• Mark Hughes a leading contender to take over from O'Neill
• Sunderland one point clear of relegation zone after defeat
It was supposed to be a marriage made in heaven but Sunderland on Saturday night sacked Martin O'Neill in an attempt to avert the threat of relegation.
Ellis Short, Sunderland's owner, has stayed loyal, arguably too loyal, to O'Neill during the course of a difficult season but the poverty of the team's performance during Saturday's 1-0 defeat at home to an understrength Manchester United clearly provoked a tipping point.
It was Sunderland's eighth game without a win and they are now only one point above the relegation zone ahead of a testing run of fixtures which sees them face Chelsea, Newcastle United, Everton and Aston Villa in the coming weeks.
The new appointment is expected to be swift. Mark Hughes, who came under serious consideration when O'Neill was hired in December 2011, is unemployed after being sacked by Queens Park Rangers last autumn.
Despite that failure at Loftus Road, his impressive earlier record with Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Fulham bears close scrutiny, with the biggest caveat being that, in the past, he has tended to take time before making an impact at new clubs.
Similarly Roberto Di Matteo, a Champions League winner with Chelsea last spring, is available after leaving Stamford Bridge last November and appears certain to be in the reckoning.
Steve McClaren, North Yorkshire-based and also free after parting company with FC Twente in February, cannot be ruled out as a contender, at least in the short term. Peter Taylor, the former England Under-21 coach, having worked with McClaren in the Netherlands, could be a potential assistant to the former England and Middlesbrough manager.
On Saturday night bookmakers installed McClaren as the early favourite to move in at the Stadium of Light, with Hughes close behind him, followed by Di Matteo and Paolo Di Canio, the former West Ham striker and Swindon manager.
If Di Canio looks far too left-field, Short will be aware that the much admired Gus Poyet, the Brighton manager, was tempted by the Reading job recently. Despite a preference for the south-east, he may find it difficult to turn down a club possessing a 49,000-capacity stadium and a wealthy American backer.
Whoever steps into the breach will have seven games to breathe new life into a side who had become alarmingly static, tactically rigid and seemingly lacking in confidence under O'Neill.
Although talented individuals such as Adam Johnson and Stéphane Sessègnon have underachieved, the squad is small and weakened by injuries which have ruled out Steven Fletcher, the leading scorer, and Lee Cattermole, the captain, for the remainder of the campaign.
After spending around £30m on four players – Johnson, Fletcher, Alfred N'Diaye and Danny Graham – during the past two transfer windows, O'Neill cannot claim he was not properly backed during his time at the club.
In mitigation the 61-year-old boyhood Sunderland fan trimmed back an overblown squad he inherited from Steve Bruce but he made some perplexing fringe additions including Louis Saha and James McFadden, both recently released. Apart from the outstanding goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, Danny Rose, the left-back on a season-long loan from Tottenham, has been this season's outstanding individual.
Sunderland supporters, despite being divided as to whether they wanted a change of manager, never turned on O'Neill. Nonetheless, his departure comes as no surprise to those who attended his media briefings. In recent weeks he has appeared uncharacteristically downbeat and touchy. On Thursday he became visibly annoyed with a reporter who asked a reasonable question as to whether Connor Wickham, Sunderland's £8m England Under-21 striker, had been given a fair chance under his tenure.
After losing to Sir Alex Ferguson's side O'Neill ostensibly appeared a little more optimistic. "I'm as buoyant now as I was – I was going to say as I have been," he said. "What is it a half-full glass or a half-empty glass? I'm even going to the three-quarters full." His body language told a very different, decidedly weary story though.
Perhaps the former Leicester, Celtic and Aston Villa manager knew time was running out. During the past month Short made it clear that he was not minded "to give up" his ambition of transforming Sunderland into a top-eight club but he was clearly wondering whether O'Neill was the right man to execute his vision. It cannot have exactly reassured him when his manager announced after a recent disappointment that the team "lacked, real, true, ability".
Writing in Saturday's match programme, the Texan betrayed clear unease. "We look for a much improved performance over what we have managed recently," Short reflected. "Nobody is happy with our current position and the way our season is going. We have a fight on our hands. We know we are capable of playing better than we have been doing and we need to begin doing so now."
When Sunderland failed to respond against United on Saturday, O'Neill paid a swift price.
Read more... Sunderland sack Martin O'Neill in bid for Premier League survival
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