On This Day (27 September 2002): Peter Reid comes out fighting as the pressure mounts

From the moment Peter Reid walked into Roker Park and grabbed us in 1995, he was a man.    Boss.    Over the next seven years, he led the club from top to bottom, turning us from second-tier relegation contenders to European hopefuls.

   But after a first two Premier League seasons in which we finished seventh both times, Reid struggled to maintain the momentum and confidence that characterized the team for four seasons – and a string of poor signings saw us survive – officially on  at least – the last day of the 2001-02 season.

   During the second half of the campaign some called for Reid’s head – the hideous, rip-off Reid In/Reid Out T-shirts sold by A Love Supreme did little to quell the growing discontent.

   Although Reid was backed by Bob Murray that summer with a substantial transfer budget of around £20-30m, the signings he made do not seem to have improved the team one bit.    Quinny went into semi-retirement, was appointed player-coach and reduced to a few appearances from the bench, while his replacement – Torre Andre Flop – casually looked like football was a whole new experience.

   The 02-03 season actually got off to a good start.    A draw against Blackburn was followed by a narrow home defeat to Everton, an away win against Leeds and a home draw against Manchester United (McAteer vs Keane).

   Five points from four games was by no means a disaster, but a vocal minority of fans weren’t happy and a steady start didn’t reassure them.

   Three successive defeats – away to Boro, home to Fulham and away to Newcastle – put the pressure on immediately and our next game, at home to Graham Taylor’s Aston Villa, felt like a must-win.

   There were rumors that Bob Murray had ordered Reid off the field, leaving the team preparation to Quinn and Adrian Heath.    But on the eve of the game, Reid – in typical fashion – struggled.

   I was away watching a few games.    I spoke to the president on Sunday and said I would.

   The reserves were playing at Bury, which is close to my family home, so I thought I’d stay down there and grab it and pick another game on Tuesday.

   It’s no big deal.    Believe it or not, I have a cell phone and know how to use it, so I kept in touch with Mr. Heath and Mr. Quinn to see how the boys were doing.

   Sometimes it’s good for the manager to get away and it’s good for the players to get away.

   Derby Defeat at St James – More importantly, the manner of the defeat at ST James raised concerns.    The team looked poor – disjointed and lacking drive, motivation and character, which was the last thing you’d expect from Peter Reid’s side.

   After the 2-0 defeat across the river, the coach “torn” the team and said:

   I was emotional, but I didn’t do it lightly.    I felt it was necessary.    We all get a little criticism from time to time.    I spoke to them.    What’s said is said, what’s done is done.    We have to kick on from here.

   I have my days when I’m down like everyone else, and I’m not going to lie to anyone on Saturday, I was just down, sick.

   But there’s no point in complaining.    You have to go out and fight, and I’ve always been a fighter.

   There were plenty of changes for the match against Villa the following date, with the Sunderland Echo urging summer signings Thomas Myhre, David Bellion and Nicolas Medina to start.

   Bellion came on for the injured Kevin Phillips the next day and was a surprise choice – and a good one too, scoring the only goal of the game to give us eight points from eight games.

   We beat Cambridge 7-0 in the League Cup in midweek and went down 3-1 to Arsenal at Highbury, which oddly enough was deemed enough to get Reid his card.

   Hindsight is wonderful, but Reid’s firing was not universally popular—far from it.    He wasn’t perfect but overall he did a fantastic job and after being backed in the transfer market it was a bad decision to get rid of him at the time.    It would be more understandable for them to get divorced in the summer if it came to that.

   David O’Leary seemed the most likely replacement for Reid, but we all know what happened after that and in the 30 games that followed under Howard Wilkinson and then Mick McCarthy, we managed just 11 more points.

   Say what you will about Reid, but we would never have gone as low as we have if he had stayed in charge.