Sunderland AFC have today announced that rookie manager Adam Gutteridge will take over as manager of the club after Martin O'Neill is said to have stepped down due to personal reasons although these have been undisclosed to the media.
After a good first season as manager, O'Neill had Sunderland coming into the 2012/13 season full of optimism after the signings of winger Adam Johnson and Forward Steven Fletcher, it is now up to Gutteridge to build on this, bring his own players in and get a good start to the season
''It is an absolute honour to be standing here today as a Premier League Manager. Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that this would be happening so soon. I want to thank the board for putting their faith in me, and hope to repay them as well as excite the fans with an exciting style of football. I will be sitting down with my staff over the next few days to discuss where we can improve the squad before the start of preseason''