One year on from Alex Neil's shock Sunderland exit - what we've learned and where Stoke and Cats are headed

Where were you, this time a year ago?

Given that you’re reading this piece, there’s a very good chance that you were wondering where on earth Alex Neil had got to.

His pre-Norwich City press conference infamously postponed and rescheduled, only to never happen at all. Neil took training and after last-ditch talks with the Sunderland hierarchy, headed for Stoke City and never returned.

Wearside was left stunned, concerned and for a good while, furious that the head coach who had dragged the club out of its lowest ebb in League One had been allowed to walk out the door just months later.

That was a feeling that began to turn, at least in some sections of the support, when it emerged that Neil had signed a new deal weeks previous and when the reality of their team taking on a former Premier League side with no head coach became apparent. 

By and large both Neil and Sunderland opted to keep their counsel, and so only time and the paths that both have followed have given us real insight into many of the factors behind the split. For the most part, they’ve simply added more context to the clues that Neil offered in the initial aftermath of his departure.

In his first interview as Stoke City boss, Neil identified the ownership of his new club as a key reason behind his decision. The Coates family are regarded in the game as arguably the most patient owners going, and their willingness to back their choices in the dugout is well established.

There were a couple of other telling clues, too. Despite all parties stating that Neil’s one-year rolling contract at Sunderland was normal practice, he promptly signed a three-year deal in Staffordshire. His title was also confirmed as ‘manager’.

Though Neil had indeed agreed improved terms at Sunderland not long before, that it was never publicly announced seemed to make clear that no one truly considered the matter resolved. Sunderland would later say that in those final negotiations before his departure they offered terms that would have made Neil one of the best-paid coaches in the division, it was by now evidently too late. Stoke City were already there, and clearly feeling undervalued given his immediate impact at the Stadium of Light, Neil was gone.

In the months that followed it probably became a little easy to caricature the two parties, Sunderland’s free-flowing game reaching new heights as Tony Mowbray managed his youthful side expertly. Sunderland new school, Neil old school.

By the time Neil returned to the Stadium of Light he had fully become a pantomime villain, and the (perfectly devised) counterattacking display his team produced seemed to demonstrate two clubs with distinct philosophies.

A year on from Neil’s departure, though, we can see that the differences in opinion are somewhat more subtle.

Neil very clearly did not object to aspects of Sunderland’s operation and more specifically, their recruitment plans. We know this because Stoke City were keen on signing Pierre Ekwah in January, and were also reportedly interested in Nectarios Triantis this summer. 

Nor did Neil object to Sunderland’s structure, in principle. We know this because Stoke City have subsequently appointed a Technical Director, with a wide-ranging brief overseeing everything from recruitment to Academy operations. There is a subtle but significant change in power dynamic here, though, as Ricky Martin worked closely with Neil at Norwich City. Given his arrival followed that of Neil, we can see how that relationship differs very differently to that which a head coach at Sunderland has with the Sporting Director. 

Stoke City’s summer window also allows us to understand much better why it was a project that so appealed to Neil. It has been a period of major change, a process that started with the club landing a significant fee from Leicester City for the sale of Harry Souttar in January.

That significantly eased the club’s previously challenging Financial Fair Play position, a process that was bolstered by the sale of Jacob Brown to Luton Town in recent weeks. A number of the club’s more significant contracts also came to an end at the end of last season, with players such as Sam Clucas and Nick Powell departing.

Neil and Martin had something approaching carte blanche, and their current total of incoming players stands at 13. Neil has made very clear that they are not done by any stretch.

If the initial wave of business suggested a preference for Championship experience and tried-and-tested players (Ben Pearson, Enda Stevens, Daniel Johnson and a handful of Premier League loanees), then the recent additions have told a more complex story.

The bulk of Stoke’s transfer budget (in terms of fees at least) have been spent on players from Europe, with Portuguese winger Andre Vidigal the star of the campaign so far. Ryan Mmaee has arrived from Ferencvaros, Mehdi Leris from Sampdoria. Reports strongly suggest that Wouter Burger will be the next to arrive, the 22-year-old Basel midfielder likely to cost the biggest fee yet.

Neil, and Stoke, clearly share Sunderland’s view that there is better value to be found outside of the domestic market. 

Where there is broadly a difference between the two strategies is in age and experience. Of Stoke’s permanent additions this summer only Nikola Jogic (19) is younger than Burger, though Bae Jun-Ho (20) is also expected to follow. Most arrivals are in their mid-twenties, and so do retain resale value, but have broadly been established players in their respective divisions.

It has been a reset summer for Stoke, and the power to be at the heart of it was clearly a huge appeal to Neil when he weighed up the offer a year ago.

Though that win at Sunderland was the high point of an otherwise frustrating first period and an important one for Neil, showing supporters of his new club what the future could look like once he had time to truly mould the squad in his image. His work (dare we call it a model?!) in that regard has borne some similarities with Sunderland’s, but the differences tell their tale. 

Fundamentally, Neil has found an environment that suits his goals and his management more closely.

And a year on, Sunderland will no doubt feel vindicated in their steadfast commitment to their own model. Mowbray proved to be an exceptional pick as a replacement, and their young side surpassed all expectations in finishing sixth. A number of their additions have already grown their value far beyond where it stood on their arrival, and the brace from Jobe Bellingham against Rotherham United suggested he is on the same path. Results have, so far, not really suffered for that focus on often inexperienced but talented youth.

Some acrimony will undoubtedly remain long into the future, perhaps more because of the manner of the departure than the departure itself.

But one Neil quote, from the days previous to the sides meeting in March, stands out more than ever: “I was as good for Sunderland as they were for me.”

Maybe that’s what this tale is really about, two parties who came together when neither were where they would have liked to be. 18 months on, both are far closer to their desired end point.

It was a union of convenience that produced spectacular results for both, but a parting somewhere along the line was perhaps inevitable. Where both find themselves one year further on is going to be fascinating to see: there is every chance they could emerge as close rivals in the push for the Premier League. Who comes out on top might have a major role in how the saga is ultimately viewed in time.