You might notice the headline has seven words. You might think Pete Sixsmith sent them. You would be wrong.
Pete’s own seven words, sent immediately post match, convey pretty much the same sentiment, only more emphatically, and they spell out the implications for Sunderland rather than for Sheffield Wednesday:
2 April 2018 Sunderland 1 (0) Sheffield Wednesday 3 (0) total inability to defend crosses equals relegation
30 March 2018 Derby County 1 (1) Sunderland 4 (2) And we were singing in the rain
17 March 2018 Sunderland 0 (0) Preston North End 0 (2) Worst performance yet in a dismal season
10 March 2018 QPR 1 (0) Sunderland 0 (0) Lack of Steele leads to inevitable defeat
6 March 2018 Sunderland 0 (0) Aston Villa 3 (2) Brown, Stokoe, Smith, Keane – watch and weep
3 March 2018 Milwall (0) 1 Sunderland (1) 1 * a) Unable to defend a lead, paid price … b) Oviedo superstrike not quite enough for win
24 February 2018 Sunderland 3 (1) Middlesbrough 3 (0) Rousing finale brings hope and a point
20 February 2018 Bolton Wanderers (1) 1 Sunderland (0) 0 No lack of effort; just lacking quality
17 February 2018 Sunderland 0 (0) Brentford 2 (2) Gets worse by the week. Relegation certs.
10 February 2018 Bristol City 3-3 Sunderland The most unlikely point of the season [but see what he was saying earlier]
3 February 2018 Sunderland 0 (0) Ipswich Town 2 (2) Comfortably beaten by an ordinary Ipswich side
30 January 2018 Birmingham City 3 (2) Sunderland 1 (0) *worked hard but just not good enough
20 Januaury 2018 Sunderland 1 (1) Hull City 0 (0) Young players give us hope. O’Shea magnificent
13 January 2018 Cardiff City 4 (0) Sunderland 0 (0) *Nothing positive in yet another shocking performance
6 January 2018 Middlesbrough 2 (2) Sunderland 0 (0) Our many weaknesses exposed far too easily
1 January 2018 Sunderland 0 (0) Barnsley 1 (0) Brand new year but same old rubbish
December 30 Nottingham Forest 0 (0) Sunderland (1) 1 Huge win which shows the players care
December 26 Sheffield United 3 (1) Sunderland 0 (0) Comprehensively beaten by a far superior side
December 23 Sunderland 1 (1) Birmingham City 1 (1) * Ten-man Brum hang on for a draw
December 16 Sunderland 1 (0) Fulham 0 (0) * Home win hoodoo over as Maja strikes
December 9 Wolverhampton Wanderers (0) 0 Sunderland (0) 0 *Tremendous defending earns a point at leaders
December 2 Sunderland 1 (0) Reading 3 (0) * Another day when basic errors prove costly
November 25 Burton Albion 0 (0) Sunderland 2 (0) Two goals, three points, and draught Bass
November 21 Aston Villa 2 (1) Sunderland 1 (0) Encouraging signs but need to be stronger
November 18 Sunderland 2 (1) Millwall 2 (2) An awful game compounded by comical goalkeeping
November 5 Middlesbrough 1 (1) Sunderland 0 (0) Bottom of the league and deservedly so.
October 31 Sunderland 3 (1) Bolton Wanderers 3 (3) Neither the result nor performance good enough
October 28 Sunderland 1 (1) Bristol City 2 (1) Hopeless and clueless. Add embarrassing to that.
October 21 Brentford 3 (1) Sunderland 3 (3) * Two in front yet lucky to survive
October 14 Sunderland (0) 1 Queens Park Rangers (1) 1 The elusive home win seems miles away
September 30 Preston North End (0) 2 Sunderland (1) 2 * Seriously entertaining and well worth the point
September 26 Ipswich Town 5 (2) Sunderland (1) 2 Sunderland’s defending plummets to unheard of depths
September 23 Sunderland 1 (0) Cardiff City 2 (1) Undoubtedly the worst Sunderland team I’ve watched
September 20 League Cup 3rd Round: Everton (1) 3 Sunderland (0) 0 * Never looked like scoring, let alone winning
September 16 Hull City 1 (0) Sunderland 1 (1) Hung on but not a sparkling performance
September 12 Sunderland 0 (0) Nottingham Forest 1 (o) Some improvement but we lack any punch
September 9 Sunderland 1 (0) Sheffield United 2 (1) no tactics, appalling team selection,
total embarrassment
August 26 Barnsley 3 (2) Sunderland 0 (0) Alarm bells clanging after a dreadful performance
August 22 League Cup: Carlisle United (0) 1 Sunderland (1) 2 Classy finish by Gooch masks scrappy performance
August 19 SAFC 0 (0) Leeds United 2 (1) Weaknesses exposed by a solid Leeds team
August 16 Sheffield Wednesday (0) 1 Sunderland (1) 1 Looked tired in second half. Decent point
August 13 Norwich City 1 (0) Sunderland 3 (1) Very well organised and three cracking goals
August 8 League Cup: Bury 0 (0) Sunderland (0) 1 Hardly convincing but a win’s a win
August 4 2017 Sunderland (1) 1 Derby County (1) 1 Encouraging second half. Something to build on
Agree about the defending but today the ref contributed at least as much as the defence. We actually showed fight, courage and commitment and each time we went behind we fought back, but the second time we were completely robbed by the cowards officiating the game. You will never see a more blatant penalty than the one we should have got at 1-2. The linesman cannot possibly have missed that from where he was standing. It was only after the game that I was told that the person giving away the penalty had already been booked and would have been sent off but I was already convinced that had we come back twice as effectively as we did we would go on to win the game.
Add in that he should have given Wednesday at least 3 cards in the first half yet kept booking those in red and white and you can see why people were upset.
You can also add in that the first goal game from a hurried clearance from Camp after he was clearly asking the ref if he was allowed to pick it up (which he obviously could) and the second one came from a free kick that was never, ever a free kick (although we should still have defended it better).
For the first time in a long while I genuinely feel that the team didn’t get what they deserved today.
Totally agree. I’ve not seen one decent team this season and SW are another below average team. Yet SAFC conspire to give the points away to rubbish teams.
The standard of referees and linesmen is the worse I’ve ever seen and Mr Hooper takes the award as the all time worse ref. SW time wasted from the first minute. Their goalkeeper should have been booked at least twice for blatant time-wasting and down to 9 men in the 2nd half. SAFC tried hard despite the referee and most supporters stuck with them today.
It seems like the same goal x 15.
In the last 6 home games we have conceded 15 goals…..
Enough said.