I don’t typically like international breaks at all. Bar the World Cups or Euros, I barely pay attention to international football, and usually, the national teams getting together is just an unnecessary diversion from league action.
This international break, however, could not have been better timed. By the time we take to the field on Sunday to face off against the hilariously-in-trouble Spurs, it’ll be 21 days since we returned from the Landfill On The Hill with all three points. Again.
Those three
weeks have given us plenty of time to enjoy the win, and plenty of time to listen to, read, and watch the spectacularly lacking in self-awareness fall out from north of the Tyne.
It’s given the players a break after a hectic four months of Premier League action since the last international break, and it’s also given us as supporters a chance to reflect on just what has been achieved over the past year or so – and look ahead to the rest of the season too.
With seven games left, we’re into the final chapter of the 2025/26 campaign, one that so far has been probably the best I can remember in 40-odd years of watching the lads.
The first chapter of the season – before the October international break – brought hope, exuberance and a fair degree of confidence, as the lads got home wins against West Ham and Brentford, an away win at Forest, and credible points at Palace and against Villa.
Chapter two saw that optimism grow and grow – a win over Wolves was followed by another three points at Chelsea that really made the rest of the league realise Sunderland definitely weren’t here to make up the numbers, as did an extremely credible draw at home to Arsenal. A home win over Bournemouth, meanwhile, showed the character of the team to come back against the odds and claim all three points.
Chapter three was the one in which we’d be ‘definitely found out’, but proved we could really stick in and get results. Away to Liverpool, home and away to City, the derby and losing players to AFCON… We really should have beaten Liverpool, got a great draw at home to City, a good point at Brighton, and of course beat the Saudis too.
Chapter four – the flurry of games early in the new year saw a bit of adversity to overcome – a couple of poor games, away at Brentford and West Ham were responded to well with an FA Cup penalty win at Everton and a routine home dispatching of Burnley. Defeats away to Arsenal and home to Liverpool were disappointing but certainly not unexpected or embarassing.
Chapter five, meanwhile, saw us beat Oxford in the cup, get a good draw at Bournemouth and beat Leeds and Newcastle away – as well as dropping points in home games to Fulham and Brighton, and the disappointment of Port Vale.
The closing chapter, the one that’s going to start on Sunday, is going to be a completely different one as there’s pretty much no pressure on us now in terms of achieving the primary goal that the team has been aiming for all season – staying up. So it’ll be really interesting to see the story the team writes to finish off the season.
Will Le Bris use these final seven games to try out a few tweaks in tactics and approach? We know goalscoring and chance creation has been something they’ve been trying to improve (I think we saw that improvement against Newcastle as it goes).
Or will he look to give certain players minutes – Chris Rigg and Eliezer Mayenda immediately spring to mind as lads who have the potential to play Premier League football more regularly. Or what about Dennis Cirkin, who I still believe has a load of potential and could well make the step up. Finn Geragusian was given his first international cap last week, and his manager talked about ‘needing to speed up his progress’. A League debut would certainly do that – and more importantly give us more leverage in contract talks too.
Or will we simply go into this next run looking at it more simply – getting as many points as possible on the board and trying to get into Europe? That would be some achievement, and certainly not one that would be beyond the realms of possibility for this set of players and coaching staff.
It’ll be intriguing to watch – and if the past 12 months has proven anything at all, it’s that anything can happen.
Bruce’s Departure Sows Unnecessary Seed Of Doubt – But Time Will Tell…
While on the field – thanks to the Derby win – it’s all looking up, off the field there’s a little more to ponder – and this could well be a subplot to the season’s final chapter – because David Bruce’s exit was a real surprise, and it was a move that’s understandably provoked a lot of concern.
First of all, it’s important to acknowledge the current ownership group have done remarkably well since taking over the club, but the improvement since Bruce arrived has been stratospheric, and I fear the club have made a big mistake here.
Who knows what the reasons were behind the move – we will only ever know so much as supporters – but the visible improvement in so many areas since Bruce’s arrival has been there for all to see.
However, the biggest concern for me is the loss of Sunderland knowledge from the group of people steering the club. You need baked in, from-birth knowledge of Sunderland high up at the club, and with Bruce following David Jones out of the club we’ve lost that completely.
Would a David Bruce-less leadership group have understood the hummel connection? Or the Welcome To Sunderland sign? Or the desire to honour and recognise legends? I doubt it. And that’s what’s at risk.
I don’t want us to become a club that’s so focused on progression that we lose sight of what’s really important. We don’t want to compromise the fabric of the club, the history of the club, and the connection between the club and the supporters.
Having people in leadership positions at the club who have stood in the Fulwell End, or who sat in the North Stand as Status Quo descended onto the field is essential, as they understand more than other people possible could, and they will go that extra mile for success.
Bruce’s presence was also a big trust builder for the ownership group, as we had ‘someone like us’ in there vouching for them.
I just hope KLD and the board truly understand that. My gut isn’t feeling right about this one – but we’ll see how it goes.
