Gus Poyet, the highly rated up and coming manager, is tipped for the vacant managerial position at Sunderland, and after having initial success with a lower league club, the former Brighton boss is looking to step up a level. However, it seems as if people have already forgotten the exact same description was applied to Paolo Di Canio just 6 months ago when he joined Sunderland. Learn from the mistakes.

When at Brighton, Poyet was involved with a club that was peaking at one of the best stages in the club’s entire history. He brought about promotion and this fell with the opening of the new stadium - it was a good time to be a Brighton fan. Now, jobless and somewhat damaged from his time on the south coast, he seeks further employment.

In my opinion, he isn’t the man for the job. Sunderland are struggling, sitting at the bottom of the league table with one point from five games; all of which involved opposition sides which were beatable (arguably besides Arsenal). Poyet lacks the experience that the club need to escape the fast approaching rot; now is not the time to take a gamble on a novice. Will Poyet produce the same success when coming into a struggling side, who also play at a higher level than he’s used to? I doubt it. Flopping at Sunderland like Di Canio has done would also dent his chances of becoming a manager of a top four club, which is what he wants further down the line. He’s clever, he’ll wait for a chance to manage a club with a more stable Premier League status to he help pursue his attempt at reaching the top.

Also, Poyet had money at Brighton. He was involved in the recruitment of the top four most expensive players to ever play at the club, including record signing Craig Mackail-Smith. I can’t see him being backed with mountains of funds and power at Sunderland, especially after 14 new signings were made this summer alone. Even if he was granted permission to spend heavily, there is still a three-month wait until that period when he can do so, and by that time, it could be too late.

From Sunderland’s point of view, it’s a struggle to understand why Poyet’s seen as the answer. He has a very similar managing background when compared to Di Canio. Someone who has had experience at a top level and someone who can work with a limited budget is what I feel Sunderland require. Concerns also persist over Poyet’s ego, with former Spain international Vicente claiming, “He is the worst person I’ve come across in football. For me he is a selfish person, very egocentric”. Di Canio was also quite partial to a bust-up, another thing they both share in common. For me, Poyet is too similar, and if Sunderland really want a change, Poyet is not the man.

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