On Saturday evening, as we sifted through the wreckage and tried to make sense of Sunderland’s dismal defeat at the hands of Coventry City, I would’ve quite happily loaded the words “meltdown”, “bedwetting” and “headloss” into a cannon, lit the fuse and blasted them into outer space.
Halloween horror stories are nothing new, but this was an effort straight from the George A.Romero school of brutality and the latest horrific result to which Sunderland’s fans have been subjected. In classic splattercore
fashion, the Lads ran straight towards the danger in the Midlands, looked entirely unprepared for what was coming, and were duly picked off.
Nine points were on offer from our three most recent league outings, and we banked a total of one. Not good enough. Nowhere near.
And yet, even as recently as last week, when a dour 0-0 home draw with Leeds was being hailed in some circles as a step forward (I’m sorry, but effort should not be praised unless it’s something truly exceptional), there was still a belief that the corner would be turned and that from somewhere, we’d find the solution. It hasn’t been — and we haven’t.
Denial is not a viable option here. Blithely claiming that “It’ll click” is foolish. Flagging up ropey metrics and claiming that the picture isn’t as stark as it appears to be is borderline insulting. Domestically, Sunderland have been mediocre for the bulk of the season, and it’s showing no signs of changing.
The issues of responsibility and accountability must be addressed if we’re to have even the slightest chance of getting out of this mess. And to that end, the focus must be placed upon the players, coaches and higher-ups whose actions (and occasionally inaction, it must be said), and decisions have landed us in a relegation battle that few might’ve seen coming but that we must all accept.
Currently looking worryingly short of ideas and showing no signs of changing his approach, Régis Le Bris is carrying the can for Sunderland’s ills and to a point, that’s fair, but make no mistake: those around him shouldn’t escape scrutiny — least of all Florent Ghisolfi, whose maiden solo flight and forays into the transfer market didn’t yield the results needed.
He worked brilliantly alongside Kristjaan Speakman in order to build a competitive top flight side for 2025/2026, but the jury remains firmly out on too many of his most recent additions, and even those that’ve shown promise aren’t being trusted enough.
Legitimate concerns about Sunderland’s style of play, our form, our lack of defensive solidity, midfield cohesion and attacking spark have been flagged up for weeks.
Pundits and analysts watching from afar might sneer and claim that this was all inevitable, but it wasn’t. And frankly, the idea that the supporters are burdened by entitlement is something that we need to look at, because to my mind, it doesn’t stack up.
Even amid a summer of ticketing troubles, a frankly bizarre membership scheme and the farce of the shirt sponsorship issue, surely all we wanted to see was the club to retain its focus, make every effort to build on what we’d achieved and to target another top half finish en route to establishing Sunderland as a competitive top flight outfit. Excessive? Absolutely not.
Rightly or wrongly, words have meaning — particularly when they’re delivered after qualifying for Europe for the first time in several generations.
It wasn’t the fans that got on the microphone following last season’s victory over Chelsea and declared bombastically that this was “Just the start” and that “We want more”. Nobody could’ve blamed Granit Xhaka for peddling such inspirational rhetoric at that moment, but if you’re going to do that, you’d better do your damnedest to back it up when it matters.
Xhaka simply hasn’t done that this season and nor have too many of his teammates, either. The Swiss midfielder’s on-pitch influence is seemingly dwindling as his legs appear heavy, and people seem to be growing increasingly weary of his post-match observations.
Is it harsh that last season’s history-making captain should now find himself under such scrutiny? Perhaps, but this is life as Sunderland skipper. He dealt with it superbly last season, but he most certainly isn’t this time. Jules Ahoka, for example, looks like a fine prospect and there’s a valid argument in favour of him being given more opportunities as we seek some verve in the engine room.
I’m firmly of the belief that too many people at the club — from those in the boardroom to many of the players — got a little soft following last season’s success.
Complacency appears to have crept in, and the diamond-cut mentality that played such a key role for the Lads in 2025/2026 seems to have disappeared.
Some seem to be thriving, with several youngsters doing their cause no harm in recent games, but many aren’t, and when you combine that with a style of play that falls horribly between two stools and many of our most exciting attacking players looking completely ineffectual, the outcome speaks for itself.
Buzzwords, PR offerings and sharply-edited montages won’t get Sunderland out of this mess. The only thing that will is action — meaningful action — and given what lies ahead in the league, changes simply must be made.
Let’s hope and pray that this isn’t “Just the start” of yet another Sunderland decline.
