Former Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy has jumped to the defence of current incumbent David Moyes over he comments he made about their prospects this season.
Sunderland manager David Moyes
Moyes is already under intense pressure at the Stadium of Light after starting the season with back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Middlesbrough.
And he has told the press Sunderland supporters are right to fear a relegation battle this season after Cristhian Stuani’s double secured a Wear-Tees derby victory for Aitor Karanka’s newly-promoted side on Sunday.
The Black Cats are no strangers to relegation battles and have managed to stave off the threat of the dreaded drop under a succession of managers in recent seasons.
Moyes: Realistic or unambitious?
‘You can’t argue the facts’
The former Everton and Manchester United boss has come in for criticism from fans and pundits alike for conceding that the same fate awaits his team this campaign.
“(The fans are) probably right,” Moyes said in his post match interview following the Middlesbrough defeat.
“It’s been the same for last few years, I think it will be again. You can’t argue with the facts.
“People are hoping for it to dramatically change, but it can’t.”
Former Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy
‘What’s wrong with telling the truth?’
But former Sunderland boss McCarthy has taken time out of his busy schedule as manager of Ipswich Town, to backed his good friend in an interview on talkSPORT.
“I managed there 10 years ago now, they’ve been up and down, it’s been up and down ever since and it was up and down before I went there as well although (Peter) Reidy had a great time up there,” McCarthy told Alan Brazil’s Sports Breakfast.
“How many players have they changed since they were in a relegation battle? They stayed up with two games to play… so they only scraped staying up.
“What’s changed between those 12 weeks? They’ve been off for 12 weeks before they’ve come back, they’ve only had two games, they cannot have transformed themselves into a top six team while they’ve been off for three months so Moyesy’s probably just telling them what he believes.
“Everybody wants to hear nice, shiny sparkly things that their team’s great you know, well he might have seen them and gone ‘well they’re not’. Let’s tell the truth, what’s wrong with that?”
England manager Sam Allardyce
England situation has not helped Sunderland or Moyes
Sunderland’s situation has not been helped by the fact England came calling for Sam Allardyce with the new Premier League season looming.
That has left his replacement Moyes little time to reshape his squad and bring in his own players and ideas.
Whether he will be given that time if Sunderland’s form continues in the manner it has started this season remains to be seen.
But surely his CV buys him the right to be judged over the course of a season rather than just a few months as was the case when he was sacked by Manchester United.
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