Do we need to keep a sense of perspective? A year ago we were down and out. Now we’re just down, after failing at the final hurdle. But that was with a hastily assembled squad and a relatively inexperienced manager. We know there will be changes over the summer and we know when the fixtures come out we won’t be looking at other clubs and thinking “I’ll support them this season”. We are Sunderland, and we are Sunderland ’til we die.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have an opinion on what did go wrong, because things did go wrong. In particular, in my own opinion, the transfer windows were not managed well. There had to be some latitude at the start of the season, given the changes we’d experienced, but what about January? By then problems were obvious but there were too many mistakes in addressing them and it cost us.
I’m going to try to show this below by the judicious use of stats, and have chosen some that back me up. It’s possible you won’t agree and you’re welcome to leave a comment, with or without stats of your own. In fact, I’d love to know what you think of my efforts and my conclusion.
Another former Sunderland player has passed away. Harry Hood was not one of ours for very long but played well and achieved a decent goals-per-games ratio. Pete Sixsmith tells his story …
The sad news of the death of Harry Hood filtered through as I was making my way home after Sunday’s latest disappointment. He wasn’t a great Sunderland legend, but he did have that title at Parkhead, where he was a revered figure amongst the many fine players who have worn the hoops of Celtic.
It’s over. It’s done. All that is left are the broken dreams, blowing in the wind like old chip wrappers on Wembley Way.
And the inquests, recriminations, praisings, optimism, the hope we can’t stand. We’ll have a few of these in our end of season reviews, which began with Deputy Editor Malcolm Dawson’s contribution prior to the play off final and continue until everyone who wants to has had their say, when Pete Sixsmith will wrap up the series and the season in fine style.
Pete Sixsmith with his (and my) great pal Pete Horan’s elder daughter Clare
Monsieur Salut writes: it wasn’t in truth so different from what many of us expected. If you’re not sufficiently older than 46 to have seen our last win at Wembley, as opposed to being a babe in someone’s arms, losing comes naturally.
This was awful. We didn’t even huff and puff very much. Gifted a goal, we retreated as if to defend for 85+ minutes what would have been the most bizarre winner in playoff history. And soon surrendered that marginal early dominance.
Did we proceed to create a chance, beyond the tame Grigg header? No. Did the supersub work? Yes, Charlton’s ex-Sunderland man Jonny Williams, who was instantly a threat; not the probably semi-fit Aiden McGeady, remembered mostly for dangerously losing possession. Did our neat little passing triangles by the touchline ever lead to anything better than a passback to McLaughlin? No. Did our centre backs distribute well or make defensive headers go anywhere near fellow-Sunderland players? You already know.
It could all go right as it did when we last lost to Charlton in a playoff final. Equally, it could be a turbulent summer in and around the club. We’ll see. Hats off to our marvellous support (long-suffering is now a given, an adjective that doesn’t need to be inserted each time) and apologies to my granddaughter, Maya, aged 10, for making this her first outing as a Sunderland supporter.
John McCormick writes: I watched on TV. I thought we were poor throughout, with our forwards and midfield struggling to link up, and as a result we created few chances. I’m not saying Charlton deserved their victory but they did manage to put the ball into the net three times whereas we didn’t manage it once.
But being there in person makes a difference. Pete Sixsmith may have a very different opinion from me and I’ll abide by his judgement, which we can expect in a day or so. For now, he has little to say, though the seven words he texted do enough to convey what we all feel:
Posts are coming thick and fast at the moment. Malcolm Dawson kicked off the season reviews less than 24 hours ago, then Pete Sixsmith sent in his pre-Wembley thoughts and Jake provided light relief with an excellent musical interlude. Now Lars Knudsen picks up where they left off:
One last shout-out for the Lads at Wembley tomorrow – or last but one since another piece, by Lars Knutsen, is now scheduled for later today – means, this time, one last sing-out (there’s no music from Lars).
Pete Sixsmith is ready for his latest excursion with Sunderland to Wembley. Will the Lads – without Monty or Ian Porterfield – make him a happy as he was on his first visit? …
HERE WE GO
Trip number eight to “Wembley, Venue of Legends” aka The National Football Stadium, is rapidly approaching.
It’s not a great record for me with one win, two draws (both ending in penalty shootout defeats) and four straightforward losses.
Each game has defining moments, so allow me to share them with you before discussing the runners and riders for Sunday.
Forget the conspiracy theories in the Daily Mail’s report on our owners’ intentions.
In fact, while the timing is rotten, the piece itself (as I have said at Twitter) is journalistically legitimate, thorough and reasonably balanced. Read it or ignore it as you wish. For now, just get behind the Lads for the final, utterly crucial game at Wembley this weekend.
Charlton finished the League One season in style and ended up two places ahead of us, writes Monsieur Salut. Until that poor return of four points from three successive home games, I was confident we would go up in an automatic top two place.
It wasn’t to be. We did not end the season in style and and now we start the playoff final at Wembley, after gritty semi-final displays against Portsmouth saw us through, technically as underdogs.
Before I invite readers to predict the outcome of Sunday’s Wembley encounter, I shall reflect on the 1998 version of this momentous tie in May 1998. That was for the greater prize of Premier League and we had, of course, finished above Charlton only to fail to overcome them in the playoff final.
Do we need to keep a sense of perspective? A year ago we were down and out. Now we’re just down, after failing at the final hurdle. But that was with a hastily assembled squad and a relatively inexperienced manager. We know there will be changes over the summer and we know when the fixtures come out we won’t be looking at other clubs and thinking “I’ll support them this season”. We are Sunderland, and we are Sunderland ’til we die.
Colin Randall 
John McCormick writes:
John McCormick writes: I watched on TV. I thought we were poor throughout, with our forwards and midfield struggling to link up, and as a result we created few chances. I’m not saying Charlton deserved their victory but they did manage to put the ball into the net three times whereas we didn’t manage it once.
