I’ll start out by saying that, as someone who has lived through the ups and downs of the period in Sunderland AFC’s history covered by this book, I was looking forward to reading it but not really expecting to learn a great deal. I was wrong.
Connor has, from the opening chapter and throughout the subsequent interviews, opinions and insights, produced something that made me reconsider my opinions on a number of events.
Nobody needs reminding of how bad it got, nor for how long it was bad. But to understand
how good it is now and why it’s so well deserved, you need to remember.
“The deeper the darkness, the more dazzling the light.” Dostoevsky may not have been talking about Sunderland, but it’s transferable. Let’s be fair, we’ve had it bad. Those days are gone, hopefully for the foreseeable future.
In amongst the interviews with former managers, coaches and others associated with the club are a number of sections from the dark days, with comments from Aiden McGeady.
McGeady, as we all know, was a prodigious talent, one who, along with a few others, may have thrived in a different environment. His insights and opinions on the management at the club, for example, have left me with sympathy for some that previously got none.
McGeady begged Jack Ross not to let Josh Maja go in the January window. Ross had no choice; he didn’t want to sell him either, but the rug was pulled regardless. Popular opinion is, as we all know, that had Maja stayed in January 2019, we would have been back in the Championship automatically at the first attempt.
Nick Barnes said, “Ross wanted promotion, the owners wanted stability.” We ended up with a fee from Bordeaux, for our most potent goalscorer, of £1.5 million. To call that short-sighted is an understatement.
Some of the insights given by Mike Dodds are very interesting. He managed to give a perspective on the Michael Beale era (is 63 days an era?) which left me feeling some sympathy for him, an unlikely outcome if I’m honest.
The book is an excellent read, a historical essay in parts, an emotional memory provoker at times, all in all somehow greater than the sum of its parts. A diary of sorts. Teenage scribblings, found and looked back on with equal parts embarrassment and fondness, cringy at times, what were we thinking?
Ultimately, it’s all worked out. We married the fit one, it’s fine despite the embarrassment of asking Will Grigg to the school disco and getting turned down. Despite the fact that Josh Maja went off with some French fancy for the price of a bottle of Panda Pop.
Get the book, it’ll be worth it.
Buy the book here from the ALS website: https://www.a-love-supreme.com/product-page/sunderland-are-back-pre-order
