It seems like a lifetime ago in many respects – but just four years ago today, Alex Neil’s Sunderland went to Ashton Gate and enjoyed an exceptionally good 3-2 away win to put the club second in the Championship table.
It had been a long time coming – our first win in the second tier since May 2018, and our first Championship away win since that ridiculous 4-1 win over Derby in March.
Since then, four seasons of third-tier football had passed, and having secured a play-off promotion, we were all hoping
that things were on the up.
A lot of that was down to Alex Neil, and while the boss may have been left a little frustrated with Sunderland’s summer transfer activity, it was one new arrival who made his mark on this game.
Ellis Simms, on loan from Everton, was given a start after watching the opening-day draw with Coventry from the bench, and he wasted no time in grabbing the headlines.
We’d been told by fans of clubs he’d turned out for before that he liked to take shots on early, and he absolutely did that on this occasion, firing home low and hard from the edge of the box to give Sunderland a fourth-minute lead.
Simms was playing in a front two with Ross Stewart – Neil opting for a back three of new arrival Dan Ballard, Danny Batth and Dennis Cirkin, with Lynden Gooch and Jack Clarke operating as wing-backs. There was no place in the team for Patrick Roberts, nor for Luke O’Nien – both unused substitutes on this occasion.
It wasn’t a lead we were able to hold for too long, however, with Andy Weimann equalising after 10 minutes – and while we had impressive spells during the game, it was City who took the lead in the second half, with former Sunderland target Chris Martin putting the home team ahead on 51 minutes.
It was a lead that didn’t last for long. Simms equalised with a clinical finish on 53 minutes, while strike partner Stewart scored what would prove to be the winner on 72 minutes.
There was still time for Aji Alese to make his first appearance for the Lads from the bench, while Leon Dajaku replaced Simms with seconds remaining.
It was an impressive win, and certainly gave all concerned confidence that we’d give the Championship a red-hot crack that season. However, looking back now, you do wonder how things would have turned out had Alex Neil stayed in charge.
I’m not going to rewrite history here – I thought he was excellent and was hugely disappointed when he left.
However, would Jack Clarke have gone on to have as good a season as he had with us had he been constrained at left wing-back? Not a chance.
Would Patrick Roberts have forced his way back into the team had Neil persevered with a back three? That’s highly unlikely.
Would Luke O’Nien have reclaimed a starting spot? Probably, knowing O’Nien! But Neil didn’t seem to fancy him that much.
It was most definitely a sliding doors moment for Nathan Broadhead, however. The striker, who’d impressed on loan the previous season, was on the verge of rejoining but apparently got cold feet based on Simms’ performance and headed to Ipswich in the league below instead.
Sunderland took the three points and looked forward to the next fixture – at home to Michael Beale’s QPR – which we drew 2-2. We then visited Sheffield United, where we registered a 2-1 defeat, followed by a 1-0 win at Stoke, which would prove to be Neil’s last game in charge.
It’s strange how football works out, and it’s interesting to ponder just what would have transpired had Alex Neil decided he’d accept the way the club was working and come along for the ride.
However, on this day just four years ago, the manager was viewed by many as absolutely critical to our future… how wrong we were!
Sunderland (5-3-2): Patterson, Gooch, Ballard, Batth, Cirkin, Clarke (Alese 88), Neil, Evans, Pritchard (Embleton 81), Simms (Dajaku 90), Stewart.
Unused: Bass, Wright, O’Nien, Roberts.
