On This Day (27 March 1995): Sunderland Sack Mick Buxton!
Early optimism had turned to dismay and with the team in freefall and apathy growing, Buxton was given his cards.
MICK BUXTON, MANAGER, SUNDERLAND (Photo by Paul Marriott/EMPICS via Getty Images) | PA Images via Getty Images Despite calming what appeared to be choppy waters for Sunderland AFC during the 1993/1994 season, Mick Buxton’s success in shoring up the defence and making the team difficult to beat would ultimately be his undoing the following season as his uninspiring style of play left many fans disillusioned with the direction of the team. Buxton’s job in the previous season in bringing a team languishing in twentieth position up to twelfth was deemed a success after a turbulent start to the season under Terry Butcher. However, after that relatively positive period, the demand from the Sunderland hierarchy and fans alike was a run towards the playoff places.
This appeared to be on the cards early in the 1994/1995 campaign as the team showed promise and went the first eight games unbeaten — despite only two of them being actual wins. With the team not scoring enough goals, some of those early-season draws turned into defeats and Buxton needed to find a solution for his team, that wasn’t not firing at either end of the pitch. Complaints about the style of play and Buxton’s inability to maximise the ability of his more creative players were increasing and things didn’t get any easier for the manager when both Don Goodman and Gary Owers departed the club during the season, further adding to the manager’s woes.
Despite Martin Scott coming in the other direction, Buxton oversaw an enormous drop off in form between October and the new year, as the Lads went from the heights of eighth all the way down to twentieth by March. During this period, there were a quite a few defeats but Buxton’s biggest Achilles’ heel was very similar to the issues faced by Gus Poyet’s 2014/2015 team — drawing far too many games and creating too few chances to create any momentum within their squads. By the time March came around, Sunderland were in twentieth position, miles away from where expectations had them earlier in the season, and after a 2-0 away defeat to Barnsley, Buxton was rightfully relieved of his duties as the team appeared to be going in the opposite direction to what was expected.
In his place came Peter Reid, who would become an instant hero on Wearside during the final seven games, picking up three wins and three draws to secure survival ahead of a memorable 1995/1996 season. Reid’s instant success almost highlighted the below-par performances that the team turned in under his predecessor.