Former Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has revealed his respects Newcastle as well as his former club.
The Uruguayan didn’t have the easiest two years with the Black Cats but didn’t manage a victory against Newcastle in his second game in charge for the club.
The 46-year-old also had success against The Magpies as a player, scoring twice against them in an FA Cup semi-final when he played for Chelsea.
During his time at The Stadium of Light, Poyet was abused by a Newcastle fan but surprisingly Poyet wasn’t bothered.
Writing for Yahoo.com, he wrote: “I’d just left a restaurant and was walking back to my car when I saw a man change direction and walk across me.
“Wrong city, tw*t,” he said. He didn’t even think I was worth looking at as he walked off. I didn’t say a word, but I knew where he was coming from. I quite liked his style. He was so passionate about Newcastle that he didn’t think that the Sunderland manager should be able to walk the streets of his city. I’m sure the manager of Newcastle would have encountered similar in Sunderland.”
The former Sunderland manager was a midfielder back in his playing days and played for the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham and River Plate, but Poyet insists that the north-east was the most passionate footballing city:
“I’ve lived in many big football cities around the world, but none where football matters quite as much as in Sunderland and Newcastle.
When I became Sunderland manager, I chose to live there. I knew some players lived further away or in Durham, but I wanted to be close to the training ground and not detached from the city where I worked. There was a big job to do at a club which had won one point from seven games.”
Poyet’s last tyne-wear derby in charge of Sunderland was on 21 December, which the Black Cats won at St James’ Park thanks to a last minute goal from Adam Johnson.
