You lot out there who are reading my weekly ramblings on these pages are probably getting sick of how much I am loving the start that Sunderland have made to the season in the Premier League, but I just can’t help it – the good times just keep on coming for those of a red-and-white persuasion, and right now I’m on cloud nine.
Saturday was another brilliant occasion for us as we went away to take on Ange Postecoglou’s Nottingham Forest, and we were fantastic value for our three points as we battled
hard and gave another good account of ourselves as we secured the victory. I said it after the summer transfer window, and I’ll say it again – Sunderland have not come up to make up the numbers, and we aren’t here to mess around. We’re here to compete, and all talk of relegation is off the table. Instead, it has been replaced by talk of taking each game one at a time and seeing each of them as an opportunity to win.
It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, we want to beat them, and it’s as simple and straightforward as that.
Forest have some unbelievable players, and you can fully understand how and why they managed to qualify for Europe this season, because on the pitch and on the bench they had some fantastic options, options that Postecoglou called upon across the ninety minutes that ultimately didn’t have what it takes to break Sunderland down. Whether it was Morgan Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, or Chris Wood, our solid defence kept them at bay to ensure we got out of there with another clean sheet and another three points, and we’re rapidly developing a reputation that we’re a side that teams struggle to take apart.
I have to say, though, that I’m getting fed up with reading fans of other clubs telling us that we’ve had an easy start. Sure, we haven’t played Manchester City, Liverpool, or Arsenal yet, but we’ve still had a tough start – and ultimately, you can only beat what is in front of you. In our last three games, we’ve faced Forest, Villa, and Palace, all of whom qualified for Europe this season.
Two of those games were away from home, and one of them was against a Crystal Palace side which is unbeaten in 18 games and that defeated Liverpool at the weekend – and we went there and kept a clean sheet. Give us the credit that we deserve instead of talking us down, because when we got promoted, all we heard from these same people was that we’d get battered every week and that we’d struggle.
I do wonder if there are just people out there who don’t want to see us succeed and would prefer to deflect from the shortcomings of their own clubs, but it is what it is.
Keep writing us off, because I have no doubts that we’ll keep on proving people wrong. Sunderland are doing much better than anyone expected, and for that we deserve all the credit in the world.
Next up is a trip to Old Trafford, and you have to wonder what the mood in their camp is like at the minute and whether they’re looking forward to facing us or not. We go there with nothing to lose and with an unbreakable spirit, and that makes us a horrible prospect for a Manchester United side who are really struggling to get going.
It seems completely crazy that I’m even writing this, but I actually fancy us to go there and get something.
Write us off at your peril!
