HAVING formally replaced Steve Bruce on Tuesday morning, Martin O'Neill will take charge of his first game as Sunderland manager when Blackburn visit the Stadium of Light on Sunday. Here are five pressing issues he has to address.
Ineffective attack
Despite extensive investment over the last few seasons, O'Neill has inherited an unbalanced squad, and nowhere is that lack of balance more apparent than in attack.
With Connor Wickham set to be absent until the turn of the year, there is an alarming lack of options when it comes to improving a record that has seen Sunderland's strikers score just four of the club's 16 league goals this season.
Nicklas Bendtner must start, although the Arsenal loanee's general demeanour at Molineux at the weekend left a lot to be desired. Getting the best out of a clearly complex character will be an immediate challenge of O'Neill's man management skills.
He must also decide whether to pair Ji Dong-won or Ryan Noble with Bendtner as a secondary striker, or field a 4-5-1 formation with the Dane up front on his own.
With an eye to the longer term, he will also have to start compiling a list of attacking targets to pursue in the January transfer window. Recalling Asamoah Gyan from his loan at Al-Ain does not appear to be an option.
Where should Stephane Sessegnon play?
Sessegnon has been one of Sunderland's few success stories this season, and the Benin international clearly possesses the technique and temperament to be a major influence in the Premier League.
It appeared as though Bruce did not really know what to do with him though. He started the season in the hole behind a lone centre-forward (Gyan), but quickly found himself shuffled to the right and left flanks, with a brief cameo as an orthodox central striker in between.
He needs a position to call his own, and O'Neill needs to quickly deduce where he can be most effective within the system he wants to play.
Personally, I like Sessegnon in the hole, and believe he is capable of playing there with either one or two players up top.
O'Neill has always liked his wingers though, and having watched Sessegnon playing on the flank at Molineux, may feel it is better to keep him there. Either way, he needs a clearly-defined role in the side.
A lack of balance in the central area
When Bruce signed Craig Gardner and David Vaughan in the summer, it was hoped there would be a marked shift towards a greater attacking emphasis in Sunderland's midfield play.
In fact, Gardner and Vaughan have made just ten Premier League starts between them, with Bruce preferring to pair Lee Cattermole and Jack Colback in a more combative central midfield partnership.
Individually, Cattermole and Colback are fine players, but together they tend to want to do the same thing and Sunderland suffer from a lack of attacking thrust from the heart of midfield.
O'Neill needs to achieve a better balance, and Cattermole's suspension for this weekend's game provides an immediate opportunity to restructure the side.
Most supporters want to see Vaughan given an extended run in the team. Personally, I think Gardner would make more of a difference to Sunderland's play. In truth, sticking with either would probably elicit an improvement.
Instil some confidence into the back four
Twice in their last two matches, Sunderland have led 1-0. Twice in their last two matches, they have conceded two goals to finish with nothing.
Franco Di Santo's winner for Wigan was an awful goal to concede, while both of Steven Fletcher's strikes at the weekend owed much to confusion in the Black Cats' box.
On the whole, Sunderland have defended well this season, and both Wes Brown and John O'Shea have displayed, in patches, the qualities that earned them an extended career at Manchester United.
But, as O'Neill has acknowledged, confidence is clearly low and a fragility is evident as soon as Sunderland's collective back is to the wall.
Restoring a sense of confidence and equilibrium on the training ground this week is an immediate challenge, as the defensive problems appear to be rooted in mental uncertainty rather than issues of organisation.
Improve Sunderland's set-pieces
When Seb Larsson arrived in the summer, Bruce talked at length about how the Swede's set-piece delivery would improve Sunderland's wretched record from corners and free-kicks.
In Larsson's defence, he has scored with a couple of superb set-piece strikes, but away from direct free-kicks, it it impossible to discern an improvement.
Things should be better. Larsson's delivery can be as good as anyone's in the Premier League, while in the likes of Bendtner, Brown and O'Shea, Sunderland possess accomplished headers who should be offering a threat from corners and free-kicks.
This is one simple area in which O'Neill should be looking to make immediate improvements. If the Black Cats began to threaten in the opposition area, perhaps their own defence would not come under quite as much pressure.
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Wayne Rooney's availability for the final group game of Euro 2012 undoubtedly increases England's chances of making it to the quarter-finals of next year's tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
But there is something extremely unedifying about the sight of English football's governing body shelving all of their principles in order to scramble around in defence of a player who petulantly kicked out at a fellow professional.
The FA is supposed to be the body that upholds standards of behaviour at all levels of the English game. So what message are they sending out to millions of kids up and down the country this weekend? 'You shouldn't really kick somebody, but if you're deemed to be a good enough player, you'll probably get away with it'.
And what happens the next time a Premier League player decides to appeal their own three-match suspension for kicking an opponent? A frivolous appeal? Not if your name's Wayne Rooney.
The FA have done all they can in the last few days to help England's manager, Fabio Capello. But it is hard to avoid the conclusion that they have sullied their own reputation in the process.
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