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There’s nothing more to be said on the topic of Iceland freezing us out of the Euros that isn’t blatantly obvious. We were trounced by a nation the size of Coventry City with a comparable talent pool; our style of play was something that transcended lethargy. This is all crystal clear.
What might not be as apparent, however, is that the blunders of the nation have an ominous yet logical correlation with the footballing fallacies of our city.
Essentially, when England fail, Sunderland fail.
But what do I mean by an England failure? Well, that would be anytime a manager has made a team selection or devised a style of play of which only he seems to be ignorant of the flaws it entails.
Whenever this occurs, it has a tendency to make Sunderland the next domino in the systematic collapse.
You need not go any further back than the 2010 World Cup for the most prominent, recent example.
Then-manager Fabio Capello had the liberty of calling up then-Sunderland striker Darren Bent to represent his nation in South Africa – the very same Darren Bent fresh from a season in which he played every league game and racked up an astounding 24 goals.
A perpetually underwhelming Emile Heskey was chosen ahead of him. Yeah.
But how did such an obvious mistake from Capello impact Wearside? It frustrated Bent, it told him that – even in the form of his life – he wasn’t getting in the England squad whilst employed by Sunderland. We lost our best striker to Aston Villa as a consequence.
Maybe England causing problems for Sunderland isn’t a historically defined issue, but in recent times it’s hit us hard and could well do so again.
Hodgson has *finally* walked from his position as England’s manager. If Allardyce is handed the opportunity to turn the fortunes of the nation around – he’ll know full well it’s the last chance he’ll get to prove himself on the world stage.
A loss to Sunderland that would be far more significant than Darren Bent.
So there you have it; unwanted evidence that when England tumble, they tend to take Wearside with them.
If it’s any consolation, however, Allardyce isn’t the favourite to take over. On the flipside, Gareth Southgate is. Every silver lining has a cloud I guess.
