Let’s make SoL a horrible place for players to come to
Sunderland have a difficult game tonight, at sixth-placed Doncaster, and as usual, they’ll be spurred on by another huge away following.After the win at Shrewsbury, Sunderland have the chance to make it three consecutive away wins and that’s a great achievement at any level of football.
There’s nothing like winning to boost confidence, both on and off the pitch. At the moment there’s a great feeling of optimism around Wearside that we need to keep going as long as possible.
After the Doncaster game, Sunderland at long last have a home game when they face Southend United next Saturday. It seems ages since Sunderland last played in front of their own fans, going back to the start of the month, with a 2-2 draw against Peterborough.
Sunderland have to make the Stadium of Light a fortress, I truly believe at this level, every game Sunderland don’t win at home is points thrown away and we’ve wasted too many already with three draws so far.
The Stadium of Light is always going to be attractive to opposing players in this league, it’s the ground they all want to play at because of its size, great facilities, and they won’t play in front of a bigger or better crowd.
However all that is before the game starts – once the whistle blows our players have to be relentless, fighting, scrapping and not giving the opposition an inch.
That will motivate the crowd to create a hostile environment, making the whole experience of visiting the Stadium of Light as uncomfortable as possible for the opposition during the 90 minutes.
Making the Stadium of Light a great place to go, but a horrible place to play, is how it’s got to be now.
For too long, especially in the two relegation seasons, Sunderland’s home record has been abysmal, visiting teams loved coming here, as soon as something went wrong, heads would drop and the fans could sense there was little appetite to fight back, or the mental strength even if they wanted to.
I hope the Southend players and their fans enjoy the whole experience of visiting Wearside and the Stadium of Light on Saturday, everything expect the game itself, and that’s when the players must make sure the welcome ends.