Point is, this is a game Cats should have won
IT is 71 days since Lewis Grabban scored twice to inspire Sunderland to victory at one of his former clubs, Norwich City, in August.
When Grabban netted twice to put the Black Cats 3-1 up at half-time against another of his former employers, Brentford, it seemed that wait might at last be coming to an end.
However, Sunderland fans should have known better.
Their team appears to have forgotten how to win.
A goal straight after half-time brought Brentford back into the game and the fears of the soldout away end at Griffin Park were realised 12 minutes from time when the Bees levelled.
Conventional footballing wisdom says a point away from home should never be sniffed at.
However, when you have thrown away a two-goal lead – and when you are as desperate for victories as Sunderland – the fans are in no mood for philosophical reflection.
Not with their team sitting next to bottom of the Championship with 13 games gone and only nine points on the board.
That is why watching Simon Grayson’s attempt to pick out positives from another disappointing result – and, yes, they were there if you care to look – is like watching a man trying to tiptoe through a minefield wearing rollerskates.
He could point to a third game unbeaten, chances created and three goals scored away from home.
He could pick out the performance of Grabban, who was making his first start after a month out through injury, and the contribution of Duncan Watmore.
He could praise his team for the character they showed to recover after Nico Yennaris had put the home side ahead early on, to get themselves in a winning position before the break thanks to those Grabban goals, which included a penalty earned by Watmore and an own-goal by Bees’ goalkeeper Daniel Bentley.
He could also bemoan the fact the free-kick Florian Jozefzoon scored straight after half-time was questionable to say the least – and that Neal Maupay’s equaliser was the result of a wicked deflection.
Yet it cuts no ice with the fans at present.
Instead, they focused on the three goals shipped, two points thrown away and the fragility of their team.
They criticised Grayson’s decision to stick with Jason Steele in goal, even though, in point of fact, he did little wrong.
They took issue with his substitutions late in the game, although it was clear Grabban’s race was run after so long out and Watmore – who was making only his second start after 10 months out through injury – had also run out of steam.
Such is life for a manager when results are not going your way.
One thing both Grayson and the fans can agree on is that the outcomes of the next two games are utterly crucial.
The Black Cats face high-flying Bristol City next Saturday then basement side Bolton the following Tuesday in back-toback home games.
Sunderland’s winless streak has to come to an end, but the reality is that only back-to-back wins will ease the pressure built up on the manager.