Hope dwindling for Black Cats
CLOCK IS TICKING TOWARDS BACK-TO-BACK RELEGATIONS
WITH ten games remaining, the final countdown has begun.
Sunderland have been here before, and for five of the last six seasons managed to survive by the skin of their teeth in the Premier League before their luck eventually ran out last May.
But, while it pains me to say it, the clock is now ticking down towards back-to-back relegations.
Barring a miracle, Sunderland will be playing League One football in August.
Because, unlike the sides that scraped top- flight survival between 2012 and 2016, this team shows no sign of rallying in the nick of time.
None whatsoever.
It continues to slide inexorably downwards, with Tuesday’s 3-0 home defeat against Aston Villa offering proof that the recent uptick in performances, if not results, was nothing more than a dead cat bounce.
All the old failings were there against Villa, the cheap goals given away, the players’ terror when playing at the Stadium of Light, the mistakes, the tension, and ultimately the misery of yet another defeat. It was inevitable that Lewis Grabban would score on his return, having spent the first half of the season on loan on Wearside, just as it was depressingly predictable that the injury-time corner at the end of the first half would end in a killer second goal, with James Chester the beneficiary. A deflection off Bryan Oviedo midway through the second half gave Villa their third, but it was already academic as Sunderland were never going to get back into this game. In his post-match press conference, Chris Coleman was as downbeat and dejected as at any time I have seen him since he took over in November. He genuinely seems to be at the end of his tether working with a group of players who cannot carry out simple instructions, do not learn from their mistakes, and who appear resigned to their fate. Coleman continues to talk about fighting on – as, indeed, he must – but his demeanour is that of a man who knows how this story will end.
Of course, there is always the possibility of divine intervention.
Anyone who remembers Gus Poyet’s side overcoming a sevenpoint deficit with six games to go, and a run-in that included trips to Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City, to reach safety with a game to spare in 2014, knows that there is a footballing god. But this season does not remind me of that one.
Coleman is focusing on the fourpoint margin between Sunderland and safety, the fact there are still more than enough games remaining to bridge that gap, and that all that is required is to string a few wins together.
But Sunderland have won only five games out of 36 so far – what basis is there for belief that they can win as many again, which is likely to provide the bare minimum number of points they would need to stand a chance of getting out of the relegation zone, and stay there?
Not much, I would suggest. And while publicly he must continue putting a brave face on it, privately I think Coleman would agree.
Coleman continues to talk about fighting on – as, indeed, he must – but his demeanour is that of a man who knows how this story will end