Fans want to see the Black Cats unleashed
ASK Sunderland supporters what advice they would give to Mike Dodds for his last game in charge, and many would say, “for goodness sake take the shackles off”.
Setting up not to lose rather than win is not a good look for fans who crave excitement.
There has been precious little of that in the past few home matches.
In the six home games Dodds has been in charge, he has lost four and drawn two, while the team has scored a paltry two goals. In the two games they scored, they lost, with one of them being a 5-1 thumping against Blackburn Rovers.
By anyone’s standards, that simply isn’t good enough.
Dodds, who obviously has the club at heart, no longer has the excuse that his best players are injured as he prepares to take on Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow.
The men who make things happen in attack are there and what has Dodds got to lose by unleashing them and going for broke?
He has already lost matches by trying to be resilient and cautious.
He might as well try to outscore the opposition even if they lose again.
It’s been a strange time in the life of the Black Cats.
Why a new head coach hasn’t been appointed by now escapes me.
Seeing the squad first-hand in the final two or three games would surely have helped.
Then again, maybe the club were sparing the new man from having to try to turn around the form with seemingly demotivated players.
Let’s face it, win or lose, the players don’t look particularly bothered, with one or two exceptions.
They all know a new era is about to begin and Will Still’s departure from Reims is an interesting one.
Sunderland fans will be hoping he might be the choice of the hierarchy.
In that case, it will have been an appointment worth waiting for.