At the start of December 2011 Martin O'Neill was unveiled as the new manager of Sunderland, replacing the sacked Steve Bruce. O'Neill had been linked with numerous clubs since his shock departure from Aston Villa but was obviously waiting for the right vacancy to arise. O'Neill is a well respected manager in football due to his charisma and passion for the beautiful game, and last season led Sunderland to 13th.
O'Neill's first managerial role was with Wycombe Wanderous back in the early 1990s. Whilst at the club he won back-to-back promotions, taking them from the Conference to the Old Division Two. In 1995 he joined Norwich City, who he played for briefly during his career, but only lasted six months after falling out with the Chairman.
He then joined Leicester City with whom he won promotion to the Premier League and guided to two Football League Cups. In 2000 he crossed the border to manager Celtic where he won three SPL, three Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup, as well as finishing runners up to Jose Mourinho's Porto in the 2003 UEFA Cup.
In 2006 O'Neill became manager of Aston Villa. Despite not winning any silverware with the club he made them a top 6 Premier League side as well as finishing runners-up to Manchester United in the 2010 Carling Cup Final.
O'Neill took charge of Sunderland in December 2011 and led them to a 13th place finish.
Martin O'Neill got off to a fantastic start with Sunderland but they ended the season poorly, dropping down to 13th. He will now be looking to guide them to a top 10 finish next season.
