that category.
"If we win on Saturday, he said, "then who knows? I'll try my best but I'm not promising anything." A six-figure bonus awaits if Sunderland survive.
It is thought Wilkinson and his number two Steve Cotterill will get around £1 million compensation between them.
Guardian Service
