John Wilson says…
What’s keeping me positive is the fact that this game certainly won’t define our season — and taking a longer-term view, it won’t define the trajectory the club is on.
Of course it’s depressing whenever we lose — and certainly to them — but our visit to the ‘Visitors’ is in many ways still a free shot. They’re the established PL team, they’re still in the Champions League and for years, they told us that we’re an ‘irrelevance’ to them.
We’ve already proven everybody wrong on that front and we’re moving
steadily in the right direction.
Many things at the club, both on and off the field, are the best they’ve been in generations, so I wouldn’t be of a mind to be too bothered even in defeat. That would make it a victory each this season and if any club is striding forward, it’s Sunderland.
We need to remember where we’ve come from, where we are now — and be proud and assured that the club is in safe hands.
Malc Dugdale says…
Whatever happens at the weekend and during the remaining games of the season, perspective is crucial.
People may call me a ‘happy clapper’ or a ‘glass half-full merchant’ but it’s realism that matters and the steps we’ve taken are verging on unreal. This has already been a very successful season and it’s a compliment to the Lads that we’ve come so far that we already hope (and to an extent expect) for more.
We need to avoid behaving in an entitled fashion, as nemesis always gets the upper hand on hubris, but it can’t be overstated that we’ve come a hell of a long way in seven months.
We’ve bucked the trend and all but guaranteed survival at this level with a couple of months of the season to go — something no promoted team has done across the last few years in thirty eight games, never mind thirty or so. We’ve also beaten many good teams and taken points we wouldn’t have dreamed of last summer.
We’ve also shown that strong but not necessarily super-risky investment can work, with fourteen players coming in for close to £150 million. We’ve demonstrated that with the right people to identify, recruit and integrate players, it can actually come off rather than fail — which would bite us all on the arse if we headed back to the Championship.
We’ve grown organically, embracing new players and taking tough decisions to move on from those that helped enable this phase. We’ve also seen certain stalwarts thrive and have basked in their personal development and pride.
This has all been done against a backdrop of investment in the ground and the matchday atmosphere to match the investment in our region and especially our city. Town centres all over the UK are in decline but we’re on the up in so many ways.
Success breeds success, and our city and club are both going from strength to strength. Who wouldn’t be over the moon with that?
Give Luke O’Nien the keys to the city, knight Régis Le Bris and let’s turn that frown upside down, lads and lasses.
Anyone who claims they wouldn’t have accepted where we are now back in July needs a massive head wobble. I can’t wait for 2026/2027!
Tom Albrighton says…
Although 2026 hasn’t got off to a flier for the Lads and the mood has begun to dip, the thing that’s keeping me sane is remembering that this lull isn’t as bad as it feels.
We’re all scarred by previous seasons — which may be exacerbating the anxiety we’re feeling right now — but the fact this is happening when survival is nearing the point of being mathematically certain is a thing of beauty in itself.
I have to remind myself that the backdrop for the critique given isn’t one of desperation or panic, but one of preparation for what’s likely going to be another season of Premier League football.
That said, it’s OK to be critical as long as it’s respectful and backed up by a genuine argument as opposed to some of the nonsense we’ve seen online recently, which has been borne of knee-jerk reactions in the immediate aftermath.
But what we do have to remember and what we all need to remember heading into next week is this: if you’d offered any fan even a chance of survival, you’d have been delighted and to be looking towards it being mathematically certain within a few games is mind-boggling.
Hopefully before that, when injuries subside, we can begin to put some form together for next season. For now, we have to ride the wave and whilst this one may have peaked, we always have to remember that there’s another one behind us somewhere.
