Pitiful. The list of adjectives grows ever longer to describe our woeful attempts to scrape ourselves off the bottom of this rubbish league.
Each week I sit in front of my computer and try to think of something new to write, but it’s the same old story.
Like the married couple who have the same argument every day - what’s the point?
Our team has no fight. They’re powder-puff and were pushed about by a Cardiff side who, despite being third in the table going into the match, were as bad as us for half of the game. It’s difficult to name a decent team who we have played this season, yet STILL we find ourselves in this god-awful predicament.
It’s why I still have hope that we can get out of this mess.
We have a decent manager who is saying the right things and starting to get rid of the detritus and, in turn, shaving our wage bill. One of the first to leave was our third-choice goalkeeper, Mika - God knows how bad he must have been for the likes of Jason Steele and Robbin Ruiter to be keeping him out out of the side.
Although there is hope that we can get out of this league, we are going to have to start winning games and gaining momentum pretty soon.
My last viewing in person of Sunderland was the Boxing day capitulation at Sheffield United, when the team found it difficult to pass the ball to each other and kept needlessly giving away possession. I read a similar comment about the way that we played in the Cardiff game.
It seems our lot think that the games are only lasting 45 minutes. It’s all well and good keeping a clean sheet in the first half, but that’s rendered useless when your goalkeeper punches the air to concede a goal inside the first minute of the second period, you have a man sent off and then go on to capitulate even further.
As everyone can see, the stupid errors need to stop, the players need to concentrate and - most importantly - work on playing as a unit. Chris Coleman needs to get his ideas across and the players need to follow them. But (if as the manager intimates) a lot of the team don’t have the bottle for a fight, it’s time to get out.
I just hope there’s enough time in January to do enough to keep us up - though I’m not holding my breath.
This was an absolute disgrace. Every single #safc fan who travelled deserves a refund. In fact, they deserve compensation
— James Hunter (@JHunterChron) January 13, 2018
James Hunter, the Chronicle’s Sunderland reporter, suggested the fans should be refunded. It’s not often you hear the gentlemen from the press say such impassioned things, which perhaps serves as a reminder of just how dismal the situation that we find ourselves in really is.
Coleman came with a bright reputation, and his quotes since his arrival have been positive, but the backing from the owner is missing. Martin Bain, the club’s beleaguered CEO has to be given credit in securing Coleman, but without backing from the top, the club is only going one way - down.
It’s difficult to second guess Ellis Short, but I’m struggling to understand why a man is prepared to see his investment diminish so easily. If he doesn’t care, why not just sell up at a loss? Maybe it’s personal, to get back at the fans who have shown such opprobrium. Who knows what is going through his head right now.
In the words of wartime Conservative MP, Leo Amery (to Neville Chamberlain), “For the love of God, go!”