Alex Neil has walked into the job with a fresh outlook, and didn't allow any preconceptions to affect his judgement during his first week as Sunderland gaffer...
DYNAMICS
"I didn't talk to any previous Sunderland managers. A year is a long time in football, so if I'm going to speak to people beyond that last year then the dynamics will have shifted and changed, the squad will be different, and there are a lot of people who have been recruited over the last 12 months that they won't know about."
OPEN MINDED
"I think it's important as a coach or a manager to be open-minded and not walk in with any preconceptions, because naturally relationships are different. There might be some players who didn't get on with previous regimes, but I might find myself being really close to those players."
FRESH
"I've walked in with a clean slate, a fresh outlook on everything that's here, and I'll make my own assessments of what we need to do. I didn't see anything that alarmed me."
ATTITUDES