The first half of 2024 was a weird period to be a Sunderland fan. Michael Beale came and went, Mike Dodds was trusted at the helm, and there were unprecedented levels of head loss amongst the fanbase.
Social media magnified this issue, which it seemingly does with every little thing that goes wrong at a football club. We saw pages with large followings questioning the ability of Kyril Louis Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman to take the club forward, and some fans wanted wholesale changes as we finished
16th.
The following summer was more of the same, with so much anger surrounding each day when Sunderland didn’t appoint a head coach. The void of nothing happening because it was close season was filled with anger because Sunderland didn’t have a head coach at a time when, yes, nothing was happening, and players were on holiday.
During this time, fans who were against the model seemed to wear this as a badge of honour. The ‘you’re all wrong and I’m right’ attitude is one that stinks, and reminds me a bit of Randall Weems from Recess (he looks like a young Moe Szyslak from The Simpsons, if you want another 90s cartoon reference).
This was a negative and dour way of being a fan, and those who appeared to be angry over the mere existence of Speakman, KLD, and Luke O’Nien (how on earth can you dislike him, man?!?) sat and stewed over the summer. We then got a manager when stuff was happening, and then a year later, we are in the Premier League. Things were always going to work out, and they worked out even quicker than many of us optimists expected.
I’ll hold my hand up and say at times, during that end of season, it did feel somewhat insulting to make it look as though we had thrown in the towel whilst fans paid good money, including myself, to watch some dire displays. The anger over the summer was less justified in my opinion, and I know hindsight is wonderful and all, but I hope some supporters vocal on social media looked back on what was posted in a different light.
The last 12 months, including the summer, have been particularly good for the optimists amongst us. There were times when form dipped, and when the season drew to a close, we were all getting a bit jittery as we headed into the playoffs on the back of five straight defeats. We got told ‘you can’t just turn it on for the playoffs’, I’m sure Coventry and Sheffield United fans thought long and hard about how untrue that is over the summer.
I was so excited for the season to start, but there was a nagging thought at the back of my mind. ‘What if we can’t compete?’ was pinging around my head, and then we went and won our first game back 3-0. Supporters of the model have been richly rewarded in the last three months, and with momentum on our side, let’s see where this regime can take our club.
