What the Papers Say: An apology of a season, Sunderland are made up of 'frauds, fakes and flakes'

Sunderland 0 vs Swansea 2 and the Stadium of Light bid farewell to Premier League football - there were so many talking points from such a dreadful game.

Ellis Short was in attendance to watch supporters of 'his' club suffer the indignity of Swansea fans alternating between mocking and celebrating their own impending safety for the neck-end of two long hours at the home of Sunderland. How did we come to this, Mr Owner?

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Calls for David Moyes to leave continued but without any great impetus amongst the sporadic Stadium of Light crowd. Whether he stays in the job who really knows.

A few Sunderland players showed some dignity in acknowledging the Wearside faithful but begrudgingly for the most part and only on the insistence of captain John O'Shea. The rest ran for cover as the final whistle blew.

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Many of those 'footballers' in red-and-white should have been run out of town long ago never mind being allowed to turn out to see the season run down.

A plane funded by Newcastle supporters did fifteen minutes flying over the back of the East Stand which meant half of the fans who were supposed to be mocked by it couldn't see it.

Darron Gibson was booed when he came on to the pitch - as much for those pictures of him sitting stony faced at the Supporters Association awards midweek one suspects as for his pedestrian efforts since his January arrival - and Victor Anichebe was jeered off it with yet another injury.

One of the worst afternoons of a terrible season for so many reasons. But here's how the national media have reflected on Sunderland 0 Swansea 2.

The Mail

Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton score to give Welsh side huge boost in fight for Premier League survival

Craig Hope has a knack of reflecting just how bad things are at Sunderland whilst often positively revelling in it. But it's difficult to argue with any of these points from the Mail's north east writer:

On Swansea's first goal:

Gylfi Sigurdsson loaded a free-kick into a crowded penalty area from the right flank. It was a good delivery but by no means impossible to defend. Sunderland made it look so, however, and when goalkeeper Jordan Pickford punched at fresh air it allowed Llorente to turn in a header for his 14th of the season.

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On the two first half casualties:

Two home players then retired injured - loanee Jason Denayer and the out-of-contract Victor Anichebe - and there was little by way of applause when they did leave the field. It is unlikely they will be seen in the club's colours again.

On Moyes, Short and Bain:

Cue home chants of, 'We want Moyesy out' and 'Are you watching Ellis Short?'. The owner was watching, sat alongside chief executive Martin Bain, the men who have asked Moyes to stay on next season. It is not a popular decision in these parts.

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The Guardian

Fernando Llorente heads Swansea towards safety against Sunderland

In the Guardian Louise Taylor reflects on the popularity of David Moyes' worst signings:

An early injury to Jason Denayer meant Darron Gibson, disliked almost as much as Moyes by sections of the crowd, came on to the pitch and was booed. Victor Anichebe received similar jeers when, shortly afterwards, the hamstrung striker hobbled off to be replaced by the infinitely more popular Wahbi Khazri.

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As for the club itself and David Moyes:

Evidently in need of a major systems reboot, Sunderland are already consigned to the Championship. Whether Moyes will remain at the helm come August is unknown and the home fans made it abundantly clear they want him gone.

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The Telegraph

Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton move visitors closer to survival

A scathing assessment from Luke Edwards in the Telegraph on the current state of Sunderland:

They are a shell of a football team, made up of frauds, flakes and fakes. In some cases, they remain Sunderland players in name only because their minds, their interest, is already elsewhere. They capitulated as soon as Fernando Llorente gave Swansea an early lead.

Manager David Moyes takes his share of the blame, this is his relegation. He must take the ultimate responsibility because he has never looked or sounded like a man who believed it would not occur. Only he knows if he still has the stomach to stay and put things right in the Championship because the majority of supporters want him to go.

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And a fair summary of the mood within the starkly reduced Stadium of Light crowd:

Sunderland offered little resistance, the fight draining from them as soon as they sensed the negativity inside the stadium. The Black Cats have not won at home since December and the supporters who bothered to turn up to watch a team relegated weeks ago, were in no mood to play the role of cheerleaders once cancer patient Bradley Lowery, who had been carried on to the pitch by his hero Jermain Defoe, was back with his family in the stands.

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The Independent

Swansea City move four points clear of relegation zone with crucial win over Sunderland

Notes from Alan O'Brien in the Independent on the two men who must now fashion a new club from the dying embers of Premier League Sunderland:

Ellis Short, the club’s owner and Martin Bain, the club’s chief executive, sat stony faced next to each other for the afternoon’s proceedings. They have to rebuild a club, and they will start from the very bottom.

Relief perhaps from the home fans that they will not have to watch anymore of this awful campaign, but also fears for what lies ahead:

It has been an apology of a season from Sunderland and this was at least a fitting way for it to end on Wearside.

Moyes and his team were dreadful and it will take a genuinely huge rebuilding job to breathe life into the club.

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