Sunderland Fan Blog: Fans let down after another embarrassing loss
Ahead of Saturday’s game, it felt like a new dawn was dawning on Wearside: Lee Johnson’s departure signaling it was time for a new head coach to take the reins and put his own stamp on the soccer club.
And of course, yes, there has been a significant increase in attendance due to the return of veteran Jermain Defoe, but on the field the team has not favored maintaining that support.
The only positive points to remember from this one? Probably, the fans. But, even then, again, they were let down in typical Sunderland fashion.
And, there’s no hiding this one, as for another straight week, the Black Cats simply didn’t learn their lessons and were beaten by bottom-of-the-table Doncaster.
Arguably the hosts’ first half was the worst of the campaign so far; perhaps not on par with their second-half performance at the UniBol last week, but the dire nature of it was on full display for the 38,295 supporters.
And, again, the investigation continues, as to where Sunderland go from here and how they are now recovering, what turns out to be, their shredded automatic promotion hopes.
Because that’s what they prove to be. Their hold on the top two is slowly deteriorating, and the need for a new head coach is critical.
Before the match, Kristjaan Speakman spoke about how slowly the process seems to end, but this performance revealed the need for a head coach who will set high standards for this group of players.
Too often this season this team has been short of ideas, too often it has led to a more pedestrian approach, and that’s what worries the fans.
Saturday brought this problem into sharp relief: on a consistent basis Sunderland had no movement in the frontcourts, and as a result they found themselves, agonizingly, moving the ball side to side , one pass forward and two back.
Yet when they pushed forward they failed to get creative to unlock the door for a Doncaster side who had five passed by Rotherham just four days before.
In Ross Stewart they have a striker who can hold the ball well, use his physicality well and put the ball in the back of the net when the opportunity arises, but most of the time he won the ball at the weekend , any of his fellow attackers were often too deep.
The addition of Jermain Defoe will no doubt be looking to exploit that threat in the coming weeks, but there’s no doubt Sunderland fans are wondering what and where next.
The next few days are going to be huge for the Black Cats, as their hunt for a head coach appears to be coming to an end and they travel to Cheltenham on Tuesday night, but with the end of the season seemingly drawing nearer, the Sunderland’s automatic promotion aspirations are on a knife edge.
