CATT’S 9 LIVES
Cattermole reveals the pressure of life at the Stadium of Light: These battles are all I know.. it’s either sink or swim
LEE CATTERMOLE has revealed that the emotional toll of repeated relegation scraps with Sunderland left him in tears.
The hardman midfielder has experienced the highs and “ridiculous” lows of the Wearside rollercoaster – and is now leading from the front in their Championship escape bid.
Cattermole is on his ninth boss in eight years, and has featured in several great escapes, one relegation, and this season a slump to second bottom of the second tier.
He said: “Sink or swim, these kind of battles are all I know. The first two relegation escapes – brilliant.
“When we stayed up under Sam Allardyce I sat on the toilet in the dressing room... I was emotional. I was really upset. I couldn’t believe we had done it again. That’s what these situations do to you.
“But there have been times when I’ve sat there and asked myself, ‘Can I do this again?’ It can be ridiculously horrible.
“You can get unbelievably low. From one week to the next it becomes a massive pressure. We all care and just want to win.
“Hopefully we have hit the bottom now.
“I would never sit here and say we should be getting promoted this season and that we are too big to be in this position – we are not.”
Cattermole has known the highs of the club finishing in the Premier League’s top 10 and reaching a Wembley League Cup final.
But he says the scraps at the bottom have provided the most character-defining inspiration.
He added: “Some of the stuff we came through I rate as good as winning a trophy. The survivals – two, three times.
“What you’ve gone through on a personal level, as a team, the brutal, open chats we’ve had as a group of players.
“Stuff you’ve had to front up, and find within yourself, to stay in the top flight.
“One year we had one point after eight games, 16 new players. Trying pulling that team together and coming through the other end. We have built two or three squads in my time and then ripped them apart in the summer. That’s hard.”
Cattermole cites Allardyce’s departure for the England job as the turning point in July 2016. He said: “I’m certain he would have stabilised it. It was rocking at the Stadium of Light.
“I felt in that summer if we had two or three years of Big Sam, he’d have controlled everything for Ellis Short, and Sam had seen it all.”
Saturday’s three goals in the last 20 minutes to draw at Bristol City suggests there is life yet in the Black Cats. And Cattermole is confident new boss Chris Coleman can guide the club to safety.
He said: “To look at the league table is tough. The position we are in is not great. It has been difficult.
“The Championship is a crazy league, unforgiving.
“If we can ride out this season we will improve and be more competitive.” ■LEE CATTERMOLE took part in a series of golfing challenges in Durham organised by Coral bookmaker, Sunderland FC’s official betting partner.