The Alex Neil approach that is paying off for Sunderland right now - and the challenges ahead

“I can’t believe you’re asking me about the long term at Sunderland,” he joked at his pre-match press conference.

This has been something of a theme since his arrival in early February, insistent that the only thing he can afford to think about is the next game.

A crucial win at Oxford United was further vindication for his tunnel vision.

Neil has now taken 19 points from his ten games, a record which over the course of the season would take any side to the brink of League One promotion. It’s even more impressive when you consider he had been in charge a matter of hours before the 1-1 draw with AFC Wimbledon, meaning you could reasonably argue that his true record is bang on two points-per-game.

It’s even more impressive still when you reflect on the storm he walked into: acrimony over ownership share revelations, concern over the process that looked at one stage like bringing Roy Keane back to the club, the vast disparities in match fitness across a squad that had now lost three games in a row.

After losing 2-1 to MK Dons a week after his arrival, our post-match analysis posited that promotion had arguably not felt as far away since the numbing defeats and draws of Phil Parkinson’s turbulent first few months on Wearside.

Sunderland seemed to be stuck in a painfully familiar cycle, freezing in the final third and exposed too easily on the break.

Neil himself will be the first to tell you that nothing has been achieved yet but it has been a feat of sorts to even get this side and this club back on its feet, heading into the Easter fixtures on the up and with their promotion fate now firmly in their own hands.

Throughout his tenure, Neil has been quite clear that he does not feel this is a job where you can afford to look too far ahead. It is a job, he has said, that could swallow up an inexperienced manager not used to the scrutiny.

Before beating Gillingham he had joked with the media that they did not need to remind him of the importance of the upcoming game: “It’s the one thing that never escapes you working at Sunderland, I’ve already been reminded of that about six times in this press conference.

“I get it, I understand it, you don’t need to continually remind me of it. We will do our best.”

Neil’s no-nonsense, next-game only approach has been pretty much exactly what Sunderland needed and his analysis that fans would be happier talking about philosophy in the Championship was astute.

When he arrived, one source said they felt Neil’s biggest advantage was that he would seemingly not be in the slightest bit bothered what anyone had to say or think about his work.

All that would matter to Neil would be the results, and making the decisions he felt were right. While the football has not always been free-flowing it has been one of Sunderland’s biggest assets. We saw it in the back-to-basics game plan that produced a shock win at Wigan Athletic, again in the brave decision to replace Nathan Broadhead with Danny Batth in search of a winner on Saturday, and plenty of times in between.

As it has transpired, his candour and straight-talking have been well received by a fanbase who appreciate both his willingness to take accountability and his refusal to mark shortcomings when they are obvious.

Neil’s refusal to look beyond April 30th is nevertheless interesting to those who have followed Sunderland’s League One travails closely because we have been here in just about every season, where doubt over what division the club will eventually end up in has slowed both summer planning and action.

The Black Cats are better placed now because greater stability off the pitch in the shape of Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman and Head of Recruitment Stuart Harvey, and significantly better resource in terms of data analysis, means that the club should be in a stronger position in terms of pre-window scouting.

There have, however, been no talks with the seven senior players out of contract this summer.

The club’s message has been clear: all individual agendas must be put on hold. If Sunderland can go on to win promotion, everyone will be in a better position for whatever comes next.

An eminently understandable strategy, but add five players on loan to the mix and all of a sudden you are facing the prospect of another potentially major rebuild. One that will have to be completed in an abridged summer ahead of the Qatar World Cup, particularly if the season does end in another play-off campaign.

Neil will understandably have his own strong ideas on recruitment, which would undoubtedly guide what happens next no matter what fate awaits at the end of the season.

For now, it feels as if Sunderland’s new philosophy has been if not dispensed with then at least temporarily parked.

That in of itself is little cause for concern; with a full pre-season under his belt Neil would no doubt feel more comfortable being a little more expansive. Even in prioritising substance over style, Neil has still improved his team’s pressing in line with the club’s longer-term objectives. And even if he is broadly favouring experience in team selections right now, Anthony Patterson’s form shows he is happy to trust academy talent more broadly.

For now, his short-term approach has steadied a club that was rapidly losing direction in a pivotal season.

That will hold for now, but come the season end there remain many questions to be answered, not least at boardroom level.

We have seen before when a short-term gamble doesn’t pay off valuable time and ground is lost; yet right now picking Neil is looking like a very solid bet.