, Peter Reid offers Sunderland a stern warning ahead of entering ‘tough’ Championship return

Peter Reid offers Sunderland a stern warning ahead of entering ‘tough’ Championship return

Former Sunderland manager Peter Reid has offered some words of advice to his former side ahead of their first year back in the Championship, stating the Black Cats must ‘back the manager’ this summer.

Reid, who guided Sunderland to promotion from the Championship with a record number of points, knows what it’s like to be in this situation and he insists the club hierarchy must trust head coach Alex Neil and give him what he needs to return Sunderland to the top flight.

Reid took Sunderland to back-to-back 7th-place finishes in the Premier League during his time at the helm and he knows how frustrating it can be as Black Cats boss to not get the backing you need to properly kick on.

Speaking to the Chronicle ahead of Sunderland’s summer window, Reid said:

“It’s great that Sunderland are back in the Championship, but they have to back the manager now to get out of the Championship and back into the big league

“Alex has done a great job over the last three months of the season, but he is going to need backing to go forward from here.

“It’s a hard league they are going into. The Championship is really, really, tough and it is getting tougher every year.

“Sunderland can’t rest on their laurels, they have to push on from here and get back into the big league.”

No time to relax

Reid is clearly full of respect for the job Neil has done at the helm and having gone 16-games unbeaten, you can’t really argue against anything the Scot has done since he arrived.

But, Neil will have bigger ambitions than League One promotion and having already admitted he had doubts over dropping to the third tier to join Sunderland, there is no doubt he will be fully expecting to be allowed to kick on and climb the second tier as fast as possible.

The Black Cats have a decent foundation to work on with some players who could make the step up to the Championship, but the squad is far from complete and some vast improvements need to be made in some areas should the Wearsiders wish to stand a chance.

Supporters will be hoping the recruitment begins sooner rather than later, to avoid other clubs snatching at the best deals.

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