ROWELL: SLOW TEMPO COST US CHANCE OF RARE HOME SUCCESS!
After last week’s great win at Burton Albion, hopes and morale were higher than they have for a long time, but it all went badly wrong again against Reading, another case of one step forward and two steps back.
Even before kick off, Paddy McNair picked up an injury, forcing a reshuffle.
We should have known then it wouldn’t be our day and it was downhill from there as the Stadium of Light hoodoo continues.
I was surprised and disappointed at the lack of tempo from the start. Sunderland were so slow and lacklustre.
I know McNair’s injury robbed them of much needed energy – his replacement Darron Gibson isn’t exactly the most dynamic midfield player.
However, I expected them to come out all guns blazing in Chris Coleman’s first home game, pressing the Reading defenders and getting forward in numbers.
Instead we backed off Reading as they knocked the ball around the defence at will, under no pressure and that took all the momentum out of the game.
Saying all that though, the game turned on the sending off, up to then there was nothing between the teams who were both as bad as each other.
I’ve long thought that things happen to Sunderland that just don’t at other clubs and the McManaman incident was just the latest that leaves the fans open mouthed in sheer disbelief.
Adam Matthews’ cross might have even drifted in if McManaman had left well alone, but instead of going in at half time at least level, or even a goal up, we find a way to disallow it ourselves as well as going a man down, which was simply unbelievable.
The extra man predictably took its toll in the second half as the bright new era the fans were hoping to see turned into a carbon copy of what we’ve been seeing all year at the Stadium of Light.
So, Chris Coleman definitely knows now what he’s taken on if he didn’t already.
A great club with huge potential certainly, but one with an uncanny ability to make things far more difficult than they ever need to be.