European football is an exciting dream for Sunderland fans, but unless you’re of a certain age and vintage, it’s only ever been just that. It’s been 53 years since Sunderland’s last foray into the continent, when we were knocked out in the second round of the European Cup Winners’ Cup by Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon. We had an outside chance of European competitions at the turn of the millennium, and when we were fourth at Christmas in 2010, hopes were on the rise. This season, the optimists
among us have been looking up rather than down, even during what was a rough run of form in February. Sunderland recovered very well from three straight defeats to take a point from Bournemouth and then three from Leeds. Ahead of welcoming Brighton to Wearside on Saturday, Sunderland are on 40 points with nine games left. There is a scenario in which teams as low as eighth place could qualify for European football. Should both winners of the FA Cup and League Cup finish in the top six, this could then free up 7th and 8th to be in the reckoning. At this moment in time, we’re four points off 7th and just three off 8th with 27 points left up for grabs. In our remaining games, we still need to play Everton, Newcastle, and of course Brighton, three teams who are in this middle table pack and in with a sniff of Europe.
Three of the other games are against the current bottom five, and two of these are at home. Another match is a trip to Wolves, who, despite their upturn in form, look destined for the Championship.
The next aim within the club will be more grounded, such as hitting 50 points. In doing so, we’d secure our third-highest points tally in the Premier League era. It’s smaller targets like this that players and coaches alike will have mapped out, just like with how many times reaching the 40-point mark was mentioned in interviews.
We’ve reached that with nine games to go, opening up what could be an interesting final quarter of the campaign. With players coming back from injury and a three-week break coming up soon, that will help with the recovery of any other players who aren’t ready yet. We might end up having a much stronger squad for the run-in, and some games we’ll fancy ourselves to do well in.
Yes, this piece could have me strung up for being a loony optimist, but I’m not too bothered. I’ve said before that football is for the optimists, and after what we’ve achieved in the last two years in particular, why the hell can’t we keep on dreaming big?
If we do fall short, it’s important for us to feel it’s not through the lack of trying, and just falling short of the top 8 could still see us with a top half finish, signalling a superb first year back in the big time.
If we succeed, I’ll hopefully be spending the summer dusting off my passport and learning how to say ‘where’s the nearest pub’ in various Eastern European languages.
