The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
O’nien: I am embarrassed by this defeat
EMBARRASSED Luke O’nien admitted Sunderland’s 5-1 hammering at home to Blackburn Rovers was “difficult to process.”
The Black Cats’ performance on Easter Monday – which came on the back of the excellent 2-0 Championship success at Cardiff City three days earlier – was as unexpected as it was shocking.
Club skipper O’nien said: “I’m embarrassed. To put in a performance like that is unacceptable and it’s been difficult to process.
“People say it’s one to forget but it’s not. Games like that have got to fuel you going forward. When you cross the white line, days like that cannot happen.
“There’s a way to lose games and that was very far from it. People know you are going to lose games but to come away from the basics of having pride and possession on the ball, getting tight enough, running – they are non-negotiables right there. “Collectively, we are embarrassed.” O’nien expects the players to bounce back against Bristol City on Saturday and he added: “Doddsy [interim head coach Mike Dodds] sets us up and gives us all the information, but we didn’t do the basics and every single one of us as players have to take full accountability.
“We let the fans down and it’s important we dissect that. It’s chalk and cheese from Friday’s game and it’s going to be very easy to see what went wrong. It won’t happen again.”
As one who considers himself culpable too, O’nien can’t wait to play again and admitted: “I wish the game could be tomorrow. It will be an important week ahead of us.
“When you have days like that you see what the boys are going to be like and the characters will come forward. We must demand from the group and demand from ourselves. We have a burning desire to put things right and get miles better and we will.”
Asked if he expected a reaction at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, Dodds – who described his side’s display against Blackburn as ‘unacceptable’ – said: “Definitely. There’s no easy games in this league and for a group that needs our help as coaching staff they have got to realise that really quickly.
“You can’t turn up and do what you want to do. We’ve got to put that right as that is completely unacceptable.
“It’s something I won’t accept, it’s something the football club won’t accept and like I said I’m going to hold some of my words because I’m bitterly disappointed and angry with the performance, individually and collectively.
“We are not going to forget it, we will review it and have some tough and honest conversations.”
Referring to the Sunderland supporters, Dodds added: “They are an unbelievable fan base.
“They deserve a huge amount more than what they got for
90-plus minutes.”