Simon’s cure for Groundhog day
HE’LL USE PRESTON LESSON
SIMON GRAYSON is praying history repeats itself as he aims to transform the fortunes of struggling Sunderland.
The Black Cats travel to Hull today bidding to avoid a fourth successive defeat.
But while long-suffering fans are bracing themselves for yet another fight for survival – after a decade of struggle in the Premier League – Grayson won’t panic. In fact, he’s seen it all before.
Rocky
For Grayson it must be like the film Groundhog Day, when Bill Murray experiences the same 24 hours over and over again.
Grayson endured an equally rocky start to life at Preston before winning the League One play-offs in 2015.
“I’ve been through this type of run before ®Êby IAN MURTAGH and I’m an experienced enough manager to know how to deal with it,” he said.
“We were in the relegation places at Preston, then went on a run where we lost only three games in 30.
“It hurts to lose games but I won’t allow myself to get too down about defeats here.
“We weren’t getting carried away at the start of the season when we went five games unbeaten and, as things stand, we’re not despondent that we’re going to be where we are in the table for the rest of the season.”
Grayson must do without top scorer Lewis Grabban through a hamstring injury.
That’s a cruel blow with the Black Cats having gone almost six hours without a goal.
Grayson added: “Nothing seems to be going our way but we won’t start feeling sorry for ourselves.”