Parkinson understands supporters’ reactions
Under-fire Phil Parkinson says the reaction of the Sunderland fans was ‘understandable’ after they hit out at him and the players after a dire 2-1 home defeat to Burton Albion.
Fans chanted ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ at Parkinson and ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ at the players following the defeat, Sunderland didn’t lay a glove on the Brewers after falling behind with 20 minutes to go.
Furious supporters vented theirfuryatthefull-timewhistle at both the manager, who has now lost seven games in 11 since replacing Jack Ross, and the players.
When quizzed on the chants, Parkinson said: “It’s understandable. Conceding 70 minutes there’s time left, plenty of time left and we didn’t show any bravery after that. You need conviction and belief and we didn’t show that.
“The FA Cup games were disappointing, this is the first home league defeat. Keeping clean sheets is an issue, you can’t keep conceding slopping goals like we did. It was two cheap goals, we could have dealt with the second one in the middle of our goal. In a stadium with expectation you need to give yourself a chance bybelievingyoucankeepclean sheets. The fans are entitled to an expectation.”
Pressedonhowmuchpressure he felt under given the dire run of results, Parkinson added: “Pressure? I accept totally the reaction. For the last quarter of the game we were nowhere near good enough and if I was sat in the stand I wouldn’t accept that. Wearing the Sunderland shirt you need the courage to play and we didn’t have that. We looked aimless in the last spell of the game. I totally accept the criticism, it wasn’t good enough in that last period, Sometimes it doesn’tgoforyouandyouhave toshowresilienceandbeliefto get there. We need additions, no doubt about it. We need players who will relish playing at this stage. In fairness in the league games here they have done that and they did it on Saturday when we kept going.
“This is the first time I sensed the pressure is on us.”
But he insisted he has what it takes to get the club promoted adding: “I have had teams promoted, both playoffs and automatic and I know what is required and I feel we need to show more mental strength to get there.”