Boss keen to draw line under historical failures in bid to secure success
SO here we are again.
For the second time in four seasons, Sunderland stand on the threshold of a potential return to the Championship.
They head to Wembley for tomorrow’s League One play-off final against Wycombe Wanderers determined to lay to rest the ghost of their 2019 defeat against Charlton Athletic.
And, for good measure, to exorcise the spectres of their two previous play-off disappointments at the old national stadium in 1998 and 1990, along with the semi-final phantoms of 2021, 2004 and 1987.
Around 44,000 Sunderland fans will pack the West End of the ground praying that this time things will be different, and the club’s 35-year wait for a play-off victory will end. And that in the process, Sunderland will draw a line under the four-year stay in League One that unquestionably represents the club’s nadir.
For head coach Alex Neil, though, history belongs firmly in the past. If there is one thing that is sure to make
the Scot’s hackles rise, it is to dwell on Sunderland’s laundry list of disappointments.
“I’m very much of the mind that, if you continue to talk negatively about something, you’re going to get a negative outcome,” he said recently.
“That’s probably why people think I’m a bit prickly. But I’m trying to get a positive outcome for my team, and the last thing I want is people talking negatively about what happened years and years ago because we can’t affect that.
“I don’t think it is helpful if we keep talking about past experiences that weren’t particularly good.”
To that end, tomorrow’s play-off final represents an opportunity to draw a line under what went before and start, if not exactly anew, then at least afresh. He has already made a start. Since taking over in February, Neil has managed to wring more out of the squad he inherited than his predecessor Lee Johnson had managed since the turn of the year.
“He gave young players such as Dan Neil, Callum Doyle and Dennis Cirkin a breather, and brought January additions such as Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke up to speed, while finding a way to get the best out of skipper Corry Evans. Neil oversaw the final 15 league games of the campaign and his side collected 30 points – an average of two pointsper-game which, if maintained over an entire season, would have secured automatic promotion.
Sunderland also ended the season on the back of a 13-game unbeaten run, which has since stretched to 15 games following the play-off semifinal matches against Sheffield Wednesday.
That improved form led, in turn, to an improved mood among supporters. Notwithstanding the natural caution that comes with involvement in high-stakes play-off games, there is a genuine feeling of optimism among fans going into the final – gone is the apprehension that was there in the run-up to the final against Charlton in 2019.
Sunderland know better than to take anything for granted, and Wycombe’s physical style and setpiece mastery will make them awkward opponents – as they proved in January, when the sides fought out a 3-3 draw at Adams Park. But we are back to history again.
There is a sense that, under Neil, a new chapter is waiting to be written.
Let us hope that it starts with a tale of play-off success.