IT’S HAPPY days up in the North-East at the moment.
While Middlesbrough are making a strong push for a return to the Premier League under Tony Mowbray, Martin O’Neill and Alan Pardew are doing the business for arch-rivals Sunderland and Newcastle respectively.
Sunderland are certainly stirring under O’Neill, with the 4-1 mauling of Wigan last Tuesday taking them up to 10th in the top flight.
That made it 13 points in six games for O’Neill, and of course the weird thing is that the tally has come from the same players who were struggling to produce under Steve Bruce.
There is always that factor of people responding to a change.
It’s a clean slate and everyone is out to impress and make their mark with the new boss looking on.
O’Neill is also a top-class manager – you only have to look at his record.
As a player, I had three very enjoyable days working under him back in October 1999, when I was set for a transfer from Sheffield Wednesday to Leicester.
A £2.75m fee had been agreed and I went to have a look round, take part in a couple of training sessions and have a medical.
The move fell through because of issues with the medical – although in truth, that always happened – and while Leicester wanted to go ahead, they insisted on payment by installments, which Wednesday rejected.
I went back to Hillsborough, and eventually returned to Town, but I’ve always remembered the way Martin O’Neill treated me when I was down there.
He’s an intelligent man – you could spend hours listening to him talking football – and very much a players’ manager, and it’s easy to see why he gets his sides working so hard for him.
Over at Newcastle, Alan Pardew is also getting the best out of a squad many thought would struggle this time.
The way the Magpies took Manchester United apart last Wednesday was impressive in the extreme, and in Demba Ba, they have a really exciting talent.
He gave Phil Jones and Rio Ferdinand a torrid evening, and the test for Newcastle is to maintain their momentum while he is away playing for Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Hopefully he will return fully fit and help drive Newcastle on towards a European place.