The message to the Sunderland squad is very clear: sort your shit out.
Stop letting each other down.
One fact remains for Régis Le Bris’ side that should offer some comfort: the team is playing so far within themselves that it almost defies belief. Where is what made them the group they were last season, and why has it disappeared?
It is a club where various areas are letting themselves down when they don’t have to. Petulance, disconnect, tactical confusion, and meek surrender are the cornerstones of
this football club right now – in the league, at least.
A team that cannot defend and doesn’t take its chances. A team that is set up in a way that doesn’t have a proper shape or wingers. Brian Brobbey up front can look alarmingly isolated. Players whose body language has fluctuated between committed and disgracefully complacent. Did we not learn anything from last season? If not, then the lesson bears repeating: nothing comes easily in this division. It felt like we had to have the pedal pressed to the metal just to reach 40 points. It was hard. Very hard.
Yes, there is the relative success in the cup competitions, but that feels very much like Alan Partridge’s still-good news about the chocolate oranges. It is not what he will be judged by.
Of course, there are mitigating factors – injuries and the World Cup haven’t helped at all – but they will affect all sides in the Premier League. Sunderland are not unique in that regard.
Can Le Bris survive? Given the fixtures coming up, it would seem unlikely, particularly alongside the track record of the board. Sadly, prior achievements rarely outweigh the urgent business of survival. Just ask Claudio Ranieri at Leicester a decade ago. If he does go, it would be devastating, because we have so much to thank him for. But given the possible repercussions of failing to make a change, it might be that his position is untenable, unless Sunderland get two victories in the next four games.
The only thing which will save Le Bris is proving he has the answers. Yet that process should have begun against Coventry, but there was no response whatsoever.
If there is one thing we know, it is what relegation looks like. This is not a squad of 2002/03 or 2005/06, but it could well be one of 1996/97. This is a side more than good enough to stay up, but the team needs to seriously interrogate what they want from themselves and the professional pride they need to display. Something is not right; what exactly, no one knows except those on the inside of the club.
Nor do we know the solutions. But my advice to Régis Le Bris would be to ensure your mind is as open as possible. Play those who are doing well – Ahoka, Ta-Bi. Trust the squad.
And cross your fingers.
