A season of misery was only just beginning for Mick McCarthy’s beleaguered outfit, and despite an abundance of grit, determination and heart, the Lads were severely lacking the quality that wins a team football matches along with survival in the Premier League.
McCarthy’s hands were tied as tightly Daniel Levy’s purse strings and this ultimately meant he couldn’t purchase the quality needed to improve. Bob Murray was under pressure from fans and with the chairman looking to sell the club, he reportedly
only offered McCarthy £6 million for signings and wages for his squad.
This left McCarthy having to look in the bargain basement and with strikers Andy Gray and Jon Stead drafted in to try and score the goals, the 2005/2006 season looked doomed before it began.
Despite an early Gray goal (his only goal of the season) in the first game against Charlton Athletic, things fell apart swiftly enough in that game to show what kind of season it was going to be. A 1-3 defeat at the Stadium of Light was followed by a daunting trip to Anfield to face a Liverpool side who’d won the Champions League the previous May.
After the Charlton debacle, the Sunderland manager decided to shut up shop in the hope of avoiding a possible hammering from the home side. With Carl Robinson, Dean Whitehead and Tommy Miller in the middle of the park, the team was at least industrious and solid at the expense of posing any attacking threat.
In truth, it was backs against the wall for the duration of the game and Sunderland had goalkeeper Kelvin Davis to thank as he stopped multiple opportunities from the likes of Steven Gerrard, Djibril Cisse and Xabi Alonso. For the away side, Gray was up top on his own in what was a lonesome task, with almost zero creative passing being offered to him.
Alonso eventually gave the home side the lead with a thunderbolt of a free kick which even the in-form Davis was unable to stop.
Liverpool continued to pepper the Sunderland goal but the most dramatic moment from a red and white perspective was the red card of winger Andy Welsh by referee Barry Knight (above).
As Julio Arca and Luis Garcia battled for the ball, Garcia appeared to be pushed into the winger — whose arms were unusually high in the air — with his arm lightly catching the Spaniard before he executed a dive even Tom Daley would have been proud of.
The red card was harsh, with commentator Gerry Francis suggesting that “It wasn’t bad tackle, it wasn’t a foul and it wasn’t even a yellow card”.
Welsh had some reasons to feel angered with the decision and as you can see in the picture above, McCarthy was unhappy and made his feelings known after the game whilst also expressing his pride of his team’s game in a narrow defeat.
It’s not a sending off. I spoke to refree Barry Knight and he says he will have a look at it.
He says Andy swung an arm and that’s why he gave it. I don’t doubt that will get changed.
It’s sad I’m talking about the referee when we played well, especially in the first half.
After another defeat, things weren’t looking particularly healthy for them going forward. A first win against Middlesbrough was still another five games away and even the most ardent fan could see that McCarthy’s charges were in a spot of bother.
Liverpool: Reina, Finnan, Hyypia; Carragher, Warnock, Sissoko; Alonso, Gerrard (Luis Garcia ‘55), Zenden (Riise ‘63); Morientes, Cisse (Baros ‘75)
Subs Not Used: Josemi, Carson
Sunderland: Davis, Nosworthy, Breen; Stubbs, Arca, Lawrence (Elliott ‘66); Miller, Whitehead, Robinson (Woods ‘81); Welsh, Gray (Brown ‘66)
Subs Not Used: Caldwell, Joe Murphy
