FANPOST: Please Don't Let Us Down Again

Here we are, seven points (SEVEN) adrift of safety at the halfway point in the season, with things looking pretty desperate. We’ve been rather gutless in the last two games and have lost four in a row. However, one big thing to point out is that three out of the last four games have been against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.

The lack of effort and heart (sound familiar) showed again against Chelsea and City, having decided to gift the opposition a head start in both fixtures, and we never seem to be able to recover.

I have said this before, but it is becoming very hard to be positive about the situation at the moment. It’s a situation that we shouldn’t be in and had we actually been getting things right off-the-pitch there’s a chance we would be where we should be – mid-table, at the very least.

It annoys me that people are so shocked at me suggesting that Sunderland underachieve as a football club. I’m done with underwhelming signings and I’m definitely done with players under-performing on the pitch.

The potential for us to do well is staring at me in the face every time I see the massive crowds at the Stadium of Light – crowds which those players don’t deserve, in my opinion.

Whatever people say about Steve Bruce or how we scraped to a tenth place finish, the fact is we finished there. The season before that we finished thirteenth, and didn’t look in any real danger of going down. I can’t speak for everyone out there, but I would take that right now.

When we had the likes of Darren Bent, Asamoah Gyan, Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson and many others in that time period there were real signs of progress and that constantly hovering in-and-around the relegation zone were finally behind us. If only that was the case now.

That period alone is proof that we CAN attract good players and do well in the league. We need that again.

As for the next two games, I think an absolute minimum of four points is what is required. We can’t afford to lose to Liverpool, even though we probably will given how bad our defensive situation is. If we lose to Liverpool then we must beat Aston Villa. Nothing less will do.

Despite them being bottom of the league, that’s not going to be easy either, as they have won in their last three visits to the Stadium of Light without conceding a goal. We’re long overdue a win against Villa at home and if we can beat them on Saturday regardless of what happens against Liverpool, we might be able to start to looking upwards again without sliding down.

Let’s hope. Ha’way the Lads. Please don’t let us down again.