The Uruguayan, dismissed by Brighton for an unspecified charge of gross misconduct, has taken over at the Stadium of Light as the club look to move on after Paolo Di Canio

By Tom Marshall-Bailey
After Ellis Short terminated Paolo Di Canio’s brief and controversy-laden tenure, Sunderland fans must be praying they are not in store for more of the same once Gus Poyet begins his salvage operation at the Stadium of Light.
Helping the bottom-of-the-table Black Cats avoid a relegation dogfight this season will be the sternest test yet of the burgeoning reputation Poyet has earned himself following a successful spell at Brighton.
Having rescued the club from League Two, Poyet left the Seagulls in an unrecognisable state to that which he found them in when he took over four years ago, with the club now plying their trade in the Championship in their plush new Amex Stadium.
Brighton were transformed not just off the pitch but on it too. Controlling the ball, making the pitch as wide as possible and dictating play from inside their own half were hallmarks of the possession-based ethos Poyet implemented. "If you have the ball, you can't lose,” was a mantra that reaped significant rewards and plaudits.
Poyet’s primary challenges will be to make his mark on the playing style and to shake off any lingering comparisons with the man he replaces, but the 45-year-old can certainly take heart from the way in which his new players have rallied around caretaker manager Kevin Ball.
At Brighton, Poyet made sure the likes of Inigo Calderon, David Lopez and Leonardo Ulloa were integrated into the sort of tightly-knit dressing room he is unlikely to inherit at Sunderland, although Ball’s caretaker spell in charge suggests team spirit is not damaged beyond repair.