The Sunderland boss joked about chasing up a minor club penalty after a mix-up over Sessegnon's time-keeping.  O'Neill and in-form Sessegnon are getting by on 'Franglais' at the moment  with the player netting four goals and adding eight assists in their run of 16 points from 21.  Ahead of a trip to Stoke, the manager said: "Sess has been a delight to work with since I arrived and he's had a tremendous impact on the pitch, he's been a real gem.  "Off the pitch, he's very quiet. His English is better than my French but to help, I've dug out the dictionary from my old French O-level.  "I check a couple of words before writing them down to show him. One said 'you have not paid your fine!' "  Sessegnon hit another superb goal in the 3-0 midweek romp against Norwich to push the Black Cats up to eighth.  The Benin-born star is making up for lost time having been signed by Steve Bruce for £6million from Paris St. Germain a year ago.  O'Neill admits his attempts at French had surprise spin-offs for Sunderland's South Korean striker Ji Dong-won.  He joked: "It often comes out in a sort of South Korean accent  it's the only time Ji understood me!  "Sess is brilliant and he knows what you're saying to him  even if he's never gone to the bank to get the money to pay his fine!"  The Black Cats boss also backed James McClean, 22, to make a late bid for a place in the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2012 squad.  The winger has been a revelation since O'Neill gave him a Premier League debut in a win against Blackburn before Christmas.  O'Neill said: "They could not fail to be impressed by the lad."
MARTIN O’NEILL dug out his French O-level books so he could praise Stephane Sessegnon.. and then fine him