It began during the aftermath of the first game of the season as Sunderland’s new-look side eased past a gutless West Ham at an ecstatic Stadium of Light, kicking off our Premier League campaign in emphatic
fashion.
On that evening’s edition of Match of the Day, Alan Shearer was forced to attempt to engage in some form of objective analysis of our 3-0 home win, his eyes narrowing and his speech clipped as he spoke about the Lads’ efforts against the Hammers.
Suffice it to say, this was, well, pretty much what we might’ve expected.
Over on Sky Sports, Gary Neville has mastered the art of “sucking it up” when speaking about Manchester City and Liverpool as Manchester United fell on hard times in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. In contrast, the former Newcastle striker clearly hasn’t been able to put his allegiance aside for the sake of fairness — but what can you do?
Shearer’s ‘through gritted teeth’ style of Sunderland-related insight was one of many jabs that have been thrown; verbal barbs that range from our summer recruitment to the fans thoroughly enjoying what they’re seeing, with even our playoff final victory over Sheffield United still proving a point of contention in some quarters.
And so it continued.
Following Sunderland’s sensational victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, it was Jason McAteer’s turn to speak up, offering praise for Granit Xhaka after declaring that “Sunderland shouldn’t be in the Premier League” and that he “felt sorry” for Coventry City and Frank Lampard.
What I particularly despised about McAteer’s analysis was his tone of voice when he opined that we shouldn’t be here, as if he was unveiling a secret that only he previously knew and was eager to share with the world. Opposing fans might’ve latched onto it and thought, “Yeah, he’s got a point” but as Sunderland supporters, we know the truth — and the truth is the polar opposite to what he claimed.
In my view, such opinions are aired with one goal in mind: to breed an inferiority complex among our supporters, to make us feel as though we don’t belong at this level and to convince the wider footballing public that last season’s promotion was a triumph of good fortune over skill, persistence and togetherness. Cynical? Without a doubt. Accurate? No.
What many outsiders don’t seem to be able to grasp is that ‘Til The End is no pithy soundbite or cheap merchandise-peddling slogan. Instead, it’s the very embodiment of Sunderland’s ethos under this regime.
Against Coventry City, for example, the ability of Enzo Le Fée to drop the ball on a sixpence was no accident — and Dan Ballard’s desire to outjump everyone in order to make contact with the ball wasn’t a matter of luck.
Who cares if the Sky Blues won the possession battle? The scoreboard doesn’t lie and after a gruelling battle, we were on the right side of the only metric that really counts.
Fast forward to the final, during which Eliezer Mayenda’s equaliser came after a brilliant move and Tommy Watson’s winner stood out as an example of a young footballer showing admirable composure at a crucial moment. The occasional slice of good fortune — in our case, a VAR intervention — is part of the game but to claim that it was the driving force behind our rise from the Championship to the Premier League simply doesn’t ring true.
This season, opposition fans have regularly sneered in the face of our results, claiming that we’ve not played sides at the top of their game and that we’re allowing our early-season results to go to our heads. Again, this simply doesn’t stack up — something that was illustrated when Aston Villa, who couldn’t beat us with an extra man, edged past Manchester City on Sunday.
Memo to all pundits and rival supporters of this ilk: we’re not daft.
No Sunderland fan would be arrogant enough to believe that we’ve got every angle covered and there won’t be bumps in the road, but we shouldn’t be lured into thinking that our position in the top flight wasn’t earned, because it most certainly was.
Some — including Michael Carrick, who offered a superbly balanced summary of our efforts at Stamford Bridge during his own appearance on Match of the Day — clearly possess a greater knowledge of what we’re about and why we’ve made a good early impact in the Premier League, so it’s not been entirely negative in that sense.
For me, it’s just a real shame that others seem to take pleasure in attempting to downplay our efforts at every turn, but the players, coaches and fans shouldn’t allow such views to nag at them.
We’ll continue to do our thing and with the team spirit, unity and footballing ability we’ve already demonstrated, we’ll hopefully continue to show exactly why we belong among the elite.
