Things may not necessarily get better for Black Cats next term
Sunderland 1 Burton Albion 2 What we learned from this match
FINALLY Sunderland’s fate has been confirmed and people can stop pretending they just might escape the fate that has looked increasingly inevitable as the second half of a miserable campaign has panned out.
You tend to learn more in the hard times than the good, and the Black Cats have had no shortage of them in the past couple of years.
Yesterday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Burton Albion with its bitter end condemned them to consecutive relegations for the first time in the club’s history.
If the first relegation was insufficient to jolt the club into fully getting its house in order, the second simply has to be the low point from which a revival begins. So what can the Wearsiders learn from the relegation most involved with the club would rather forget?
THINGS DIDN’T GET BETTER
As last season panned out and Sunderland supporters had to reconcile themselves to the Championship, fans began to tell themselves at least next season would be more fun – new grounds and a few wins.
Even eight extra games have produced no more victories so far this season – six – and another fight against relegation.
We thought players who had not stood out towards the end of the Black Cats’ top-flight tenure might become big fish in a smaller pond, but rather than finding his level, Billy Jones looked out of depth in the Championship too. Lee Cattermole was steady rather than all-conquering.
Lamine Kone showed flashes of class, as did Paddy McNair, Darron Gibson and Duncan Watmore but none were fit long enough to have an impact.
Aiden McGeady and Bryan Oviedo’s fitness has not been a problem, but their consistency has.
It is a warning for next season – things will not just automatically be better because the club has dropped to a lower level. Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers bounced back quickly, but clubs like Leeds United and Sheffield United found getting out of League One much more of a struggle despite setups and fanbases dwarfing their new rivals. Get things right off the field and Sunderland ought to have far too much for their new surroundings, but Ellis Short’s continuing ownership is a big handicap to overcome.
IT WAS A BITTER END
The script was written and pantomime villain Darren Bent did not disappoint but even then there was more pain to come.
The loudest noise (so far) of the day came when Bent was brought on as a 73rd-minute substitute. Sunderland fans are still bitter about the way he left for Aston Villa.
With 86 minutes gone, Sunderland were leading 1-0 but when Jason Steele brilliantly saved Lucas Akins’ deflected shot, it was inevitable who would be first to the loose ball.
Liam Boyce scored what looked like a 93rd-minute winner, only for referee Darren England to give an equaliser in the fifth of what was due to be five added minutes.
After consultation with his linesman, England decided the ball had gone over the line off Paddy McNair’s hand – it looked like it had, but also as if he was being fouled.
Results meant Bolton Wanderers were six points out of reach with six to play for, but the Trotters still have Burton to play, so one of them will be out of reach. Could there be a more painful way to go down?
GRAYSON WASN’T THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE EXPERT WE THOUGHT, COLEMAN NOT THE SAVIOUR WE HOPED
With a track record in the Football League, and with fallen giants too, Simon Grayson seemed a sensible if not exciting choice as new manager. If anyone could stabilise a club in a downward spiral, surely it was the former Blackpool, Huddersfield Town, Leeds United and Preston North End boss.
He was handed a pittance in the transfer market (£1.25m on 10 players), but he was used to that. Most of it went on players who had been around the block at this level. It didn’t work.
Chief executive Martin Bain, so patient with David Moyes, pulled the trigger quickly but Grayson had not hit on a method to stand by, and Sunderland were in the drop zone as a result.
His stock still high having led Wales to the Euor 2016 semi-finals, Chris Coleman seemed a higher-calibre replacement than the Black Cats were entitled to expect. Initially there was a new manager bounce – winning four of his first 12 matches, and even manag- ing five clean sheets after none under Grayson. But his five January signings were unable to improve the squad and 10 winless games made the cause look increasingly lost. A post-Easter pick-up in performances was not matched by results.
It raised a familiar question at the Stadium of Light – were the big-name managers not up to the job or did the problems run deeper? Probably both but more the latter.
SUPPORTERS NEVER TOOK TO IT
The announcement of each Stadium of Light attendance became an embarrassment, as the evidence of your eyes told you the number must have been dreamt up by Hans Christian Andersen. The club put out the figures for the number of tickets sold not the attendance as advertised.
At the same time, the support the Wearsiders received away from home was remarkable.
Some rival fans loved poking fun at the number of empty pink seats, comparing it to Newcastle United’s regular sell-outs the previous season. It was a ridiculous comparison – a club which had reinvested large amounts of money on quality Championship players who bought into the mission and saw plenty of wins at St James’ Park, compared to a club with a reluctant owner, a team reinforced on a shoestring and a downward spiral in results.
Why should fans endorse and subsidise a regime many resented?
It became a vicious circle, apathy, resignation and impatience filling the Stadium of Light and a group of players not strong enough to rise above it. With one game to play, Sunderland have only won twice at home this season.
Inevitably, it looked for a long time like they would beat Burton, but it was not to be.
SUNDERLAND WILL HAVE A TWO-TIER SQUAD NEXT SEASON
One of the big problems this term was that Jack Rodwell remained on Premier League wages when the rest of his colleagues were forced into 40% pay cuts. It made the midfielder a hate figure on Wearside, and Coleman happily added fuel to that fire.
Life in League One will be much worse. Rodwell’s pay will come down, but only to the level it ought to have been in 2017-18. Those who have signed post-Moyes contracts will take a cut too, but the remaining survivors of the Premier League years will not. Neither will Coleman.
It will make moving on players such as Cattermole harder. Expect more to be loaned out next term while Sunderland subsidise their wages, as they have with Wahbi Khazri and Papy Djilobodji this season.
YOUTH CAN BE TRUSTED
The Championship has a reputation as a rugged, unrelenting league – no place for a novice.
But while the likes of Jason Steele, Callum McManaman and James Vaughan failed to shine in the second tier, some of the squad’s youngsters rose to the challenge.
Late bloomer George Honeyman was perhaps the player of the season having really been beyond the fringe under Moyes. Lynden Gooch, Joel Asoro, Josh Maja and Tyias Browning all had their moments, if not as many as we would have liked.
Ethan Robson did not look out of place when he first came into the side, but was taken out of the firing line like Maja.
Other youngsters such as the on-loan Jake Clarke-Salter and Brendan Galloway fell by the wayside, but it was a reminder not to be afraid of giving youth its chance – something to bear in mind next season.