Niall Quinn gives scathing review of Sunderland ‘Til I Die, and has say on Jobe Bellingham and Tony Mowbray

In the second part of a Ladbrokes Fanzone exclusive, Niall Quinn discusses the Sunderland ‘Til I Die docuseries, Jobe Bellingham and Tony Mowbray.

Click on the link for the first part in which he lifted the lift on his relationship with Roy Keane.

Sunderland owners trampled on something a little too precious to me

I watched the first one, and do you know why I really liked it? Some things I really disagreed with, but above everything else, my biggest takeaway from that documentary was that it showed the world what football means to the people of Sunderland. That was the biggest thing for me. Am I certain I’d have allowed it to have happen on my watch? No, because I’d be clever enough to know they’re not in there to see all the good stuff you do; they want to capture the mistakes.

The people who followed me in those administrative roles up there didn’t come out of the documentary too well, because none of the good stuff they did made the final cut. It was all about panic, mistakes, different things going wrong…

But the club seem to have come out of that now, after a horrific few years. I think I left in 2012, and every year I spent there was just a joy to stay in the Premier League. We finished 10th in my last year there, which was good. Martin O’Neill really looked to be on a solid pathway. Why that didn’t kick on, I’ll never understand. And then I can remember a couple of other managers coming in – the likes of Gus Poyet and what have you…

Then Sam Allardyce came along and brought a moment of hope into the club. It looked as though everything was great, and then England came calling, so the club suffered at that time. And then eventually, the club kind of fell apart and faced back-to-back relegations. That was hard, watching on from afar. I think I’d been gone five or six years, but watching it all play out on TV, in this documentary, it wasn’t easy to watch.

I stopped watching the second series

The first, or maybe the second, episode of the second series, they removed Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet from the tunnel. Let me explain. In our tunnel, that would be stretched out onto the edge of the pitch, where the teams line up, always, from the day the Stadium of Light opened, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet was played, which was the most thunderous music which just left the hairs on your neck and shoulders standing up. As senior players, we used to say to the young lads ‘you’re playing here now. The most important thing to remember is that tunnel, and Prokofiev pounding at you as you walk out’. And it was great to look at your opponents in that moment – it was a great thrill. As you ran out onto the pitch, it was elation, it was always a full house. That’s what I think of when I think about that stadium.

I think it was in the first or second episode of the second series, they got rid of it and said it was a joke. I think the quote was “we’re going techno-funk”. Now, I think there’s one letter wrong in there. That’s what I think it should’ve been called!

That put me off, because I just thought ‘you’re now trampling on something that’s just a little bit too precious for me’. And from that point I just couldn’t enjoy it. So that’s when I pulled out of watching that documentary.

Phenomenal Jobe Bellingham is a breath of fresh air

I’ve watched Jobe Bellingham a lot since he arrived at Sunderland, and if you take him as an individual, it’s as if the stage was just set for him. He looks so comfortable playing the game, at such a young age. I can remember being his age, and being afraid to look at the first-team players. I’d be cleaning boots and looking down so they wouldn’t look me in the eye! I think it’s phenomenal that somebody his age can come in and be that solid. Not big headed, not flash, just solid.

One of the great weaknesses we had at the Stadium of Light, in the early days, when the Kevin Phillips of this world had moved on, when 49,000 people were turning up every week, loving the game, expecting success, players came in and weren’t able to match those expectations. For a long period of time it was just too much for players to cope with up there. They found it very difficult to play in the Stadium of Light.

And here we have, now, a whole new feel around the place. Players are stepping out and fans are delighted with their attitudes, and the type of football they’re playing. And Bellingham leans into that brilliantly, you know? He’s a breath of fresh air. To be like that, at his age, it’s absolutely incredible.

Look, there are so many positives up there, right now. The fans won’t sit there and be happy with a mid-Championship status for the next few years, I can tell you that. But it’s a process, and everybody believes in the process right now. I suppose their signing of players has been really good in terms of what they’re trying to achieve. They’re not just bringing players in because they’re fashionable. They’re finding players who fit into a system that’s really easy on the eye. Bellingham is obviously one of those guys, but there are many more. Jack Clarke is another one. I won’t single too many out, but there’s a bit of hope in the air at Sunderland right now. It’s good!

Booking flights for Wembley last season didn’t work out for me!

Things seem to be in a much better place now, though. I watched the game on Saturday and there was some magnificent football played. Tony Mowbray is doing a fantastic job up there. He’s got them in sixth place right now, with a lot of teams chasing those play-off spots. Leicester and Ipswich seem to be running away with things as far as the automatic spots are concerned, but there’s real hope up there in Sunderland. They’re enjoying their football once again. I stay in touch with a lot of people up there and everybody is loving the football that’s being played. They know it’s a bit of a work in progress with the amount of youngsters in the team, but if they could keep hold of a play-off place, then they’ve had a fantastic season again.

I had flights booked to Wembley last season, I won’t lie! That didn’t work out for me! That’s not to say I was overconfident, by the way. I knew Luton were a more physical team, stronger, tight pitch…the space wasn’t there for the Sunderland players to play their free-flowing game. Having said that, I think it was a hell of a performance form Sunderland to get to where they did. There was always a worry as to whether that was a one-off though, and questions around whether or not they’d be able to match those levels this time out. And at times, they really have. They’re playing a brand of football that the punters love. The punters are loving how the club is being run, how the team are performing. They’re really happy with the kind of players coming in, and they have a manager who just gets it. That’s critical.

Some managers just breeze into town up there and think they’re coming to a sleeping giant – that they’re going to bring something to it that’s going to shake the place up. And a lot of them are just bluffing, you know? Tony Mowbray is not like that; he’s straight to the point and he knows what he wants. It’s all positive…I’m really pleased watching them right now. My son is a big fan, he travels over far more than I do. He’s the happiest he’s been for a long time!