Régis Le Bris arrived on Wearside two years, three permanent head coaches and a whole host of players after Sunderland had finally escaped League One, so it’s probably a fair bet that he doesn’t know about and therefore perhaps isn’t burdened by the trauma that four years in the third tier inflicted on our supporters.
However, after his side was bundled out of the FA Cup by a Port Vale team to whom few would’ve given a chance of victory on Sunday, the measured Frenchman experienced the bitter taste
of defeat in a competition that his style of play seemed very much suited to — particularly had we made the quarter-finals and drawn one of the top flight’s elite sides at home.
As it was, his best laid plans were reduced to red and white rubble and like Gus Poyet, he now has a most unfortunate and borderline shambolic cup exit on his Sunderland CV.
From the scrappy goal to the godawful celebration and the rutted pitch, the disjointed Lads’ performance and a potential own goal for the ages, it was like being transported back in time and just as we so often did during the years of exile, we simply failed to rise to the challenge of an opponent who rightly showed us zero respect.
It was a bad day, to say the least, but it’s not terminal.
Le Bris shouldn’t be under any undue pressure and a positive performance and result against Brighton will certainly be a welcome tonic, but let’s hope that there’s a bit more fire behind closed doors this week than there was publicly, with his observation of “It is what it is” feeling a bit too casual in the wake of such a loss, particularly after he’d treated the competition with a level of respect that’s often been rare in a Sunderland head coach.
Sunday was a difficult one to fathom. Even taking into account injuries and suspensions, we had more than enough quality in the ranks to win this game and had we showed more bite and desire to get the job done, the hosts could’ve been dealt with.
From early in the game, it was obvious that the players’ attitude and application wasn’t at the level it needed to be, and although Vale Park is a million miles away from the glamorous stadia and billiard table-like pitches of the top flight, showing some determination and street smarts is a non-negotiable and the Lads failed to do so.
What made this even more difficult to accept was the sheer sense of an open goal being missed.
Iconic memories in cups have been a rare and priceless joy at Sunderland over the years, and instances such as 1999, during which we fell short of the League Cup final after being edged out by Leicester City, still feel like painful stories of “What might’ve been?”
Making an FA Cup quarter-final and mounting a challenge for the top ten as a newly-promoted side would’ve turned a promising season into a great one.
The players will doubtless have regrets about wasting such a glorious opportunity and they’ll need to show some real determination to put things right when they run out against Brighton on Saturday, but Sunday’s result — as atrocious and embarrassing as it was — shouldn’t necessarily muddy the waters.
This remains a very talented and capable Sunderland side but there’s a valid argument to say that it’s not a team without flaws and that its potential isn’t currently being fully tapped into. We’ve navigated our way into mid-table by virtue of being tough, resilient and hard to break down, but what happens when — as seems to be the case now — the creative spark is lost, you don’t show enough will to win and you occasionally lose your sense of direction?
It goes without saying that Le Bris has done a fine job at the Stadium of Light.
There’s no doubt about that and it would take a cataclysmic downturn to bring about any threat to his position, but the argument regarding his future is well-worn.
“Unless Le Bris does this, that or the other, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and company are too ambitious/ruthless to sit back and let it go” is a narrative that’s very much in vogue, but as we’ve seen with the situations that’ve unfolded at clubs we once aspired to emulate in the likes of Nottingham Forest, upsetting the apple cart and tinkering too much can lead to regression rather than progression.
Also, with the steadying influence of Kristjaan Speakman no longer on hand, stability, calmness and clear thinking can’t afford to be sacrificed on the alter of the ideal of rapid progression — as uncomfortable a truth as that might be.
For now, it’s back to that old chestnut: “Focus on the league”.
Let’s hope that behind closed doors, there’s a fire burning, that Granit Xhaka is rallying his men for the challenge of the visiting Seagulls and that Le Bris is determined to put right the wrongs of Sunday and ensure that our top ten push remains on course. Players returning from injury will help and the impending trip to Newcastle should sharpen everyone’s minds, but losing as we did should hurt badly and it needs to be channeled properly.
We’re not owed a win but we’re certainly owed a response and hopefully that’s what we’ll get. Fifty points — our third-highest Premier League total — is an achievable target and we need to take the next step come 3:00pm on Saturday.
