On The Road
NEW BLACK CATS REGIME IS RESTORING BOND WITH CLUB’S PASSIONATE FANS
MAX POWER was driving along when he noticed a chap stood at a bus stop wearing a Sunderland shirt. Feeling charitable, the midfielder pulled over and offered him a lift.
Keith, the supporter, said yes — well, presumably ‘ Why aye Marra’ — and got in, only to realise he was being taxied to the pub by one of his team’s players.
A small act of kindness but one that bears a bigger message. Sunderland, a club that fans feared was broken beyond repair, is now becoming unified under new management.
Max’s Mackem Taxis would have had a hell of a job on Saturday.
At the Ricoh Arena, 4,987 fans made the 400-mile round trip from the North East to witness a 1-1 draw, despite it being a lunchtime kick- off and broadcast live on television.
They swung their scarves and sang Bob Marley’s Three Little
Birds in unison. Supporters truly are beginning to believe every little thing is gonna be all right in the North East, with 35,000 expected at tomorrow’s game against Peterborough at the Stadium of Light.
‘It is a remarkable following for any team, in any league, in any country,’ manager Jack Ross told Sportsmail. ‘That’s probably the best way to describe it. I never ever take it for granted.
‘As someone who loves football myself, to look at that end of the pitch and hear the noise is outstanding. It’s magnificent. It drives me on to try to give them a team that they can be proud of. The first day I took the job, the first thing I wanted was to get a team that reflected the passion in the stands. I think we’ve kind of got that now.’
Among those in the sea of red and white was Ross’s boss Stewart Donald, the new owner of Sunderland who took over the club in May.
Upon spotting him, supporters sang songs about how he came to turn them into champions. Donald, seen as something of a saviour, liked what he saw from the stands on Saturday. Sunderland took the lead through Lee Cattermole, the veteran who has been on the books of the club since 2009. In his previous 304 league games, he scored five goals. Now, he has four in 11.
Jokes about him aiming for a 20-goal season in League One aside, the 30-year-old defensive midfielder from Durham was the epitome of desire at the Ricoh Arena. That is something that has been in short supply at Sunderland recently.
‘He cares an awful lot about football,’ Ross said. ‘Lee is vocal in the changing room, he makes demands. He’s got that drive. It pulls other players along.’
Coventry’s Jonson Clarke-Harris crashed the party, scoring the leveller in the second half, but Sunderland did not mind drawing. They are taking things one step at a time.
This is a club putting the pieces back together after two seasons that broke them. On the pitch, they went from Premier League to League One. Off it, they had other problems.
Despite their double relegation, Sunderland were still paying Jack Rodwell £44,000 per week and he wasn’t even playing. Darron Gibson was caught on camera, seemingly drunk in a casino, bad-mouthing the club. Owner Ellis Short made expensive mistake after expensive mistake in the transfer market.
Those three have since left the club, with Donald now in charge. As one fan, who left his house at 5am to get to Coventry on Saturday, said: ‘It just feels like everything is going the right way.’
Forgive the personal nature of this final anecdote, but this writer’s Sunderland-supporting grandfather had a saying whenever things went wrong for the Black Cats back in the day.
‘If you don’t laugh, you cry,’ he would tell my nanna Joan, despite having just spent a chunk of his wages from working down the coal mines on watching his team lose.
That motto may as well have been on the club badge over the last two years. Yet finally, Sunderland are slowly but surely getting back on their feet as they attempt to return to former glories.