Gus Poyet had a chat with former Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill before taking the job.
Poyet played in a League Managers Association golf day at The Grove, near Watford and was impressed with what O'Neill had to say about Sunderland and owner-chairman Ellis Short.
He said: "I know all about Sunderland and the fans.
"By coincidence, I played in an LMA golf day in the summer with Martin O'Neill.
"We were in the same buggy and I asked him something like 150 questions about Sunderland - and he spoke very highly about everybody here.
"He's a very honest person. I knew Martin from football but I didn't know him personally.
"And he's an absolutely lovely person. He spoke highly about the chairman, about the fans and the players here.
"I felt it was interesting to know his opinion after he had been here. I used him - when he was having 18 holes with me - to get information."
