The Republic of Ireland defender spent almost 12 years at Manchester United and success was very different.
He arrived at the Stadium of Light during the summer of 2011 with an enviable collection of honours, including five Premier League titles, plus FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League winners' medals.John O'Shea: "Look, it's one of those things, that's just how things have turned out.
"But success for certain teams can be measured in different ways all the time.
"If we, Sunderland, survive in the league, it's obviously going to be a success because we were in a precarious position.
"We are still in a small bit of a precarious position, but thankfully we have the power in our own hands to survive that, and we have to continue that.
"It's one of those things, the more games you are winning, the more you enjoy football, so definitely the last few weeks have been a bit more enjoyable.
"It's the same in any sport, whether it be golf or rugby. When you see players with confidence, you can take it to a whole new level.
"The class of the player will always come out on top if they are doing everything properly training-wise, and we have got to stick to that.
"The way we approach games now, we are looking at being a lot more solid, the unit that we have, but also we have been looking at ways to hurt teams, getting more players into the box.
"That's something the manager has been working on in the last few weeks, and if we continue to do that, the players that we have will cause teams problems.
"They are big pressure games we have left, but ones we have been able to cope with and ones we have been enjoying also."