Gus Poyet's future at Sunderland is uncertain after Everton scrape win

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/13/gus-poyet-sunderland-everton

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The only concern anyone at Goodison Park harbours about Roberto Martínez is the very real prospect that he will soon be headhunted by a bigger concern. A club like Barcelona, for instance.

While Everton's manager led his team above Arsenal and into fourth place courtesy of a seventh straight Premier League win, Sunderland were left stuck to the bottom of the table, lacking both a League win since 1 February and answers to questions about Gus Poyet's future.

No one really blames Paolo Di Canio's successor for the team's predicament. Indeed, many Wearsiders feel that, as an ideologically motivated coach sharing some broad philosophical similarities with Martínez, Poyet might ultimately offer Sunderland a bright future.

The suspicion, though, is that he will walk out this summer. When that notion was aired at the end of a tight afternoon in which, uncharacteristically, Everton won "ugly" thanks to Wes Brown's own goal after the exciting Gerard Deulofeu's cross-shot, Poyet swerved the issue. "It's difficult to talk after games because the feelings don't help answer questions," he said, somewhat cryptically. "I think there's something wrong in the football club and it's not an excuse. I need to find it. If I don't find it, we've got a problem.

"I think I know what's wrong – but then I don't. It's too many times, too many things. What happened with Steve Bruce? What happened with Martin O'Neill? What happened with Di Canio? What happens with me now?

"Who will be next? A, B, C – call him anything and the club will be in the same situation. I don't like it. I need to find the solution. It's sad because, at the end of it, the one who loses his job and looks bad is the manager.

"I'm going to leave a better club. I think we're a better club from the moment I got here. There's a better understanding of what our football is about, better respect for the fans and plenty of other things like timekeeping and respect in training and the way we behave. But it's not enough. I think this team needs an electric shock."

Perhaps the inevitable fracturing of the so-called old guard in Sunderland's dressing room this summer will help repair one of the games biggest managerial black holes. A major overhaul beckons but it remains unclear whether Poyet intends to supervise it – or necessarily trusts those above him to reconstruct correctly. "I don't want to rebuild," he said.

"I didn't come to Sunderland to rebuild nothing, I want to be part of something that gets better all the time."

How he would love to be in Martínez's shoes. Yet much as his former Real Zaragoza team-mate probably sympathises, Martínez could do worse than gentlyremind Poyet that it was only after several seasons of long, hard slog at Swansea and Wigan that he earned the right to manage Everton.

Sometimes moving forward really does entail taking a step backwards.

Man of the match Gerard Deulofeu (Everton)