Former Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat has admitted that the struggle against relegation was never going to be his cup of tea.
Having been appointed the man in charge at Sunderland in March following the departure of Gus Poyet, Advocaat helped the Black Cats avoid relegation last term, but then witnessed early struggles in the current campaign.
Speculation about a possible departure had been gaining pace with the 68-year-old refusing to confirm or deny whether he would be in charge of the team in their next math following a 2-2 draw against West Ham this weekend.
And now the manager has revealed that he had already taken his decision about leaving the club last week. But had to wait until this weekend's match on the insistence of the club authorities.
"I already made my decision last week, but the club asked me to do the match against West Ham and I really wanted to finish this in style", the manager said in an interview with Studio Voetbal.
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"The struggle against relegation is not my cup of tea. I think it was time for someone else to take over at Sunderland. I became negative and that didn't feel like myself."
While not regretting his decision to sign a one-year contract extension in the summer, the manager insisted that the fact that his side were full of sub-standard players made his life at the Stadium of Light difficult.
"I don't regret signing my new contract because it was a great experience. Our squad was simply not good enough.
"The club knew we had to strengthen ourselves, but the chairman [Ellis Short] never told me how much we could spend."
