Sbragia salute to superior Everton
NEW Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia admitted Everton were "far superior" after his managerial career started with a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Goodison Park.
Sbragia was handed the job on a permanent basis after leading the Black Cats as caretaker manager following Roy Keane's resignation at the start of the month.
But, after three games unbeaten, Sunderland could not end the year on a high as two Mikel Arteta goals and a late Dan Gosling strike handed the home side three routine points.
For Sbragia it was a rude awakening to the demands of the big time.
He said: "It has not been the best start to my management career. We knew it was going to be difficult at Everton, and it certainly proved to be that.
"In general they were far superior to us. We spoke beforehand about not giving any silly free-kicks away around the box, and that is exactly what we did and they scored twice.
"From 2-0 down it was always going to be an extremely difficult game.
"Overall in all departments, Everton were better. Tiredness doesn't come into it. Everton have played three games in six days and they seemed fine, so we can't use that as an excuse."
He added: "They have talent, they work extremely hard and are always in your faces. We just didn't do ourselves justice.
"But I am still looking forward to my new role. I am looking forward to the challenge ahead. We have to get the troops together to start working hard."
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