It’s been a strange old week in the life of a Sunderland supporter.
On the back of a defeat against Burnley and then going out on penalties in the cup on Tuesday night to Huddersfield, there’s also been a slight lull in transfer activity, and all of that has contributed to a less enthusiastic feel about what is to come. That’s completely natural, of course, as like when you ride any rollercoaster, you can’t just keep ascending, and eventually you must come down.
There was a lot of talk after the Burnley
game about it being a reality check, and I guess that may be true of some Sunderland supporters. Whether it’s just people getting carried away with the sheer high that came from thumping West Ham on the opening day or what, I don’t know, but there is a feeling that some sections of the fanbase weren’t quite ready to come down as quickly as we did.
I get it, honestly, but this is going to be a long season. August hasn’t even ended yet, and May is a long way away in the distance. So much is going to happen between now and then, and there will be many morale-sapping defeats that leave people questioning where things are going. This is normal, but I think it has to be accepted.
I think the sooner people make peace with the fact we are going to lose a lot of games, the easier it will be to just get over the latest defeat and look more optimistically ahead to the next fixture — and I have no doubt that once matchday rolls around on Saturday, everyone is going to be absolutely buzzing when Sunderland take on Brentford.
If the Burnley result should teach us anything, it should be that we can’t just write other Premier League teams off and that we have no right to think we’re going to walk over anyone – it has to be earned. Despite the many problems Brentford have, they’re no mugs and they’ve thrived at this level for years now for good reason.
Sunderland are more than capable of winning the game on Saturday. With a full stadium behind the Lads and with quality footballers all over the park, a few things going our way here and there, and we’ll get the three points. But, Brentford will have drawn a circle around this particular game as one where they too think they can get three points, and they’ll be coming for victory too. It should make for a fascinating game, having two teams going at it who know that this is a big chance to get another three points on board, and I’m really looking forward to it.
Let’s say we do get a win — that would be two wins from three, and six points on the board… an amazing start.
But… if we don’t…
It’s important we don’t panic. You might be sensing a theme here, but I keep repeating that this is a bloody long season and nothing is decided in August. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be upset or feel like we can’t be critical of the situation, but perspective is needed at all times. Our squad rebuild isn’t yet complete, there are many games left to play, and we should remember at all times what is needed from us as fans if we’re going to get to the end of the season having survived as a Premier League team.
< Insert image here of footballer pointing at own head shouting “stay calm” after a teammate scores an important late goal >
