Editorial: Don’t worry about a thing... cos every little thing is gonna be alright

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The Championship is such a strange, varied league, but in the main there are lots of really unimpressive sides here that are capable of disrupting your fun simply by being awkward and aggressive, and at times in the game against QPR it felt like we had found ourselves again in one of those situations where we were going to be done over by a bunch of shithouses.

Thankfully, everything worked out alright in the end.

Our quality shone through and by the end of the game there could be absolutely no doubting that the better team won, even though our opponents had to play most of the match with a player less.

My biggest takeaway from it was yet another affirmation that the club’s current approach to how we do things is the correct way forward. It doesn’t half highlight it when you see us up against an unambitious side that make you question why anyone would even want to pay to watch it.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

I feel for QPR fans. Their owners appointed Gareth Ainsworth as manager and I think that says it all, really. They didn’t spend money on transfer fees in the summer and their style of play, imparted on them by the ever-uninspiring Ainsworth, was just a reflection of the way they seem to be as a club - dull, boring, and lacking in direction.

Again though I watched them and thought... christ, I’m glad we’re at the other end of the scale. I’m glad we stand for something other than “we’re little old ___ and we’re fighting from underneath” which seems to be the only way Ainsworth can get a tune out of a squad of players.

When I heard the rumours prior to kick off that there had been two unnamed players ruled out with injuries, I wasn’t concerned. Frankly, I don’t think it matters, because everyone is bought in and knows how we play. Every player in our squad understands what is being asked of them when they go out onto the pitch, thanks to Tony Mowbray.

And so it came to be that it was Dack and Cirkin who were ruled out - but it wasn’t a problem, with Burstow and Huggins coming in. The bench was littered with talent, variety and youth. Even though we have no idea how a game is going to go, it’s still exciting when you see the names of these players written down - and we still have plenty left to come back in from injury.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

And that’s how I feel about the season ahead, too - just... relaxed.

I think the last couple of years have been the first time ever as a Sunderland fan where I’ve been totally unconcerned with what lies ahead. It’s made being a fan and going to games an absolute joy.

We’ll lose games this season, and plenty of them, but we’ll win more than anything else because we’ve got better players than most of these sides, and a plan.

We might even lose against Blackburn on Wednesday, who have had a good start to the season themselves, despite - like QPR - having a very unambitious summer transfer window where they lost good players and didn’t replace them.

Whatever, man. I’m cool with things being this way.

We’re only a handful of games into the season and it would be daft to get too carried away, not just now but before Christmas really. Just as it was daft when people were getting carried away when we lost the first two - it would be silly to do the same cos we’re now in a canny run of form.

Just be safe in the knowledge that every little thing is gonna be alright.