Sunderland moved onto twenty three points from fourteen games with our much-deserved draw away at Liverpool in midweek. It was a match that once again left us feeling proud of this team — and a small sense of ‘What could’ve been”, as we had some good chances to win it.
Writing about a 1-1 draw away at the reigning English champions eighteen months after we finished sixteenth in the Championship is remarkable, but it is what it is. Many of us —including me — are starting to dream about what could be
possible for this crop of players, but if you’re someone who’s remaining grounded and chalking up each point on the way to the historically magical forty-point mark for survival, don’t worry.
There’s probably a little part of every Sunderland fan just hoping to get to this point as soon as possible, and we aren’t doing too badly. We’ve already beaten the points totals of Southampton and Ipswich from last season, and we’re just two points behind Leicester with twenty three matches to go.
Relegation probably won’t be an issue this season but I’mdelighted each time we pick up points and reduce the gap to the magic total. Some say the forty points needed for survival is dated these days, and considering the last two seasons have seen teams on thirty two and thirty eight points survive, you can see why.
It’s more than likely that forty will be more than enough to avoid the drop this season. Wolves are gone with their two points from a possible forty two, and Burnley are on a five-game losing run.
We’ve continuously kept looking up rather than down, and whilst we stayed in the top six with our draw at Anfield, it was hard not to glance down the other end of the table. Such a gap makes for good reading and until we get to forty points or to a stage where relegation is even less likely than it is now.
When that point comes — and it’s looking like we might be getting there not too far into the New Year, with any luck — we can really start to knuckle down and see what’s possible. Until then, each step we get closer to the magic total should and will be celebrated.
Régis Le Bris and some of the players have often referred to getting to that magic total — even after a win. It’s been drilled into everyone at the club and although there’s hope of a top-half finish, I like the level-headed approach mixed with the optimism. After all, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of wishful thinking.
Whether “glass half-full” or half-empty, it’s hard not to be excited by how well this season has gone so far. We’re nearing the halfway point and we’ve rarely been outside the top eight, with several weeks spent in a Champions League spot.
We’ll have tough spells, but even before the trip to Manchester City, we’d picked up more points from visits to Anfield and the Etihad than a lot of people predicted when the fixtures came out. It’s well known now that we don’t fear anyone, and this isn’t going to change anytime soon.
