At 3,12pm the BBC reported Chris Maguire had been sent off. In the absence of any confirmation from Pete Sixsmith I went looking elsewhere and found a site that gave the score at 2-0. It was quickly corrected to 1-0, something Pete did confirm. How many League games since we prevented our opponents from scoring?
Pete became a bit busier after half-time, sending four seven word texts instead of the usual one:
A performance flatter than the Lincolnshire countryside
Imps cause Ross all kinds of trouble
Outplayed and out thought by rampant Imps
And one that says it all:
5 October Lincoln City 2 (1) Sunderland 0 (0) Cannot offer any defence against this embarrassment.
27 September Sunderland (2) 2 MK Dons (0) 1 Hung on: something we don’t always do or Good first half but shakier after break
24 September Carabao Cup: Sheffield United (0) 0 Sunderland (1) 1 Everything we want from our Sunderland team or A very impressive performance; clean sheet too
21 September Bolton Wanderers 1 (1) Sunderland 1 (1) Apathetic performance which exposes our weaknesses.
17 September Sunderland 1 (1) Rotherham United 1 (0) Decent half hour, very poor sixty minutes
14 September Accrington Stanley 1 (1) Sunderland 3 (3) Scrappy and stuttering, result better than performance
31 August Peterborough United 3 (1) Sunderland 0 (0) Not a single positive from this shocker*
28 August Carabao Cup: Burnley 1 (1). Sunderland 3 (1) I just love a midweek in Lancashire/ Loads of effort and plenty of quality.
24 August Sunderland 3 (1) AFC Wimbledon 1 (1) Comfortable win which should enthuse American visitors
20 August Rochdale 1 (1) Sunderland 2 (1) Ecky Thump, that were a tight un
17 August Sunderland 2 (2) Portsmouth 1 (1) Up and running. Committed rather than classy
13 August Carabao Cup: Accrington Stanley (0) 1 Sunderland (1) 3 Had to work hard with McGeady outstanding
or this second 7 which came in as the draw for round two sends us back over the Pennines: Could just as easily have said McNulty
10 August Ipswich Town 1 (1) Sunderland 1 (0) *Decent recovery from absolutely shocking first half
3 August Sunderland 1 (0) Oxford United 1 (1) Looks like a repeat of last season
In a word, pitiful. The omens are not good following that abject display. I know it’s only one game but the trend has been with us for a long time.