Would Sunderland fans welcome back Martin O’Neill?

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Sunderland are still looking to replace Simon Grayson and they could turn to a familiar face.

Head coach Martin O’Neill of Ireland reacts during the FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier between Serbia and Ireland at stadium Rajko Mitic on September 5, 2016 in Belgrade.

Sunderland are still looking for a new permanent manager having sacked Simon Grayson over a fortnight ago.

The Black Cats are bottom of the Championship and Robbie Stockdale is likely to be still be in caretaker charge for their home game against Millwall at the weekend.

Barnsley’s Paul Heckingbottom, Northern Ireland’s Michael O’Neill and Aitor Karanka are the three favourites to take over at the Stadium Of Light.

Sunderland have made some disappointing appointments in recent years, for example, Paolo Di Canio, who replaced Martin O’Neill.

O’Neill took over at Sunderland in December 2011 and led them to 13th in the Premier League, and an FA Cup Quarter final in 2012. Sunderland haven’t finished higher since O’Neill’s departure in March 2013.

The opinion of O’Neill amongst Black Cats supporters is divided. Fans point to his tactics being negative while others say he should have never been sacked by the club. At this moment in time, Sunderland don’t have a huge pool of managers to choose from and after the Republic of Ireland crashed out of the World Cup in the play-offs, O’Neill may be considering his future.

While Heckingbottom and Karanka are the more favoured candidates amongst supporters, there isn’t much more out there who has the experience some one like O’Neill has.

Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom is the Bookies favourite to land the job on Wearside.

O’Neill will know how to deal with Ellis Short and won’t be greeted with any shocks like David Moyes and Grayson were. His previous reign never fell under the ‘disaster’ category. A loss of form cost him his job first time around, but the Ireland boss could steady the ship at Sunderland and give the fans a solid, battling team. O’Neill won’t please everyone, but on whole he’d likely be accepted by a large part of the Sunderland fan base.