Well, if you had told me one year ago that in 12 months time we’d be going into the last game of a Premier League season with a chance of claiming a European place I would’ve looked urgently for the fellas in white coats to get you locked up pronto.
But here we are. In with a chance of qualifying for Europe via the league for the first time in our almost 150-year history.
This season has been brilliant. From the play-offs to beating the Visitors twice, I doubt any club’s fans have had 12 months packed
with such memorable moments.
Yes we’ve had a couple of little downs over the course of the season, but the vast, vast, vast majority of the campaign has been highlight upon highlight, and it’s a remarkable reflection of the work that Regis Le Bris, his backroom staff, all of the players led by Granit Xhaka and the off -ield team led by Kyril Louis Dreyfus have done over the past 12 months.
So as we head into the game against Chelsea on Sunday, we’re presented with a moment that’s rare in football – we can reflect on the magnitude of the progress that has been made at this football club over the past 12 months, appreciate what we’ve achieved, in the knowledge that it could get even better.
Rewind 12 months. We were looking forward to the Wembley play-off final as major underdogs, having to endure the blanket one-eyed reporting that Frank Lampard‘s ‘trrific’ Coventry side had been the actual winners having *checks notes* had more possession.
According to the world and his dog, we were 100% certain to be beaten by Sheffield United. On that occasion, we went one goal down, but showed the resilience, determination, and desire to stay in the game and get the result; traits that have been so important throughout the course of this season, and were evident once again in our impressive victory at Everton on Sunday.
Was it a perfect display? Not at all. While we dominated possession for long parts of the game, we often lacked that cutting edge to break the opposition down.
That’s something we’ve seen throughout the course of this season, however in the second half when the game opened up a little bit, we showed a clinical side to our game to put away the chances and claim all three points.
That win summed up our season, crystallising the strengths and weaknesses that we’ve displayed since we kicked off in August.
We are more than capable of competing with the top teams in this league, as we have proved time and time again, however when we’ve got the ball sometimes we lack a little bit of creativity to break teams down. But that’s something that, you’d think, can be relatively easily remedied in the summer.
For now, we’ve got one game left and a win will leave us with an excellent chance of qualifying for Europe. And the fact we’re in this position speaks volumes to he motivation and determination of the playing squad. It’d have been easy for them to put the flip-flops on and head to the proverbial beach after reaching 40 points but we haven’t.
We’ve dug in, dug deep, and have given it a red hot go, and you’ve got to give an enormous amount of credit to the team there too.
And, Regis Le Bris too. He’s shown time and time again this season just how tactically astute he is, and made decisions on Sunday that won us the game.
He’s taken us from 16th in the championship to 9th in the Premier League. He’s the reason Enzo Le Fee is here. And he’s on the verge of achieving what no other Sunderland manager has ever done, in terms of European qualification. What an appointment that turned out to be. It was worth the wait…
Make no mistake about it. This team and manager will be talked fondly about in 50 years’ time. We’re witnessing history being made. And regardless of how this coming Sunday turns out, it’s been one hell of a season.
So enjoy this week, and this weekend. These occasions don’t happen very often at all to normal clubs. For Sunderland, though, it’s becoming the norm.
It’s been the greatest show. And long may it continue.
